iEngage Summer Civics Institute Emphasizes Active, Engaged Citizenship
Nationally recognized program uses iCivics online games for teaching civics concepts to middle school students
Middle schoolers at iEngage Civics Institute day camp learn about the structures and functions of government by playing computer games from iCivics, an organization founded by the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. (Photo by Gabby Garcia)
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More than 100 rising middle school students are attending Baylor University’s nationally recognized iEngage Summer Civics Institute July 14-18 on the Baylor campus.
Founded in 2013 and the recipient of the 2022 Sandra Day O’Connor Award for the Advancement of Civics Education, Baylor’s iEngage Summer Civics Institute is led by iEngage co-cofounder Karon LeCompte, Ph.D., associate professor of curriculum and instruction in the School of Education. iEngage is co-directed by associate professor Kevin Magill, Ph.D.
“iEngage focuses on the structure of government and what it means to be an active and engaged citizen and how to work with communities and organizations,” said LeCompte, who specializes in social studies education. “The iEngage program is designed to help middle school students learn how to make a difference in their schools, neighborhoods and communities, even as young people.”
Attendance at Baylor iEngage is free through funding from Baylor and the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation.
The Baylor iEngage program activities include a field trip to Baylor’s W. R. Poage Legislative Library, where campers explore primary source artifacts; opportunities to meet with local civic and elected officials; and playing iCivics online games to learn about government functions. Baylor School of Education students are program counselors, giving them an opportunity to practice valuable skills and work with young people. Graduate students are serving as program researchers.
A new aspect of this year’s iEngage is a Community Issues Fair with some of Waco’s leading Community Partners in the Bill Daniel Student Center. As they do each year, students will create a website about their community project plan.
iCivics was founded by Justice O’Connor in 2009 to ensure that all Americans have the knowledge and will to participate in the country’s unique experiment in self-government. iCivics is the nation’s premier non-profit civic education provider of high-quality, non-partisan, engaging and free resources to more than nine million students annually in all 50 states.
iEngage Research and Impact
Since its beginning, more than 1,600 students have participated in iEngage, more than 125 Baylor future teachers have worked at the camp and more than 50 professional teachers have been leaders.
Baylor Education faculty and graduate students have conducted extensive qualitative and quantitative research on civics education, technology and teacher preparation, resulting in more than 50 research publications, including some studying the effectiveness of iCivics online games for teaching civics concepts to primary and middle school students.
The program curriculum is furthering its impact with LeCompte and others taking iEngage into regular school classrooms. In addition, the program has expanded new locations, including TCU in Fort Worth, which has hosted an iEngage summer institute since 2016, and Indiana University’s Columbus campus, which hosted its third iEngage Indiana camp this year. LeCompte has visited both camps for research and continues to analyze collected data, along with data from the Baylor camp.
From 2019 to 2023, LeCompte led a weeklong iEngage experience yearly during the school year for fifth graders in the East Texas community of Latexo, where school leaders devoted half of the class day to iEngage activities, with a culminating presentation by students at the Latexo Community Center. In fall 2024, the school implemented iEngage on their own, an outcome LeCompte hopes to replicate in other schools. Research findings from that experience — on topics including student problem-solving and challenging classroom discussions — were the foundation for research published in The Middle School Journal by the iEngage Team.
LeCompte also has adapted the First Amendment section of the iEngage curriculum for use during the school day at Midway ISD’s Spring Valley Elementary, while Baylor Ph.D. students have led iEngage in schools, with a program for 500 students at Midway Middle School and another in Longview, Texas.
“The magic of iEngage is that it can be customized,” LeCompte said. “It can be adapted to any setting and any level of learner.”
One reason for this adaptability is that Baylor iEngage focuses on civil discourse and engagement as a means to build consensus, LeCompte said. Students divide into groups, and each student will advocate for the community issue that they would like the group to address. Then the group must come to a consensus.
“Everyone joins the discussion. Students learn how to understand each of their individual perspectives and what it will take for everyone to agree,” LeCompte said. “They learn about give and take; you don’t always get exactly what you want, but a group can find an option that’s acceptable to most.”
iEngage Showcase
On the final day of iEngage, students will present their projects in the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center. Each group of 10 campers will share their project on the big screen, outlining the community issue they selected to study and sharing the potential solutions they chose as a group to address that community issue. Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., will stop by to greet the campers and encourage them to continue their path to civic engagement.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.
ABOUT BAYLOR SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
For more than 100 years, the School of Education has advanced Baylor’s mission across the globe while preparing students for a range of careers focused on education, leadership, and human development. With more than 60 full-time faculty members, the school’s growing research portfolio complements its long-standing commitment to excellence in teaching and student mentoring. Baylor’s undergraduate program in teacher education has earned national distinction for innovative partnerships with local schools that provide future teachers deep clinical preparation. Likewise, the School of Education’s graduate programs have attained national recognition for their exemplary preparation of research scholars, educational leaders, innovators, and clinicians. Visit the School of Education website to learn more.