Place-Based Learning and High Impact Educational Practices

The idea of connecting a student’s place to their education isn’t new. At the end of the 19th century, philosopher John Dewey “sought to overcome the disconnection between school and the world” (MacDonald) throughout his educational reforms. However, as we moved into the 20th century, education shifted toward a more standardized approach to teaching and learning. Think about all those word problems in math textbooks that seemed irrelevant to your life—solving for the velocity of a plane when you’ve never even been on one. As education moved away from connecting place to a student’s academics and toward a more standardized model, it created an opportunity for us to return to place-based education and rediscover its benefits.

Some of you may be familiar with the 2008 article High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter, where Kuh outlined ten high-impact education practices. Among these ten practices is “Community-Based Learning,” but many believe that all ten could easily be viewed through the lens of place-based learning. If you are not familiar with Kuh’s article on high-impact educational practices, I encourage you to take a look. The citation for the article is in the references section below and here is a link that walks you through the ten High-Impact Practices.

In 2020, Place-Based Learning as a High-Impact Educational Strategy was published, focusing on interdisciplinary teaching through the lens of the ten high-impact educational practices. It specifically explores how instructors can leverage a place-based approach to achieve these high-impact practices in their courses. The book effectively connects the interdisciplinary nature of place-based learning. Author MacDonald writes, “Place-based learning facilitates deep learning and achieves many of the widely accepted requirements of high-impact educational practices” (MacDonald). This makes perfect sense—think back to how much of an impact your place has on your life. By incorporating this connection, a deeper understanding of academic concepts is more likely to be achieved, especially compared to a course where a student feels disconnected from the material.

MacDonald also emphasizes the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to education, and he believes that a place-based strategy is an excellent way to incorporate interdisciplinary concepts into a course. For example, when you ask a student in a statistics course to gather weather data from their community and analyze it, they are likely learning more than just how to perform a statistical analysis. MacDonald explains further: “Interdisciplinary teaching and learning reinforces and strengthens connections through its focus on the key educational goals of developing knowledge from a range of disciplinary perspectives and cultivating the understanding and application of diverse disciplinary perspectives” (MacDonald).

The Four Thematic Dimensions of Place-Based Education

As we consider place-based learning, it’s important to keep a few things in mind. Just as our most cherished memories are tied to place, so too are our most difficult or traumatic ones. We must approach this with empathy and recognize the potential implications of asking students to connect deeply with their sense of place.

In their article Exploring the Dimensions of Place: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Data from Three Ecoregional Sites, Ardoin, Schuh, and Gould define four thematic dimensions of place-based education that help us understand what happens when we connect to a place. These dimensions are:

• Biophysical: Focuses on the physical context of the place, emphasizing students’ connection with their natural and built environments.
• Psychological: Involves individual experiences and emotional connections to the physical place, influencing identity and personal development.
• Socio-cultural: Examines the relationship between individuals and their social and cultural environments, including community traditions, norms, and practices.
• Political-economic: Considers the economic and political processes that shape places and people’s attitudes towards them, highlighting issues of power, leadership, and social justice.

When incorporating a place-based assignment, project, or module into your course, take a moment to reflect on your own connection to place through these four dimensions. Then, empathize with your students and approach the design of your assignment with care and thoughtfulness.

Shifting an Entire Program to Place-Based Learning

Much of the data in the literature comes from program-wide shifts to a place-based approach. In Place-Based Education: A Systematic Review of Literature (Yemini et al.), the authors highlight a comparative study that investigates the impact of having, what they call, a Place-Based Learning Community (PBLC) on first-year STEM students at a residential university in Northern California. In this study, two cohorts were selected to go through the same set of first-year courses. However, one cohort incorporated PBLCs, while the other (the reference group) took the same courses, but in a more traditional style. The cohort selection process was extensive—they considered things like demographics, test scores, GPA, community size, and family situation. They would find two students who were very similar within these criteria, and then split them between the PBLC and reference group cohorts.

Of all the literature I reviewed, this study provided the most quantitative data. Below is a summary of the findings (Johnson et al.):

• Slightly higher GPA for students in the PBLC (2.76) vs. the reference group (2.67).
• The GPA gap between underrepresented and non-underrepresented students narrowed from 0.33 points to 0.12 points.
• Persistence for PBLC students was 81.5%, compared to 72.6% for the reference group.
• Course pass rates: The College Algebra pass rate for PBLC students was 21.1% higher than that of the reference group. Other pass rate increases were noted in Introductory Botany, Chemistry, and Pre-Calculus.

In general, students in the PBLC also reported a higher sense of belonging compared to those in the reference group. This result shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given what we know about the benefits of place-based learning.

Place-Based Learning at UAF

While reviewing the literature on place-based learning, it’s clear that most of the quantitative data focuses on full program shifts to place-based education. Shifting an entire program is certainly impactful, but I strongly believe that even incorporating a single assignment or project with a place-based approach can significantly enhance student engagement and connection to the course. Given that many of our courses are online, with students spread across the state or country, let’s take a moment to consider those contexts specifically.

