Project-based Service Learning Research Articles

Enhancing Employability Skills of Biology Graduates through an Interdisciplinary Project-Based Service Learning Experience with Engineering and Translation Undergraduate Students

We describe an interdisciplinary experience based on the application of the Project-Based Service Learning (PBSL) methodology for six learning outcomes directly related to employability skills. The objective was to assess students’ learning outcomes, the level of satisfaction of students and lecturers with the PBSL, and the advantages and disadvantages of the implementation of this learning methodology. Interdisciplinary teamwork of undergraduate science, engineering, and humanities students was required to design real-world projects to develop their transferable skills, through the process of learning by doing. Students perceived that PBSL favored employability skills such as knowledge acquisition, self-directed learning, problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, and teamwork skills. Students and lecturers showed high satisfaction with PBSL and outlined its advantages as an active and experiential learning methodology. In conclusion, the implementation of the collaborative and interdisciplinary PBSL methodology is decidedly recommended to enhance Biology, Engineering, and Translation graduates’ learning satisfaction and their future employability.

Playing on Both Sides of the Djembe: Preservice Music Teacher Development Through Facilitating Drumming at a Special Education School

Despite a renewed interest in music teacher education practices with real-world implications, the heterogeneity of learners is often daunting to early-career educators. There is a lack of specific and adequate coursework in undergraduate music education programs to prepare preservice music teachers (PSMTs) for teaching diverse learner populations, including learners with disabilities. Drawing on a project where PSMTs facilitated drumming sessions at a special education school, this case study explored PSMTs’ experiences of project-based service learning in a special educational setting. Five themes that emerged from the data describing PSMTs’ experiences suggest that such initiatives with learners at a special education school can foster student responsiveness and autonomy. The findings describe how integrating dialectic aspects could nurture the music-teaching skills of a PSMT. These aspects are joy and challenges, expectations and reactions, and learning to teach individually and in a group.

Charity- and project-based service learning models increase public service motivation outcomes among dietetic students in a community nutrition course.

To determine whether dietetic students would report a change in their public service motivation (PSM) following a community nutrition service learning (SL) course, and whether the SL model (charity v. project) influences this change differently. Using a pretest-posttest, nonequivalent groups quasi-experimental design, this study compared students' PSM at the beginning and end of a 15-week college-level course. PSM and four component dimensions (attraction to public policy, commitment to public interest, compassion and self-sacrifice) were measured via electronic survey using the PSM scale. Average PSM scores were compared between and within the charity and project groups using independent samples and paired sample t tests, respectively. ANCOVA assessed the effect of SL model on post-survey scores, controlling for pre-survey scores. Public university in northeastern United States. Dietetic students enrolled in six sections of the same undergraduate community nutrition SL course. Students were placed by section in either charity (n 59) or project (n 52) SL experiences and required to complete 14 h in this role. Mean PSM total scores increased between pre-survey and post-survey (3·50 v. 3·58; P = 0·001). Students reported small increases in three PSM dimensions: commitment to public interest, compassion and self-sacrifice (all P ≤ 0·01). Holding pre-scores constant, the charity group reported a higher attraction to public policy post-score, while the project group reported a higher self-sacrifice post-score (both P < 0·05). Educators should consider adopting SL methods into curricular offerings to enhance students' motivation for public service.

Comparison of Charity and Project-Based Service Learning Models on Knowledge Outcomes of Dietetic Students in a Community Nutrition Course

Upon completion, participants will be able to differentiate between two types of service learning models and their comparative impact on dietetic students’ self-rated knowledge of community nutrition concepts.

