Courses

CPCS offers a wide range of classroom-based learning options through which students work on developing and demonstrating competencies. In their class work, students learn experientially, in small groups with other students, through classroom-based projects, and through assignments. Courses may address more than one competency through instruction and provide support for developing communication skills. Class sizes are small to allow students the opportunity to learn from each other and to work closely with the faculty.

Some examples of current CPCS courses include:

• Defying Conventions: The Lives of Women Who Dared
  Using biography and works of fiction, this course examines the lives of women in the nineteenth century who defied social convention and spoke out for the rights of women (and others) at a time when the public arena was defined mainly as a male space. Drawing on the richness of these earlier efforts, students also have the opportunity to explore contemporary social change efforts.
  Competency: Reading Life Histories

• Community Portraits
  Through this course students develop skills in preparing a portrait of a local community, including social, economic, physical and historical dimensions. They become familiar with a variety of types and sources of information about local communities. They learn how to assess the quality of the information you find, how to analyze and interpret it, and how to present it effectively with words, numbers and maps. The course introduces ways of using computers for finding local community information, so a basic level of computer skills is an essential prerequisite. The course introduces various sources of quantitative information, such as the Census; while there is assistance in handling the math involved, basic math competence is another essential prerequisite.
  Competency: Community Portraits

Additional Learning Options

CPCS students are not limited to learning in the classroom. In addition to the courses we offer, CPCS provides a number of alternative instruction and competency demonstration options for students, including:

• Project-based Learning
  In these exciting and intensive learning projects, student work with faculty and community members to identify issues and needs of communities and to develop strategies for addressing them. The combination of study and practice provides rich, hands-on learning experiences for the students, as well as service to the communities.

  Some examples of recent projects include:

  • Building Chinatown for Chinatown: A research, advocacy, and technical assistance project with the Campaign to Protect Chinatown. The student/faculty team assisted the Campaign in assessing needs, analyzing the impact of development proposals, and developing strategies to protect Chinatown's interests.
  • Teen Girls Legal Project: Working with Planned Parenthood and other organizations providing services to young women, students identified the legal concerns of this population and the legal resources available to them. Students then designed a manual on the legal rights of young women for community dissemination.

• Directed Study
  Individual students or small groups may wish to pursue an area of study outside of a structured class or project. For these students, CPCS provides the directed study option. Typically, students identify a competency or competencies they want to work on and coordinate with a faculty evaluator to develop a learning and demonstration plan for completing the competency. This is an excellent learning option for students who bring prior knowledge or experience in certain areas of the curriculum and who want to build on that knowledge. It also extends the learning options for students who may wish to explore certain topics not addressed through organized learning activities in a given semester.

• Evaluation of Prior Learning
  At CPCS, students with relevant prior experience may use that experience toward demonstration of competencies in the curriculum. Students who have experience that is consistent with the learning outcomes in a competency, may work with a faculty evaluator to demonstrate what they have done, what they have learned and how it relates to the competency. Prior learning may also be used to get you part way through the demonstration of a competency. Then you can work with the evaluator to determine what new or additional learning you need to take on to get you the rest of the way.

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