We began this teaching tip by reflecting on the prompts: What is your place? and What role does it play in your life? If you’re teaching an online course and want to incorporate a place-based learning assignment or project, consider giving your students these prompts beforehand, perhaps in a canvas discussion. This will not only allow you to learn about their places and how these places shape them, but also give students a chance to see who their classmates are, fostering a sense of community within the course. One of the most exciting parts of incorporating place-based learning in an online course is that you don’t need to research each student’s individual community—they are the experts of their place. Your task is to design an assignment that encourages them to engage with their community and explore their connection to it.

The idea of turning an existing assignment into one that is place-based may seem like a lot of work. A helpful strategy is to use a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Gemini to brainstorm ideas. You can start by sharing the assignment prompt and any relevant details about your course—such as the subject, learning objectives, and modality. Be specific about what you want to achieve with a place-based focus, and ask the LLM to help generate ways to adapt the assignment. For example, you might say, “How can I redesign this assignment to incorporate students’ local environments or communities?” If you’re new to working with LLMs and not sure how to start, you can set up a consultation with one of the design team members, who can help walk you through the process and refine the suggestions to fit your course needs.

For some further inspiration for redesigning an assignment to be place-based. Here are some examples of what that might look like in a variety of disciplines and assignment types:

Exploring Local Context 

Encourage students to investigate a local environmental or community issue relevant to their area. In a sociology course, for example, students could research topics like housing costs or food insecurity and compare their findings to national or global trends. This approach not only engages students with their local communities but also allows them to contribute to a broader understanding of diverse places and issues.

Virtual Place-Based Exploration

Invite students to create virtual tours or digital stories about significant places in their local communities, using tools like Google Earth or My Maps. For example, in a history course students could develop a virtual tour of historical sites in their region, connecting these places to course themes. This method brings students’ environments into the classroom, fostering shared learning and exploration of different perspectives.

Community Interviews or Oral Histories 

Ask students to interview local community members, such as elders, business owners, or activists, to gather insights on course-related topics. In an environmental science course, students might speak with local farmers or environmentalists about how climate change is affecting their region. This activity encourages students to engage with their communities while highlighting the importance of local knowledge. From personal experiences, I know that asking a student to go into their community and interview someone can feel like a big ask. But of all of these examples – these conversations with community leaders and elders can have a profound impact on not just their engagement in the assignment, but to their overall sense of being a part of their community. 

Local Data Analysis

Have students collect and analyze data that is directly related to their community, such as weather patterns, cost of living, or environmental data. In a statistics course, for example, students could gather local weather data and use it for statistical analysis, helping them apply theoretical knowledge to real-world situations in their own environments.

Reflective Journals or Blogs

Ask students to keep a journal or blog where they reflect on how their local environment or community shapes their learning experience. In an education course, for instance, students could reflect on how local cultural practices influence teaching and learning in their area. This encourages deeper personal connections with the course material.

Place-Based Challenges

Introduce small challenges or prompts that encourage students to engage with their local environment. In a biology course, students might document and categorize local plant species, comparing their findings with classmates from different regions. These challenges are simple to implement and adaptable to a variety of disciplines. 

Place-based learning offers a powerful way to foster deeper connections between students and the material they’re learning. By grounding academic concepts in real-world environments that students personally relate to, we can improve engagement and comprehension, and while also creating a sense of community—whether your course is in person or online. Place-based learning doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your course; even a single, thoughtfully designed assignment can have an impact. As we continue to navigate the challenges of teaching in 2024, incorporating students’ sense of place can provide them with a much-needed anchor. It can help them feel more connected, not just to their learning, but also to their place. Which in the end will create a richer and more inclusive educational experience. 

By starting small and experimenting with place-based assignments, you’re giving students the opportunity to bring their world into your course in a way that makes learning more relevant and meaningful. Feel free to reach out if you want to chat about place-based learning and figure out how it can fit into your course. 

References

Ardoin, N. M., Schuh, J. S., & Gould, R. K. (2012). Exploring the dimensions of place: A confirmatory factor analysis of data from three ecoregional sites. Environmental Education Research, 18(5), 583-607.

Johnson, M. D., Sprowles, A. E., Goldenberg, K. R., Margell, S. T., & Castellino, L. (2020). Effect of a place-based learning community on belonging, persistence, and equity gaps for first-year STEM students. Innovative Higher Education, 45(5), 509-531.

Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities.

MacDonald, S. P. (2020). Place-based learning as a high-impact educational practice. In R. D. Lansiquot (Ed.), Interdisciplinary team teaching (pp. 41-60). 

Yemini, M., Engel, L., & Ben Simon, A. (2023). Place-based education: A systematic review of literature. Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2023.2177260