Service-learning Class Research Articles

The Student Experience of a City-University-Community Service-Learning Classroom

The Austin City Hall Fellows Program at The University of Texas at Austin was a student civic leadership program designed to build Austin City Hall’s capacity to reach potential leaders in diverse new council districts. Undergraduate students in this program took a single-semester service-learning course that connected them with partners from the city, the community, and the university. Using Howard’s (1998) framework, our study analyzed student assessments from five cohorts of the class to understand how students experienced a service-learning class based around a multipartner community-university-city partnership. Our findings revealed that students experienced a nonlinear path to engagement in a synergistic classroom. This study offers implications for adjusting service-learning classes and projects to integrate and sustain relationships with multiple partners, even as the context of the service landscape and learning context are evolving.

대학 인성 교육 모형으로서의 서비스 러닝 교과목 적용 사례 연구

본 연구는 서비스 러닝 교과목이 학습과 봉사, 지식과 행동, 대학과 지역 사회의 연계를 통해 인성 교육의 일환으로 효과가 있는지에 주목 했다. 하나의 사례로 L대학 서비스 러닝 모형 <노인과 미디어> 교과목 분석을 통해 봉사-학습의 인성 교육 가능성을 제시했다. <노인과 미 디어> 교과목은 노인이 주인공이 되는 영상자서전 제작을 통해 세대가 공감할 수 있는 미디어 컨텐츠를 시도한 수업이다. 본 수업을 통해직접 봉사 외에 영상 스토리텔링에 대한 잠재적 가능성을 공유하는 간접 봉사에 더욱 적극적이며, 수업 전 ․후 봉사학습 진단을 통해 학생 들의 소통과 공감, 섬김 역량이 향상되는 결과가 도출되었다. 내용적 인 측면에서도 세대간 새로운 공감의 의미를 발견할 수 있었다. 이러한 연구목적을 달성하기 위하여 L대학교에서 2021년 1학기 개설된 ‘노인과 미디어’ 교과목의 비대면 온라인 기반 교양수업에 참여 한 학생을 대상으로 한 최종 과제물 분석, 대학생핵심역량 K-CESA 진단 등을 통해 수업 성과를 분석했다. 이에 대한 연구 결과 ‘서비스 러닝 모형으로서의 노인과 미디어’ 수업은 지역사회 인식 및 봉사 동기 부여 역량을 증진시킨 결과를 보여주었다. 본 연구가 주목한 인성 교육을 위한 서비스 러닝 교과목은 결과적으 로 ‘봉사’에 대한 관점의 변화를 통해 소극적인 소양 교육을 넘어 질적인 변화의 가능성을 어느 정도 실현했다고 보여지며 앞으로 좀더 정교 한 교과목 설계와 운영을 통해 서비스 러닝의 인성교육의 효과를 증진 시킬 수 있도록 후속 연구를 진행하고자 한다.

Collaborating Successfully with Community Partners and Clients in Online Service-Learning Classes

Teaching online students to collaborate effectively with community partners and to solve problems through service-learning projects are “on trend” topics for technical communication faculty. This article presents collaboration specifics as well as the author's Collaborative Communication Framework (CCF) to show the types of communication needed to work well with community partners/clients in service-learning. Tips for teaching, including using the CCF and service-learning, will be highlighted so faculty can make choices about how to meet curricular goals while addressing community partner/client needs. Resources for teaching will be offered. Successful student projects will show detailed examples of key ideas throughout the article.

A Case Study of Non-face-to-face Service-Learning Class: Focusing on W University’s &lt;Sharing Service-Learning&gt;