FROM CRISIS TO SPECIALTY COFFEE The Case of Nicaraguan Smallholder Cooperatives and Jesuit Business Education for Sustainability and Justice

Project-based service-learning has been proven to be an effective experiential learning opportunity that complements standard curricula in business schools. Seattle University (SU) has collaborated with its sister university, Universidad de Centro Americana (UCA) in Managua, Nicaragua, since 2015 on several project-based service-learning experiences focused on sustainable coffee farming practices and the implications that climate change may have on coffee farms and communities. This partnership with UCA and coffee cooperatives has its roots in the global coffee crisis of the early 2000s and has produced multiple projects that support farmers entering the specialty coffee markets. This paper as such presents the outcomes of our annual field research that took place in Penas Blancas, Nicaragua in March 2018. Using the framework of sustainable coffee in light of environmental, social, and economic sustainability objectives, we provide evidence that many farmers in Nicaragua have been experiencing issues with their farms’ sustainability. Our findings, moreover, reveal that the direct trade model used by the SU student-run social enterprise Cafe Ambiental is the most effective means of ensuring the farmers’ economic sustainability, thereby allowing them to develop the environmental sustainability of their farms as well as improve their family and community health, education, and overall livelihoods for enhanced social sustainability. This social enterprise model created by SU students takes significant steps toward fulfilling the needs and improving the lives of coffee farmers in Nicaragua while preserving the land at the same time so future generations can grow quality coffee. Finally, we believe that our project has potential that is transferable to other Jesuit higher education institutions that utilize and pursue similar structures and objectives.

From Crisis to Specialty Coffee the Case of Nicaraguan Smallholder Cooperatives and Jesuit Business Education for Sustainability and Justice

Project-based service-learning has been proven to be an effective experiential learning opportunity that complements standard curricula in business schools. Seattle University (SU) has collaborated with its sister university, Universidad de Centro Americana (UCA) in Managua, Nicaragua, since 2015 on several project-based service-learning experiences focused on sustainable coffee farming practices and the implications that climate change may have on coffee farms and communities. This partnership with UCA and coffee cooperatives has its roots in the global coffee crisis of the early 2000s and has produced multiple projects that support farmers entering the specialty coffee markets. This paper as such presents the outcomes of our annual field research that took place in Penas Blancas, Nicaragua in March 2018. Using the framework of sustainable coffee in light of environmental, social, and economic sustainability objectives, we provide evidence that many farmers in Nicaragua have been experiencing issues with their farms’ sustainability. Our findings, moreover, reveal that the direct trade model used by the SU student-run social enterprise Cafe Ambiental is the most effective means of ensuring the farmers’ economic sustainability, thereby allowing them to develop the environmental sustainability of their farms as well as improve their family and community health, education, and overall livelihoods for enhanced social sustainability. This social enterprise model created by SU students takes significant steps toward fulfilling the needs and improving the lives of coffee farmers in Nicaragua while preserving the land at the same time so future generations can grow quality coffee. Finally, we believe that our project has potential that is transferable to other Jesuit higher education institutions that utilize and pursue similar structures and objectives.

Projects with Underserved Communities: Case Study of an International Project-Based Service-Learning Program

AbstractMany universities are embracing service learning due to the demand by the current generation of students for these types of programs and the opportunity to provide experience with team-buil...

Community-level environmental projects as learning tools for planners: a case study of graduate planning students

Despite the potential environmental impact of urban planning, there is little research on Environmental Education (EE) in the context of urban planning curricula. This study follows graduate planning students’ learning experience during group projects assigned as part of a planning course at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. These participatory projects, characterized as project-based learning and service learning, took place in several communities in Israel. We examined the types of learning impacts the projects engendered by analyzing the reported experiences of the students using parameters from the field of EE. The main goal of this research is to understand the contribution of such practical, hands-on project exercises to the course curriculum for inculcating environmental education themes. Findings indicate that projects helped students acquire and/or improve professional tools. They enhanced motivation to consider environmental concerns in their work and in some cases changed students’ personal environmental behavior.

Integrated Service Project for Junior and Senior Students

Project-Based Service-Learning (PBSL) offers a unique and rich educational experience for engineering students. The present work highlights some of its aspects through the discussion of a multi-level design and build project. A service project was assigned to two teams of junior and senior students. The project was to design and build a bubble tower for the local children’s museum. The tower was completed in two phases. In the first phase, it was assigned as a final project in a junior level course. In the second phase, another team of seniors was added to lead the design optimization and building of the tower as their capstone experience. The Service-Learning (SL) nature of the project and having two teams at different academic levels added challenges and benefits to the students. The details of this unique experience are discussed and samples from the students’ work are presented. The project was completed successfully with positive feedback from the students, the customer and the local community. Reflections about this project and recommendations for future use of similar SL are also presented.

