Abstract
This article looks at how student learning from community engagement is related to traditional university education. In order to do so it has to deal with the range of variation in both student-community engagement and traditional university education and it has to explore the knowledge, skills and attitudes that characterise the learning outcomes of each. The main conclusion reached is that student-community engagement does not fit within traditional university education but it does fit with it. They are complementary forms of higher education that together better prepare students for their next steps after university than either do on its own.
 
 Keywords: Traditional university education, community engagement, student learning, knowledge, skills, attitudes.
Highlights
Student learning from community engagement (SLCE) normally involves the inclusion within the higher education curriculum of a period of time in which students work for some form of community-based organisation, to learn from the experience and to provide benefits to the community
The problem of heterogeneity A major difficulty in exploring the relationship between student learning from community engagement (SLCE) and traditional university education (TUE) is that SLCE programs are far from homogeneous
Student learning from community engagement and its learning outcomes If the main purpose of traditional university education is to equip students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to serve the advancement of knowledge of an academic subject, what is the main purpose of student learning from community engagement? It is to equip the students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to make a difference to the lives of those in the community
Summary
Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement Vol 3 (2010): 139–154 ©UTSePress and the author. This article explores the relationship between student learning from community engagement (SLCE) and traditional university education (TUE). The problem of heterogeneity A major difficulty in exploring the relationship between student learning from community engagement (SLCE) and traditional university education (TUE) is that SLCE programs are far from homogeneous. Student learning from community engagement and its learning outcomes If the main purpose of traditional university education is to equip students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to serve the advancement of knowledge of an academic subject, what is the main purpose of student learning from community engagement? Whereas traditional university education has most respect for the sort of knowledge found in academic journals and textbooks, student learning from community engagement applauds the sort of knowledge that is distilled from experience. Especially the ability to write for an academic audience
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