Get Your Hands Dirty
Our engaged learning courses will take you out of the classroom to do research, help your community, and learn job skills.
We offer a number of unique, experiential learning based engagement courses that pair classroom knowledge with real-world application. These courses not only add an engagement notation on your transcript, but they also provide you with hands-on learning opportunities.
Here are just a handful of examples
Video Game Development
Learn game design and prototyping and create a complete 2D computer game.
Course Name: ISTA 451
Department: School of Information
School Gardening and K-12 Outreach
Work in Tucson-area schools helping develop and maintain school gardens and creating lesson plans around food.
Course name: GEOG 497F
Department: School of Geography and Development
Poverty Field Workshop
Collect data from low-income households in Tucson to help local government and nonprofit organizations better understand the causes and consequences of poverty.
Course name: SOC 397A
Department: School of Sociology
"It was great to be able to be a part of a research project that is actually trying to do something to reduce the amount of poverty in Tucson and in our nation." – student in Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop
Drone Pilot
Become a licensed drone pilot — Drones or sUAVs are increasingly common in many industries including; journalism, engineering, research, agriculture, commerce and more.
Course name: JOUR 482
Department: Journalism
Literary Publishing
Run an online young adult literature publication called Pine Reads Review.
Course name: ENGL 393-002E
Department: English
Digital History
Explore archival material about the UA and then create a digital narrative, such as a website, documentary, app, or podcast.
Course name: HIST 302U
Department: History
Playing with Language
Gather data from children at the Children’s Museum Tucson about how they learn through play.
Course name: LING 492A
Department: Linguistics
“I’ve always wanted to work with kids. After taking the course, I’m now sure I want to work with kids. I loved the course and learned a lot.” –Lexie Sorrentino, student in LING 492A
Want to find more hands-on courses? Search the full UA list of engaged learning courses or get in touch with your advisor to learn more about opportunities in your major.