Shanna E. Banda, Ph.D.

Service Learning Course(s):

• Elementary Statistical Analysis (MATH 1308)

“Anything that improves student success and helps people at the same time, I’m all in."

In addition to teaching for over 20 years, Shanna Banda co-teaches her service learning course, MATH 1308, with Mathematics professor Alice Lubbe. Because of her background in missionary work, she enjoys service learning because it gives her an opportunity to “mix real world activities with education.” In her time at UTA, Shanna Banda has worked with a growing list of community partners, including, The Salvation Army, The Arlington Public Library, The City of Arlington Parks and Recreation Department, Center for Service Learning, United Way, Wings of Hope, River Legacy, Arlington Emergency Response, and Hope Tutoring, just to name a few. But her favorite part of working with community partners has been the way students connect with their partners, referring to them as “my” partner – because it’s the little things that make a huge difference. Living in a unique, diverse metroplex, Banda believes service learning plays an important role in enhancing the community because there are a plethora of nonprofits that need service and, likewise, it also provides students with higher grades and possible internships. Her current work is specifically entailed into an IRB Study where she does research and analysis by seeing how civic engagement shapes student perceptions in academia.

Professor Banda advises faculty interested in service learning to start small with their projects. She understands that in many cases, starting off small and fine tuning as you go will allow for the project to grow over time and make sure that professors are not overworking themselves.