목적 본 연구에서는 비대면으로 이루어진 서비스-러닝의 수업 사례를 소개하고 학생들의 수업경험을 분석하여 향후 비대면 또는 온라인 서비스-러닝을 위한 시사점을 제시하고자 하였다. 방법 이를 위하여 W대에서 2020학년도 1학기부터 2021학년도 1학기까지 3학기 동안 비대면으로 운영되었던 <나눔 서비스-러닝> 교과목의 프로젝트 내용들을 직접, 간접, 옹호, 연구로 범주화하여 구분하고, 학생들이 작성한 주별 성찰일지와 결과 보고서, 수업 평가 서술문항 답변지들에 대한 내용분석을 실시하여 학습경험을 분석하였다. 결과 나타난 학습경험을 보면 첫째, 서비스 측면에서 볼 때 서비스 형태가 다양해지면서 새로운 현실의 장(場)을 마주할 기회는 늘어났지만 직접 대면에 의한 상호작용의 경험이 부족하였다. 둘째, 러닝 측면에서 대부분의 교육적 효과는 기존 연구들과 같이 나타났지만 인간관계의 성장과 사회적 약자에 대한 공감은 드러나지 않았다. 셋째, 교수자의 촉진자(facilitator) 역할을 중요하게 인식하였고, 코로나 19에 의한 학교 시설 및 기술 이용의 제약은 아이디어 구현에 제약을 야기하여 공학설계 중심 서비스-러닝의 완성도에 아쉬움을 가져왔다. 결론 향후 비대면 또는 온라인 서비스-러닝의 실천에서는 1) 비접촉 서비스를 진행할 시에도 실시간 화상 시스템을 활용한 대면 활동의 강화나 피드백 시스템 구축을 통한 상호작용의 보완, 2) 인간관계에 대한 자극과 성찰을 제공할 수 있는 팀 프로젝트 활동 추진, 3) 사회적 약자에 대한 공명(共鳴)을 만들 수 있는 수업 설계, 4) 교수자의 촉진자(facilitator) 마인드 세팅, 5) (특히, 공학설계 중심일 경우) 비대면 상황에 적합한 집약형 프로젝트 전용 메이커 스페이스 운영 등을 고려해 볼 수 있을 것이다.

프로젝트 기반의 협력적 CPS를 적용한 실내디자인 서비스러닝 교과 운영 사례 및 교육효과

A key task for universities to prepare for the future in the face of rapidly social changes after the decline of the school-age population and the COVID-19 outbreak is the development of innovative curriculum. While the development of class in majors is becoming more important, this study looked at the case of experience-oriented education that can be growed self-directed creative talents in the field of interior design through specific curriculum operation. The interior design service learning using project-based cooperative CPS curriculum at Gachon University highlighted the various educational effects required for interior design majors. The characteristics and educational effects of the class are summarized as follows. First, it was possible to systematize the educational performance that was easy to miss in the non-course as the service learning class was operated as a subject in which individual interests and public purposes create mutual value. Second, as the class was organized based on projects, students were able to develop practical skills while solving and operating practical problems. In addition, they were able to reflect on their future improvement points by using their existing major knowledge. Third, through the class, students were able to learn the process of creatively exploring problems and solving cooperatively. Professors and university were also able to implement the goal of cultivating creative talents in cooperation through this class. In conclusion, this class provides students with project-based practical courses, experiences to collaborate creatively and problem-solving, and provides opportunities to contribute to society through their efforts. In this respect, the class can be evaluated as one of the meaningful class models.

On Interdisciplinary Presentism in Hispanic Studies: Notes on Service-Learning with the Latinx Community

In this article, presentism-bringing current events into the classroom to discuss historically rooted structural inequalities (Spratt and Draxler 2019)- is examined as a pedagogical tool in the context of a service-learning class in which students participate with different Latinx partnerships. During COVID-19, this service-learning class has been restructured as a distance learning experience where students meet synchronously with different schools organizing projects that range from bilingual readings to university and career orientations. A presentist pedagogy is employed to explore how COVID-19 has exacerbated the inequalities in Latinx communities and how these inequalities relate to current and historical issues of access, language, and race. It is argued that embracing a presentist perspective in Hispanic Studies is necessary to make our courses relevant to the present crisis.

Impact of Service-Learning on Hispanic College Students: Building Multi-cultural Competence

This article explores the experiences of Spanish-speaking heritage language university students in a sign language interpreting program who were enrolled in service-learning classes. In the service-learning classes, the students partnered with a community service-agency for the deaf that provided intervention services to Spanish-speaking families with deaf children. The findings indicate that the students developed a deeper awareness of their own multicultural and multilingual identity. Moreover, the students gained authentic experiences in brokering linguistic and cultural differences between the American deaf and Hispanic communities in an effort to enhance intervention services for the deaf Hispanic children.

