The International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IJRSLCE)
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Using Active-Learning Strategies to Increase Pre-Service Teachers’ Efficacy in a Service-Learning Course
Get PDFImproving pre-service teachers’ ability to recognize work-related problems and apply effective strategies and solutions to fundamental challenges in the field is at the crux of an effective college preparation. Although there is evidence that service-learning experiences within a teacher education course can have powerful effects on student learning, what is being done during the lecture portion of a course to improve the impact of service-learning practices goes largely unexamined. This study investigated whether a contextually developed set of active-learning strategies in the lecture part of a service-learning course improved pre-service teachers’ efficacy. Findings showed significant improvement within personal teaching efficacy constructs as a result of experiencing the active-learning sequence. Academic tracking of students showed that those pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in physical education teacher education benefitted significantly more from the active-learning experience than those pursuing a Bachelor of Science in athletic training. This article describes how the active-learning sequence emerged as a preferred method of instruction by instructors and students, and how these strategies were useful in problematizing teaching situations and engaging students with course content.
Service-Learning in Undergraduate Global Health Education: The Effect of Team Dynamics on Civic Attitudes and Skills
Get PDFSocial justice is most effectively taught through experiential learning, including practicums, internships, and service-learning (SL). Service-learning provides solid conceptualizations, with the potential for improving civic attitudes (i.e., social responsibility and participation). Graduate public health programs have traditionally required SL internships designed to enhance civic attitudes and skills, which has led to the recent incorporation of SL courses into undergraduate curricula. The authors assessed the benefits of SL in undergraduate public health education using the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire administered to enrollees (n = 43) in a global health SL course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Variability among student groups by major, gender, academic year, partner type, honors college status, team dynamics, and previous SL experience was determined. Overall, students reported increases in their civic attitudes and skills. However, team dynamics emerged as the most important associated factor. Individuals reporting poor team dynamics consistently reported lower levels of improvement than those reporting great team dynamics
Final-Year Transition and Service-Learning: Working Together as a Vehicle for Student Engagement, Development, and Life Preparedness
Get PDFPreparation for the demands of the 21st-century workplace is an essential priority and growing concern of both students pursuing postsecondary degrees and the faculty and administrators responsible for educating them. For institutions of higher education, demands such as graduate employability, life preparedness, and emotional stability are consistently becoming more complex to support. Research demonstrates a range of high-impact practices (HIPs) that directly influence student engagement and support student development. How can these HIPs help prepare students for post-university life? This article highlights two research projects: one that explored the post-university transition of recent graduates, and another that explored the HIP of service-learning. Using the “what, so what, now what” framework, the article presents each study and its relevant findings. Implications of those findings are then synthesized by examining the two study topics through a single lens in order to identify transferable institutional strategies for preparing graduating students using service-learning pedagogy
The Narrative Approach in Service-Learning Methodology: A Case Study
Get PDFThe U.S. National and Community Service Act (1990) defines service-learning as “a methodology that extends classroom learning into real-life situations through participation in service experiences organized by collaborating schools and communities.” Reflection represents a very important phase in this methodology; indeed, students build the meaning of their experiences through reflection. For this reason, teachers, instructors, and professors need effective methods for improving student reflection. Can the narrative approach help students to reflect on service experiences? This article presents part of a research project on how the use of the narrative approach in the reflection phase of service-learning can improve critical thinking in students. In particular, it describes a case study of the Freshmen Honors Symposium and service-learning experience at a U.S. university and presents a qualitative analysis of 40 student narratives
From the Editors' Desk
Get PDFA welcome to the Journal from the Co-Editors, Cathy Burack and Alan Melchior, and Assistant Editor Jodi Benenson
The Impacts of Undergraduate Service-Learning on Post-Graduation Employment Outcomes
Get PDFThis article highlights the results of a study assessing service-learning’s impact on post-graduation employment for students from a large, public land-grant university who had completed their undergraduate degree. Survey data collected three years after graduation yielded 44 unique pairs matched for undergraduate major, graduation date, gender, and academic performance, but with only a single member of each pair having taken service-learning coursework. The study investigated employment outcomes including time needed to find a first job, starting salary, timing of promotions and raises, and type of employment. Paired t-tests found significantly higher starting salaries and significantly shorter time to receive a first raise for graduates with service-learning experience. No significant differences were found regarding (a) whether either set received a raise or promotion, (b) whether the job was in their desired field, (c) the overall time to find an initial job, or (d) the length of time from hiring to first promotion. These results represent the first empirical data assessing service-learning’s potential influence on economic aspects of post-university employment