Pedagogies to Achieve Sustainability Learning Outcomes in Civil and Environmental Engineering Students

The civil and environmental engineering disciplines have identified the levels of knowledge about sustainability that are desirable for students to achieve as they graduate with a bachelor’s degree, as well as sustainability-related competencies to be obtained during a master’s degree, and on-the-job, prior to professional licensure. Different pedagogies are better suited to help students attain these levels of cognitive ability, while also developing affective outcomes. This paper provides examples of different methods that have been used at one institution to educate engineering students about sustainability, supported with data that indicates whether the method successfully achieved the targeted learning outcomes. Lectures, in-class active learning, readings, and appropriately targeted homework assignments can achieve basic sustainability knowledge and comprehension by requiring students to define, identify, and explain aspects of sustainability. Case studies and the application of software tools are good methods to achieve application and analysis competencies. Project-based learning (PBL) and project-based service-learning (PBSL) design projects can reach the synthesis level and may also develop affective outcomes related to sustainability. The results provide examples that may apply to a wider range of disciplines and suggest sustainability outcomes that are particularly difficult to teach and/or assess.

Project-based Service-Learning in an Instructional Technology Graduate Program

The stu dy focused on the critical incidents that occurred to instructional design students when they were involved in project-based service-learning as part of a curriculum that lead to a master’s degree. The study provided an illustration that the workplace application of skills, knowledge, and understanding are enhanced through utilization. Students worked with local nonprofit agencies to provide instructional support ranging from needs assessments to delivery of course content. Results indicated that project-based service learning was an effective tool for promoting greater learning. The importance of learning thro ugh active participation and reflection was supported, and by extending learning beyond the classroom, students were able to apply their knowledge in ways that transformed their learning experience and fostered a sense of caring about others.

Engaged service learning – Implications for higher education

Dwindling resources for tertiary education, has resulted in reduced emphasis on intensive, small group, staff – student collaborative project-based service learning. However, training scientists to manage significant issues, such as sustainable water use, requires an ability to engage both industry and community stakeholders. This paper describes the results of an ‘action conversations’ approach to explore community perceptions, teach students skills for community engagement, and evaluate their experience of this as a teaching and learning method. It suggests that there are significant parallels between factors contributing to successful community engagement and effective teaching and learning by students.

Service Learning in Engineering and Science for Sustainable Development

Appropriate technologies have a central role in the alleviation of poverty in the developing world. However, research and development of these technologies are generally apportioned relatively modest support by the world’s academic institutions in part because the operation of many of these appropriate technologies is dependent on relatively well-understood science and engineering concepts accessible even to undergraduate college students. The International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering (IJSLE) provides an outlet for university students that undertake project-based service learning assignments on appropriate technologies to publish their work. Service learning is the various pedagogies that link some form of community service with academic study so that both parts symbiotically strengthen one another. Professors at all of the world’s institutions can capitalize on this opportunity to assist students to learn engineering and science more effectively by offering them a chance to make concrete contributions to the optimization of appropriate technologies for sustainable development.

Integrating Project-Based Service-Learning into an Advanced Environmental Chemistry Course

In an advanced environmental chemistry course, the inclusion of semester-long scientific service projects successfully integrated the research process with course content. Each project involved a unique community-based environmental analysis in which students assessed an aspect of environmental health. The projects were due in small pieces at even intervals, and students worked independently or in pairs. Initially, students wrote a project proposal in which they chose and justified a project. Following a literature review of their topic, they drafted sampling and analysis plans using methods in the literature. Samples were collected and analyzed, and all students assembled scientific posters describing the results of their study. In the last week of the semester, the class traveled to a regional professional meeting to present the posters. In all, students found the experience valuable. They learned to be professional environmental chemists and learned the value of the discipline to community health. Students not only learned about their own project in depth, but they were inspired to learn textbook material, not for an exam, but because it helped them understand their own project. Finally, having a community to answer to at the end of the project motivated students to do careful work.