Abstract
Since the mid-1980s, service-learning has gained recognition as a pedagogical model in higher education with exciting potential for students' academic, civic, and professional development (1). Deemed a high-impact educational practice by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), extant research points to student learning, engagement, and retention benefits from community-based experiences integrated into curriculum (2, 3). Numerous studies have examined best practices for service-learning from varying stakeholder perspectives (faculty, student, and community partner) and disciplines, however, due to the recent development of public health as a major offering in U.S. undergraduate education, the value of service-learning within the discipline should be further explored. While recommendations for service-learning in undergraduate public health programs have been provided, no evaluation of the impact on student learning outcomes has been conducted (4). This study presents one university's model of service-learning in introductory public health courses, and results from the analysis of two datasets representing students' experience with service-learning in undergraduate public health curriculum. Findings provide empirical support of the effectiveness of this pedagogy for advancing student learning and the achievement of foundational accreditation domains outlined by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
Highlights
The start of undergraduate public health education in the United States can be traced back to 2003 when the American Schools of Public Health ( American Schools and Programs of Public Health) launched a taskforce for undergraduate education [5]
As undergraduate public health programs continue to emerge and evolve, we present one model that has worked in our Foundations of Public Health class to meet student, community, and accreditation outcomes
Because of the commitment to partnerships and pedagogy, as well as to ensure continuity of messaging around the importance of service-learning to our public health program, we have found that primary instructional faculty are best-suited to incorporate service-learning into their courses
Summary
The start of undergraduate public health education in the United States can be traced back to 2003 when the American Schools of Public Health ( American Schools and Programs of Public Health) launched a taskforce for undergraduate education [5]. This taskforce was a response to an Institute of Medicine report that recommended all undergraduates, regardless of their discipline, have access to public health education [6]. Interest in public health grew, and the development of majors followed. In 2002, there were 1,438 degree conferrals at the undergraduate level for Classification of Instruction (CIP) codes in the area of public health, increasing 5-fold to 6,464 by 2012 [7] and to 12,895 conferrals in 2016 [8]. In 2013, has CEPH opened accreditation to stand-alone
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