As many students observed in New Orleans this spring break, professor John DiIulio encourages students to learn outside of the classroom.
DiIulio, one of Penn's foremost political scientists and director of the Fox Leadership Program, spoke yesterday alongside Graduate School of Education professor John Puckett to students in Houston's Hall of Flags as part of Education Week - an annual series of events organized by the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education.
Penn, a non-profit institution, is part of a trillion-dollar market in which the University receives public benefits in the form of government contracts and grants and provides a means for donors to get tax deductibles.
Because the University receives such financial benefits, it is Penn's responsibility as an institution to give back to society, DiIulio said.
The question of how such a mission can be fulfilled was posed by DiIulio in his lecture. How can we help "people who give a dollar to their church collection plate and get nothing back in return?" he asked.
Through a course, of course.
In these seminar classes, which fall under the Urban Studies department, local problems are presented to students.
Three courses for this coming fall semester will use this strategy to get students involved in the local Philadelphia community with the goal of solving social problems and learning from the process.
Puckett described a course through the Center for Community Partnerships, aimed at re-designing West Philadelphia High School. A learning experience, as well as an insight into community development, the class worked with the District of School Reform, students and school administrators to develop a four-school plan and worked to implement it.
Former chairman of SCUE and Engineering senior Gabriel Kopin addressed the effectiveness of this approach, noting it has already succeeded in creating several Academically Based Community Service Classes, many of which have implemented these learning styles.
"In most cases, there won't be any tangible project, just an idea," he said. Often students will not be able to completely resolve the problem, but will still help in solving certain issues and brainstorming solutions.
And these classes are rewarding for Penn students in addition to the communities that they help.
As College junior Jay Zolle, who took DiIulio's class "Crimes, education and jobs: Blueprints for Philly's next Mayor" last semester said, "You get more out of it and make it [your] own experience by not having to follow a strict curriculum."
