Service Learning In Education Research Articles

Reflective Decision-making: Social Impact Lab Toolkit Applied to a 4th Year Engineering Capstone Course

This article describes how critical service learning pedagogy is applied to a 4th year Capstone design course in electrical & computer engineering. We create a series of modules based on the Social Implications Lab toolkit developed at UBC. The modules’ goals are: to develop students’ reflective and collaborative decision-making abilities in the context of their Capstone project, and to provide instruction and assessment of the non-technical CEAB graduate attributes for the purpose of accreditation. Student data indicates that students recognize the importance of the individual reflection – team collaboration process. They describe ways that the modules have supported their solution to topics related to the non-technical CEAB graduate attributes. The student feedback identifies a number of ways that the module design could be made more effective including better connection to the Capstone course deliverables, more support in developing reflection and collaboration techniques, and more emphasis on relating projects to systemic social / environmental issues.

Students’ Reflections in an Online Service-Learning (OS-L): An Analysis on Learning Outcomes

One of the functions of education includes a growth in cognitive process that supports the social aspect. The service-learning as a pedagogy is reported to develop students’ personal aspect and social engagement. As a teaching tool, it provides students the opportunity to reflect, and to better understand their experiences by writing reflections in a concluded service-learning activities. However, the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, posed a challenge in the accomplishment of course deliverables that required educators to redesign learning delivery and on how service learning pedagogy be facilitated virtually. Following Kolb’s experiential learning theory, the researchers utilized the rubric that assesses the academic service-learning (AS-L) of gathered reflection papers of Grade 12. This study aims to explore how their online experiences can contribute to a positive learning outcome using the following dimensions: awareness of purpose of service, critical thinking, application of the AS-L experience to the academic knowledge base and objectives of the course, responsibility to the community and impact on student’s personal life. These were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) with computer-assisted data analysis software Max Weber Qualitative Data Analysis (MAXQDA). Given that service-learning plays a vital role in the academic milieu, the outcomes of this study may be used as a benchmark in the sphere of Philippine education and how it can contribute in enhancing students’ reflective process.

The 3Cs in Volunteerism: Proposing a Model of Service-Learning in Education

Curriculum strategies on social justice in education often focus on classroom management and technology integration, which may be surface-level approaches. Emerging trends include project-based learning and community partnerships for students to address real-world problems; as such, selected courses employ service-learning as a method of volunteerism. However, the participation of the students ends as soon as the course ends. Thus, this study examined the motives for volunteering and the experiences of selected high school, college, and graduate students to understand what contributes to sustained volunteerism. Seven focus group discussions among 33 key informants were conducted, and the data were analyzed using combined thematic analysis and Colaizzi's method. Following the domains of affiliation, beliefs, career development, and egoism, findings revealed that the volunteer motivations among high school students primarily relate to civics, while college students are motivated by both civics and career development. Graduate students show motivations linked to civics, career development, and competence. This study proposes the 3Cs Model of Volunteerism, which views volunteerism as a continuum rather than a one-time activity; it aims to recruit and sustain volunteers across different educational levels. By gaining a deeper understanding of student experiences in service-learning activities, educational institutions can better identify and address the needs and motivations of students, ultimately enhancing student volunteerism and community engagement necessary for promoting social justice and nation-building.

