Coaching Graduate Students Through Early Childhood Focused Community-Engaged Learning: Graduate Student Perspectives and Course Design

Access the online Pressbooks version of this introduction here. Community-engaged learning (CEL) in graduate-level coursework contributes to professional development and growth. CEL course design requires intentional and time-intensive planning. A graduate-level child development course was designed for CEL using the following process: needs assessment, training for community education, preparing materials, practicing with feedback, presenting to an authentic audience, and reflection on the experience. Students created presentations for authentic parent audiences based on a needs assessment of parent interest in child development topics. Reflections from four students in the course were analyzed using a general thematic analysis technique. Three themes emerged. Students experienced individual growth, students reported community connection from preparing materials for an authentic audience, and students reflected on the importance of peer and mentor support.