UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

USC Connect: Integrating Learning Within and Beyond the Classroom is a long term initiative at USC Columbia and the Regional Campuses (Lancaster, Salkehatchie, Sumter, Union) to support all students in making the most of their education by integrating course work with first-hand learning experiences outside of class.

Beyond the classroom experiences include long term involvement such as participating in student organizations, peer leadership, study abroad, internships, community engagement projects, undergraduate research, or living and learning communities. Short term beyond the classroom experiences include activities like attending performances or presentations by guest speakers, completing a one-day service project, or participating in a sport event.

Integrating learning refers to building new understandings across experiences. For example, talking to people who are affected by a particular policy that you learned about in class, hearing how it influences their daily lives, and thus developing a deeper understanding of the policy. Another example is having an experience in which you work with a group of people to solve a problem and then realize that the experience has helped you develop strategies for working with others in different settings. The possibilities for learning are endless, but most people do not automatically see all the possible connections. It helps people to integrate their learning across experiences by talking with others or by answering questions that make them rethink their experiences and compare what they learned to the perspectives of others.

Our goal is for students to become lifelong learners by understanding how a vast array of experiences can help one gain perspective, build skills in collaboration and problem-solving, and inform decisions about careers, personal lives and interests, and contributions to communities (local, state, national and/or global!).

For further details on what is happening now, explore the USC Connect website. For USC Connect history, see the original Quality Enhancement Plan proposal.

Components of USC Connect under development include technology and systems to enhance students’ ability to find, select, record, and assess their experiences; support for students to develop insights from their experiences through increased interactions that integrate learning across areas of interest; recognition of students who are highly engaged within and beyond the classroom; enhanced collaboration within and beyond the university to enhance students’ opportunities.

We applaud you if you are already involved in beyond the classroom experiences and especially if you are thinking deeply about how those experiences relate to course work and to one another. We encourage you to learn even more and strive to continually build connections.

For students, are there other opportunities for involvement you have not yet explored? Think about how you can intentionally select or plan for experiences for the next year (or beyond) that are the best fit for you! Have you taken time to reflect on how your experiences relate to one another? Are you talking to others about their perspectives? Could you invite someone else to get involved? Are you recording your experiences in some way - have you started an e-portfolio (available to all students through Blackboard)? Seek out faculty and staff who seem interested in USC Connect for further ideas.

For faculty and staff, even if you are already providing beyond the classroom experiences, are there other possibilities that could expand your students’ connections? Have you designed specific activities that encourage students to rethink what they know based on their experiences or apply what they are learning through over venues to your discipline or area of expertise? Are you assessing students’ abilities to make connections (i.e., integrate learning)? Are you talking with colleagues about how they approach this work and thinking about something new you might try? Resources are being continually developed. Keep checking the USC Connect website and the Center for Teaching Excellence for further support.