고등학교 장애학생 대학생활체험 프로그램에 대한 예비과학교사의 서비스러닝 운영 사례

This paper presents a field research case applying service-learning pedagogy for a university life experience program targeted at high school students with disabilities, conducted at J University in 2022 and 2023. The study involved open-ended surveys and reflective journals from participating high school students, supervising teachers, guardians, and educational support staff (mentors in service-learning). The findings of the study are as follows. The educational satisfaction of students with disabilities who participated in the program was very high. Students were able to experience the possibilities of college admission and career exploration through major experiences, mentoring, and the support of service-learning mentors. The pre-service science teachers who participated as mentors had very high expectations for the program and were satisfied with the class operation. They reported learning new things while preparing to lead and teach students with disabilities, thereby developing core competencies such as sharing, caring, and a sense of community essential for future society. In particular, pre-service science teachers viewed this as a great opportunity to foster mutual benefit in service-learning classes, practical pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and self-efficacy in their teaching profession. Participants expressed a desire for this program to be a long-term special program at the university, continuing beyond high school graduation as part of transition education for students with disabilities. Moreover, it was suggested that the role of educational support staff should extend beyond ensuring safety and care for students with disabilities to fostering mutual benefit and sustainable development. This study proposes that service-learning is an effective teaching and learning method with long-term benefits.

Service-Learning And Community Partnerships With High Societal Impact

ABSTRACT Service-Learning (SL) is a teaching method utilizing experiential learning and meaningful community service. Although SL is proven to be an effective high-impact teaching strategy, more research is needed to illustrate how SL marketing courses can provide high societal impact. Based on student reflection activities and in-depth interviews with 20 community partners, this paper offers a means for maximizing societal impact. The findings identify seven core components of SL pedagogy: commitment, customized offerings, clear and consistent communication, collaboration and transformation, community compassion, critical reflection, and continuous improvement. Building upon these “7 Cs of SL,” two additional Cs of service learning deliver high societal impact: (1) co-creation of value for all constituents and (2) cyclical partnerships. The findings are discussed with specific applications for marketing courses.

Service-learning: An Empirically Driven and Transformational Pedagogy to Develop Psychologically Literate Citizens for Contemporary Challenges

Service-learning can produce timely paradigmatic shifts in the psychology curriculum and in teaching practices. This innovative pedagogy enhances students’ academic learning, personal growth, civic development, and professional development. Service-learning pedagogy also has the potential of enhancing students’ understanding of, and commitment to, “glocal” (global-local) issues as expressed in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Service-learning is defined and proffered to transform the undergraduate psychology curriculum by engaging the department faculty to align course outcomes and scaffold community-engaged activities from the introductory to capstone courses. This transformation is illustrated with a major contemporary challenge: climate change.

A nutrition education service learning programme: Development, implementation and impact on participants

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of university students who served as outside facilitators for evidence-based nutrition education for elementary-age children. Design: Qualitative case study. Methods: Thirteen undergraduate university students facilitated four nutrition education sessions for elementary-age students in an after-school programme using the Choice, Control, Change model as part of service learning curriculum. University students completed pre- and post-participation surveys. Elementary-age participants completed surveys after each session. Results: University students saw the benefit of this type of experiential learning with the following themes: knowledge application, learning about diverse perspectives and having a positive impact. Before the first nutrition education session, the university students felt excited, nervous and/or enthusiastic, and during and immediately after the sessions reported they felt confident. Participant engagement was low/mixed and classroom management was challenging, which may be linked to the university students’ perceptions that they were underprepared to work in a distracting social environment, and with behaviour typical to elementary-age children. The education session recipients reported they gained knowledge about healthy behaviours and believed that eating healthy foods is important. Conclusion: There are gaps in nutrition education programme theory and implementation by outside facilitators. These findings are relevant to those who provide health education services for surrounding communities. This study provides information about implementation barriers when outside facilitators lead nutrition education, alongside recommendations to improve these types of programmes in the future.