Students in Community Action: Service-Learning as Social Justice in Appalachian Communities

Abstract This note considers the work involved with responsibly developing, planning, and implementing a service-learning course at a comprehensive university with a service region comprised of several distressed counties in eastern Kentucky. At Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), service-learning courses engage students in projects benefitting the surrounding community while simultaneously challenging students to think critically and creatively about their own coursework and their civic duty. One key detail that this description and most service-learning related scholarship ignores—and that this note addresses—is that a majority of students at EKU are from the communities in which service-learning classes work. For example, students in my English course, Introduction to Technical and Professional Writing, worked directly with high school students from two economically disadvantaged eastern Kentucky counties, identified as distressed by the Appalachian Regional Commission, through a program offered by the Kentucky River Foothills Development Council (KRFDC). That KRFDC program helped students prepare for life after high school (for example, navigating college and job applications, the interview process, etc.). Many of the EKU students also hailed from those very same mountain communities and faced similar economic struggles. Drawing on IRB-approved pre- and post-project surveys as well as the ongoing scholarly conversations about service-learning, this note discusses how service-learning pedagogy works in this part of Appalachia with an emphasis on students, community partners, and social justice.

Learning Anthropology by Teaching Anthropology: A Case Study of Five Service-Learning Classes at Rollins College

As an anthropologist, I strive to incorporate the principles of engaged ethnographic research into my teaching. This paper presents a case study of five service-learning projects conducted by anthropology students at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. I contrast the minimal impact of two unsuccessful projects focused on documenting participants’ family lives with the great success of the later projects, in which my students taught anthropology-themed courses to older adult students. These projects were successful because they were mutually beneficial: They helped my students apply their knowledge outside of the classroom while providing opportunities for continuing education for older adults seeking to engage in academic debate. I argue that using the methods of collaborative ethnography can help scholars to design community engagement experiences that are more impactful for students and community partners alike.

Preparing Teachers for Special Education: Lessons from a Service-Learning Class

This article discusses a qualitative study that focused on the experiences of 27 students majoring in special education who completed a service-learning course on intellectual and developmental disabilities. In the course, each student was paired with an individual with an intellectual and developmental disability, and engaged in weekly recreational activities exploring the local community. Through their study, the authors sought to understand three main phenomena. First, they explored the connection between service-learning and increased understanding about individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Second, they investigated whether course content paired with service-learning impacted students’ desire to pursue a career in special education. Finally, the authors examined the relationship between service-learning and the development of work-related skills in the field. Findings revealed that strengthening the connection between service-learning and special education not only reaffirmed students’ career choices but also equipped them with skills to continue serving as educators.

Using eService-Learning to Practice Technical Writing Skills for Emerging Nonprofit Professionals

Undergraduate students entering the nonprofit sector receive theoretical information on working in nonprofits but may need practical skills. Universities can assist in developing these practical skills through service-learning opportunities. Nonprofit courses and programs are increasingly being offered online and students may lack the opportunity to participate in traditional service-learning classes. Service-learning— linking service to course learning outcomes—as a pedagogy is transforming to meet the needs of these virtual classrooms. One key transformation is the rise of eServicelearning, a method that is mediated by technology and is delivered online. This paper discusses ways that eService-learning was effectively utilized in an online nonprofit course by students to practice technical writing skills. It provides an example of a project in which students developed practical skills and created a professional product for nonprofits. The paper also discusses challenges and successes with the project with recommendations for use by others.

Reading Experience as Communitist Practice: Indigenous Literatures and Community Service-Learning

Our paper analyzes a community service-learning class on Indigenous literatures from the perspectives of graduate student and instructor. Enacting Jace Weaver’s theory of communitism (a portmanteau of “community” and “activism”), the class asks students to read Indigenous texts through the lens of their experiences at communitybased organizations in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and to consider how these readings shape their interactions with and responsibilities to Indigenous communities. First, the instructor discusses the complexities of community service-learning as an engaged approach to literary study in a settler colonial context. Informed by Tomson Highway’s novel Kiss of the Fur Queen, the second author then analyzes their1 contributions to the social justice club at Oskāyak High School, highlighting Oskāyak’s unique academic culture, where music and Indigenous language learning are incorporated into the fabric of everyday life. Ultimately, we argue that a communitist approach to Indigenous literary scholarship creates or furthers relationships with/in and responsibility to Indigenous communities, while encouraging an integrative approach to literary study through critical embodiment.

