Places and Spaces: Kelsey Bitting explores how locations effect learning | Today at Elon
Kelsey Bitting, assistant professor of environmental science, has been selected to participate in the highly competitive Center for Engaged Learning’s (CEL’s) 2025-2027 Research Seminar on Learning on Location: Place-Based Pedagogies in Higher Education.
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Kelsey Bitting, associate professor of environmental studies, has been selected to participate in the Center for Engaged Learning’s (CEL’s) 2025- 2027 Research Seminar on Learning on Location: Place-Based Pedagogies in Higher Education. The Center received applications from 24 institutions across three countries with a wide array of disciplines. This research seminar is highly selective, and participants must undergo a rigorous application process and express interest in the study of learning on location in higher education.
As a participant, Bitting will have the opportunity to conduct multi-institutional research on pedagogies that leverage critical engagement with place and space to deepen teaching and learning in higher education. Place-based learning emphasizes hands-on learning experiences that connect students to a local community and environment, whether on-or off-campus. This research seminar will be conducted over three summers. Participants will utilize a mixed-methods approach to conduct qualitative and quantitative research culminating in the production of significant concrete outcomes such as edited volumes, journal articles, book chapters, white papers, conference presentations, as well as local initiatives on participants’ home campuses.
Participants will focus on one of the following topics for the duration of the research seminar:
- Student perspectives on, and experiences with, learning on location
- Multi-disciplinary, evidence-informed strategies for teaching with place-based pedagogies
- Partnership and stewardship in learning on location
- Institutional-level policies and practices to enable learning on location.
Bitting brings valuable perspective to this research seminar as she is interested in multi-disciplinary, evidence-informed strategies for teaching with place-based pedagogies, especially community-based or service-learning, teaching outdoors or with digital globe technologies and contemplative pedagogies that engage learners with the world around them.
Bitting has a strong background in publishing teaching activities, as well as research surrounding teaching methods such as virtual experiential learning and ways to improve teacher performance and student engagement, learning and overall wellbeing. She previously was selected as a Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) Scholar and has received a CATL Diversity and Inclusion Grant for her work in investigating questions related to teaching, learning, and equity, especially in STEM fields.
The 2025-2027 research seminar will culminate with the 2027 Conference on Engaged Learning, which will be hosted at Elon University on July 12-13, 2027.
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