Developing social and school facilitators for a positive school transition through a Sport Education and Service-Learning programme

ABSTRACT Background: The transition from primary school to secondary school has negative effects on a significant part of the student body, such as a substantial decrease in self-esteem, motivation, academic performance and the risk of bullying and school dropout school. Social support and school factors are positively associated with transition success; thus, they need to be strengthened in transition programmes. In this sense, the application of pedagogical models that address affective and social domains could set a suitable framework to develop positive transition programmes. Purpose: The aim of this work was to test the impact of a programme consisting in a Service-Learning experience embedded in a Sport Education season on social and school transition facilitators within a positive school transition framework. Methods: A total of 17 teachers, 130 secondary school students (age: 15–16), and 305 primary school students (age: 11–12 years) across five established Sport Education networks participated in this study. The networks were composed of one secondary school group and between two and four primary school groups. The programme comprised between 18 and 21 physical education lessons for each secondary school group, and between 14 and 18 physical education lessons for each primary school group. The data were obtained in multiple time points through focus groups with students and primary school teachers, interviews with secondary school teachers and researchers’ field diaries. Findings: Results evidenced the development of facilitators in the social and school factors. Regarding the social factor, the programme created a positive relationship between primary school and secondary school students and increased quantity and quality of the relationship between students of the same age, as well as expectations of social support in the new stage. Within the school factor, the development of facilitators of school connectedness and a feeling of safety was verified. A shift in primary school students’ ideas and expectations about the transition was identified, which included a greater sense of security and more positive expectations. Conclusions: The Sport Education Service-Learning programme appears to be effective in developing school and social facilitators to promote positive school transition. Results suggest that Sport Education facilitates a positive and respectful relationship between equals, while Service-Learning is a highly suitable framework for relationships with older students. The long-term impact on social relationships established during programmes with a positive focus is suggested as prospective research.

Navigating I-positionings in higher education Service Learning as hybrid scenarios: a case study

This paper is part of a larger study on learning processes and identity change in university students participating in Service Learning (SL) programmes, considered as hybrid activities containing practices and values from at least two settings: academic activity and professional intervention. Our SL programmes, carried out in formal schools serving children from Roma and migrant backgrounds, challenge dominant views on educational and psychological processes, offering a critical view of learning and development, where traditionally unrepresented “others”, along with their cultural knowledge, bring their own voices to the arena. Our aim is to show the transformations taking place within this SL by analysing the dialogicality contained in the field notes written by a participating psychology student, Nina (pseudonym), as an illustration of the complex dynamics of learning and identity change we encounter. By analysing Nina's reflections while acting in this SL project, we attempt to delve into these processes of transformation from the perspective of an agentive participant. In her case, we tried to unfold the complex way in which different cultural traditions entered into dialogue in her I-positions as she emotionally connected and engaged with the surrounding motives, finding her own way through cultural crossroads through affect and practice.

Service-Learning as the Violence of Mercy after the 2010 Haitian Earthquake

This article draws on La Paperson’s (2010) notion of the “violence of mercy” to demonstrate how the service-learning response to the 2010 Haitian earthquake fits into an ongoing neocolonial mission that harms communities served (p. 25). This is done by investigating the best practices of the Haiti Compact, a cohort of American colleges and universities operating service-learning initiatives in Haiti after the earthquake in thoughtful ways intending to help with the recovery efforts while meaningfully contributing service via the ritual presence of international volunteers. Despite good intentions, their material practices of service-learning risk harm for community partners and fail to meet established best practice goals. By examining the work of service-learning educators who commit to best practices, place ethics, community, and social justice, we can understand the limits of possibility for a pedagogy that is predicated upon students entering communities as outsiders intent upon meeting community needs.

Integrating Service-Learning Pedagogy to Cultivate 4C's and Quadruple Helix Partnership

Integrating Service-Learning Pedagogy to Cultivate 4C's and Quadruple Helix Partnership

Cultivating Hope through Service Learning

Service-learning pedagogy complements language arts learning outcomes while allowing students and teachers to find and provide hope and justice in bleak situations.

