Assessing the Community Engagement in the Learning Process across Disciplines at An-Najah National University (ANU)
Dr. Emad B. Dawwas 1
Citation : Dr. Emad B. Dawwas, Assessing the Community Engagement in the Learning Process across Disciplines at An-Najah National University (ANU) International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research 2015 , 3(11) : 54-63
Traditional teaching approaches, in which the teaching/learning activities are limited to the
classroom, have increasingly been alternated by non-traditional ones that go beyond classrooms and the higher
education institutions campuses. The advancement of the higher education by moving from the old approaches
to the new ones calls for clear understanding of the learning process: its components, its actors and its
mechanisms. This study aims at exploring the teaching/learning process at An-Najah National University
(ANU)-as a case-in order to diagnose the current conditions and to identify the extent to which the offered
classes at ANU go beyond the university campus by engaging the community in their activities.
This task was accomplished by creating baseline data on 779 classes from all faculties and departments in the
university and by analyzing the extent to which these classes are interacting with the community. The study
found that there are significant differences in engaging the community in the learning activities from one faculty
to another and, in some cases, from one department to another in the same faculty. The study is concluded by
recommended actions to be adopted by the policymakers and by the Center for Excellence in Learning and
Teaching (CELT) in the university, among the recommendations is to prepare faculty-based-training programs
for the disadvantaged faculties that adopt the non-traditional teaching approaches the least