This article describes a process of hands-on learning that Professor Michael Smith uses to help college students develop a sense of place and understand the meaning of civic engagement. It also suggests ways of evaluating a teacher’s pedagogical effectiveness. The article first appeared in the book, Citizenship Across the Curriculum, which describes how similar approaches to civic education can also be used in political science, mathematics, the natural sciences, rhetoric and communication studies. Smith’s inclusion of student comments about their course experience is especially insightful for scholars wishing to know more about the learning process.
Michael B. Smith
"Local Environmental History and the Journey to Ecological Citizenship,"
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education: Vol. 23:
2, Article 4.