Cultivating responsible citizenship in a non-traditional degree program through a service-inclusive pedagogy

A responsible citizen is someone who understands their role in the community and attempts to make a positive impact. Service-learning is one way to encourage responsible citizenship by asking students to engage with and reflect on their communities. This study explores student perceptions toward civic engagement in an undergraduate course focused on the multidisciplinary examination of social issues, with some sections incorporating service-learning pedagogy. Using a validated measure, changes among students were documented in six topic areas: civic action, interpersonal and problem-solving skills, political awareness, leadership skills, social justice attitudes, and diversity attitudes. Results were compared across sections with different service-learning requirements and delivery formats. Additionally, results were compared across students from diverse backgrounds, including age and race.

Fostering integration among students with different backgrounds using an orthotic community service program.

In this globalization era, institutions are developing strategies including international service-learning pedagogies to integrate global perspectives and dimensions into the learning and teaching processes to develop students' capacity in intercultural competence. This study aimed to assess the students' intercultural learning outcome through provision of orthotic community service to the less-privileged children. A Hong Kong-based university collaborated with 2 American universities to conduct an orthotic community service program for the children with cerebral palsy in mainland China. In the process of service delivery, the students with different backgrounds worked closely and students' professional knowledge, intercultural understanding, and communication skills were evaluated. A mixed-method approach was adopted to investigate on how this international program could facilitate meaningful interactions in clinical practices. Preprogram and postprogram surveys and focus group interviews were conducted. Statistical analyses were performed on the quantitative data, while interview data were analyzed thematically. A comparison of preprogram and postprogram surveys showed that the students perceived this community service program important for enhancement of their capabilities to communicate with people from other cultures (n = 39, p < 0.05). It also showed an increase in local students' willingness to work with people from other cultures. Some themes related to intercultural competences were identified from the interview: "intercultural awareness, understanding, and communication" as well as openness to work/socialize with people from other cultures." This study demonstrated that an international community service program could initiate positive changes in students' intercultural communication capability and interest to work with culturally different people.

Introduction to special section: Inequitable Ruptures, Rupturing Inequity: Theorizing COVID-19 and racial injustice impacts on International Service Learning pedagogy, frameworks and policies

This introduction to the special section, argues that this pandemic time has been one of ruptures which unveiled ongoing and intersecting social pandemics such as anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, white supremacy, patriarchy, classism, and ableism in the context of the COVID-19 global health pandemic (Brand, 2020). We proposed three ruptures as moments for imagining - and doing – otherwise: (i) the Black Lives Matter movement and increased mainstream attention to racial inequity, (ii) COVID-19 and new imaginings of travel, mobility, and safety (iii) mutual aid as increasingly necessary in a pandemic and as a possible relational way forward. We take these ruptures as a starting point for re-imagining learning and movement as relational. This introduction takes up a contextualization and conceptualization of the field of GSL, an overview of the critical literature in this space, and introduces the two articles in the special section. It ends with the hope that the grapplings and reckonings in this section will help scholars and practitioners think through this present moment and re-orient GSL in more just and equitable ways.

Essential Participants: Centering the Experiences of Southern Hosts in Global Service-Learning Pedagogy and Practice

In this paper we are concerned with the ways in which hosts are often excluded from scholarship and programming of global service learning. By global service learning (GSL), we mean a multiplicity of programs that occur facilitating service work for people across borders, generally with volunteers moving from the North to the South. We present findings from a research project conducted in 2014 with 37 host families. We circulated a survey to better understand host experiences of, expectations of, and hopes for GSL. Drawing on these survey results we provide some prompting questions for GSL participants (both students and program designers) to shift focus from student experience to relationship and mutuality. Using global service learning literature, critical disability theory and critical pedagogy through an intersectional lens, we center questions of uneven labor, accessibility, and structures of inequity. Three main themes emerged from our data: mutuality, gendered labor, and preparation. We present several infographic images capturing themes from the study to facilitate discussions with students who are preparing for GSL experiences and for those who are leading and designing programming. Our intention is to provide tools for educators to center the voices, desires, and motivations of Southern hosts in all of their GSL preparations.

