Learning by Doing: The Essence of Community-Based Learning at An-Najah National University, Palestine

Learning by doing is currently seen as having priority within higher education in Palestine. This priority has been prompted by the premise that the most profound learning often comes from experience that is supported by guidance, context-providing, foundational knowledge, and intellectual analysis. This paper presents a case study on the implementation of community-based learning (CBL) courses at An-Najah National University in Palestine. The study explains that the opportunity of students to bring practical knowledge and notions based on their personal experience and social interactions is of significant importance to the learning experience of students and to the content of the course. The study also aims at highlighting the value of CBL to the communities involved in such initiatives in terms of benefits reaped from the resources of our staff and students while maintaining powerful ways of transforming knowledge.