Service-Learning: A Powerful Pedagogy for Promoting Academic Success Among Students of Color

This article discusses a mixed-methods study that investigated the service-learning experiences of students of color at College of the Holy Cross to better understand how service-learning may be an effective pedagogical tool for reducing cultural dissonance and addressing related achievement gaps. Quantitative data were collected from over 1,500 students who had enrolled in 59 different service-learning classes. In addition, interviews were conducted with 13 students of color who had participated in service-learning. Findings indicated that students’ service-learning experiences paralleled study participants’ descriptions of how they learned most effectively. Furthermore, the findings suggest that service-learning may resonate for students of color because of the way in which (1) it enables students to integrate social responsibility with academics; (2) students of color can personally relate to the course content as well as the people and experiences encountered at service-learning sites; (3) service-learning reduces cultural dissonance by empowering students who are struggling to build confidence and feel that they belong in a highly selective, predominantly White college.

Pinterest: Pinning the Gap Between SoTL and SLCE in Higher Education

This is an evaluation of an SLCE (service learning/community engagement) assignment that uses Pinterest in a collaborative reflection and learning experience among students in a Methods for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Course at a United States University. Technology is ever changing, and social media provides a unique platform for collaboration. It only makes sense that as innovative instructors, we look for ways to improve in class collaboration using these methods from the ‘real world.’ Social media platforms such as Pinterest have yet to be used by students as processors in higher education service learning classes, despite the collaborative nature of this tool. Third- and fourth-year students in an ELL certification program taught small groups of English Language Learners and received mentorship from primary teachers at a local elementary school. They were assigned in class and peer to teacher reflection and collaboration opportunities. After instructor review, it was decided that these possibilities did not provide for the kind of dialogue necessary to aid students in their knowledge of the course content or how it applied to the service site. Therefore, the instructor introduced Pinterest as an educational platform for outside collaboration on activities that connected course content to the objectives laid out for them at the service site. Students pinned, explained, and commented on one another’s pins to further student learning on the two topics. Improvement in student grades suggests the benefit for enhancing understanding of course objectives as they related to service. Communication between students illustrates an example of interactive social media use that could be replicated in other service learning courses in higher education yet has been untouched for this purpose.

Indigenous Methods and Pedagogy: Revisiting Ethics in Community Service-Learning

This paper looks at the development of a teaching module intended to enhance students’ understanding of ethics in a community service-learning (CSL) class. This module, created to meet academic (western) learning outcomes for CSL, is based upon Indigenous pedagogy and methods, and offers a non-western framing of specific community service goals, particularly reciprocity and transformative dissonance. The paper proposes that moving toward Indigenous or other ways of knowing offers students and instructors an entry point into decolonizing practices and into alternate ways of experiencing service, transformative learning, and power dynamics. The paper also includes a discussion of the theory behind the teaching module and focuses on the intertwining of ethical research protocols (from Tri-Council policy, OCAP® principles, and elsewhere), service-learning goals, and Indigenous methods within the context of settler colonial practices and policies. Alongside other traditional service-learning outcomes, the primary goal of the module is to encourage students to become critical thinkers reflecting on the mechanics of power and social inequity as they experience social justice founded upon the ideals of relationship building.

Civic Engagement Index (CEI) - the case of liberal arts universities from Romania