A University and Middle School Mentor-Scholar Partnership

The State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego) and the Oswego City School district have created a campus-community partnership through a college program that matches SUNY Oswego students as mentors with at-risk youth in grades 7 and 8 in a structured environment in the school district. The structure is academically based for college students to earn credit based on the tenets of mentoring, youth development, and relationship building. The middle school students, or “mentees” come from an at-risk background that is academic, socially, or behaviorally based. The school district recommends students for inclusion in the program. This innovative program includes a course that is rich with the pedagogy of service-learning, builds leadership characteristics and teamwork through course discussions, workshops, and the mentormentee relationship. The community benefits with increased support to at-risk students and building a pipeline between the college and K–12 community. The Mentor-Scholar Program tracks K–12 impact through state assessments, grades, social-school success outcomes, college mentors course evaluations and grades. The program tracks the impact on college students through grade assessment and reflection. The program was formed five years ago and has grown from thirty mentors with sixty mentees to 120 mentors with 300 mentees this past semester. Initial research shows an increase in attendance and GPA for K–12 students enrolled in the program and leadership skill development for college students.

Revisiting SL in TPC Through Social Justice and Intercultural Frameworks: Findings From Survey Research

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>Background:</b></i> This article reports on survey-based research of technical and professional communication (TPC) teachers and administrators, illustrating how these participants implement social justice and intercultural communication pedagogies in service learning (SL). <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>Literature review:</b></i> We situate this research in relation to existing scholarship about SL in TPC, SL and social justice, and SL as it intersects with intercultural communication. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>Research question:</b></i> How do technical and professional communication teachers and administrators across the US infuse their SL pedagogies with social justice and intercultural communication theories in practice? <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>Research methodology:</b></i> Using purposive sampling, we surveyed 55 TPC teachers and administrators about their experiences with and attitudes toward social justice and intercultural communication in SL. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>Results/discussion:</b></i> We identify what courses are reported as sites of SL projects as well as participants’ self-reported perceptions about social justice in SL. In addition, we outline four themes related to the application of social justice and intercultural communication theories to SL: activities, constraints, points of resistance, and goals and outcomes. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>Conclusion:</b></i> We conclude with recommendations for TPC administrators and programs, and by briefly discussing implications for TPC practitioners and future directions for research.

Transformational Learning in Teacher Context

In today’s context, teachers not only teach, but also help to develop students to become useful citizens. The principles of transformational learning require teachers to change their beliefs, behaviours and emotions. At the end, teachers should be able to reflect on their experiences to help students holistically and thus this article will help to provide comprehensive overview of transformational learning among teachers. The scope of this review paper covers articles written between 2015 and 2020. Among them are peer coaching, implementation of adaptive change models (ACM), conflict, training, service learning pedagogy and approaches relating to culture. Previous studies have shown that transformational learning theory can enhance teacher effectiveness and bring about dissemination of changes. Therefore, there is a need to explore the relationship and the inconsistencies between Mezirow’s transformational learning theory and that of teaching theories practised by teachers. It is noted that most studies show significant relationships between the two theories but some studies claim that they are not significant. It is hoped that this study will be of benefit to practicing teachers to develop balanced and harmonious people.

Embedding character education into an early childhood classroom through service-learning

The implementation of service-learning in early childhood education classrooms has not been well documented, and the links to service-learning and the potential effects on character education are scarce at best. In this paper, a service-learning pedagogy is presented as a way to enhance character through education with the youngest learners: children in an early childhood classroom. This study examines the experiences of both teachers and children in an early childhood classroom participating in the form of a service-learning pedagogy for a year, and investigates the social emotional and character development of the young children participating in the classroom. Through the implementation of service-learning in early childhood classrooms, it is possible to grow and create a generation of learners who connect academic curricula through projects that deal with real community needs. With an emphasis on building relationships and making connections, service-learning the authors suggest, is an approach that can allows teachers to maximize children’s strengths, while at the same time building character and positive social and emotional traits.