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.

Photo of undergraduate working elementary students in school garden

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.