Abstract We have arrived to a moment in history when the society we are living in is confronted with different sets of problems: hunger, crime, economic crises, natural disasters or cataclysms, and various human rights violations. At the moment the most appropriate way to solve these problems still lies with the organisms of the nation state. As such, the lack of civic sense and the increasing political apathy will only allow these problems to grow out of proportions. We are of the opinion that most of them can be counteracted if we try to educate the civic sense in people. By civic sense or engagement we understand a type of orientation towards being involved in social groups according to democratic principles. It is said the post-socialist countries are particularly threatened by the lack of civic engagement on behalf of their citizens that have reached the point where they take democracy for granted. This is why we explore the role played by universities in developing and shaping this civic attitude amongst young people. In order to do so, we resorted to questionnaires applied in liberal arts universities in Romania. These universities have a special relation to democratic principles, national pride and the perpetuation of the nation state as an ideal for its citizens and because of this we believe they represent a proper starting point for the current investigation. The areas that are targeted through the questionnaire are the following: the academic environment, the methods through which civic values are instilled in the hearts and minds of the students, and the institutional and personal factors that determine faculty to introduce civic values in their academic environments. Using the results we create the Civic Engagement Index (CEI) that can be used as a valuable benchmarking mechanism for those universities that are trying to enhance their civic engagement activities. Finally, we test the hypothesis that certain universities fail to create civic-oriented graduates and we propose ways in which the organizational culture could be transformed into a more supportive one: civic participation guides, civic responsibility classes, and service learning classes for faculty members to increase their openness towards the promotion of civic values.

Adding a community partner to service learning may elevate learning but not necessarily service

An important motivation for research in natural hazards is to reduce threats posed by natural disasters to at-risk communities. Yet, we rarely teach students how research may be used to reduce disaster risk in practice. The motivation for this study is to test the potential of service learning to impart students with both the scientific background and the skills necessary to navigate the real-world constraints of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). We present results from a service learning class taught jointly at Stanford University and Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh in the winter quarter of 2016 in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. To reduce the potential bias implicit to a service learning approach, we modify the typical setup of service learning classes by collaborating not only with a service partner, but also with a local academic institution that we will refer to as our community partner. Our results suggest that the inclusion of a community partner may elevate the learning component of the class, as indicated by student self-assessments, but the class fell short of meeting the expectations of our service partner, the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. We speculate that one quarter is not sufficient time to build an intellectual partnership with two international partners and to design a joint service project that is sufficiently developed to be actionable. In the future, we plan to extend the class over several quarters.

Effects of intrinsic motivation and informative feedback in service-learning on the development of college students’ life purpose

This study applied self-determination theory to youth purpose development among Korean college students. It examined the effects of students’ intrinsic motivation for volunteering and informative feedback from significant others on three dimensions of life purpose: confidence in purpose, commitment to purpose and social contribution. The study also tested whether informative feedback influenced the relationship of intrinsic motivation and life purpose development. Participants were 110 Korean college students taking a one-semester service-learning class. The results showed that informative feedback positively affected commitment to purpose and social contribution, especially for students who had low intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation and feedback both positively predicted students’ confidence in purpose. To positively influence students’ life purpose development, these results suggest the importance of providing college students with intrinsically motivated experiences plus informative feedback that supports their competence during service work.

Service Learning in the Middle Grades: Learning by Doing and Caring

Although service learning has been documented as a promising pedagogy for middle grades learners, it remains the exception rather than the rule in many middle schools. This qualitative study examined fifth grade students’ experience of a service-learning class. Using the tenets of service learning and experiential learning theory as the theoretical framework, we describe the findings of the study, identifying the importance of a culture of “doing” and problem solving; an integrated curriculum that was based in caring for others; a joyful environment in which to learn; and opportunities for competence and independence. We present the findings in relation to the theoretical framework and discuss the implications of this research for middle grades practice, teacher education, and future research.

The Impact of Service Learning at Kebontunggul Village for The Students of Heat Transfer Class

Service learning is new for engineering students in PCU. When heat transfer class was adopting service learning methode last year, a small survey was done to know the students’ respond for this new methode. The survey was done via reflection they wrote in the end of the process. The students learn not only heat transfer itself, but they also learn how to apply it to an oven needed by a community in Kebontunggul, a small village in Mojokerto. The students in three groups visited the village, discussed with the villagers, and designed the oven used to dry crackers’ paste made from corn, cassava, and rice flour. Once the design was ready, the students went to workshop to manufacture the ovens. The oven was tested before sent to the village. They learned that it was difficult to make those cheap crackers. They learned a lot from the villagers in social interpersonal, social intrapersonal, emotional, and cognitive process. They are thankful to God for their being and grateful for this Service Learning class. A student even wrote, “I had changed motivation from just pursuing grade to seriously helping villagers”.