The International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IJRSLCE)
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Volume 2, Issue 1 Reviewers
Get PDFIncludes the names and affiliations of the Journal's Volume 2, Issue 1 Reviewers
Be Mindful of Your Discomfort: An Approach to Contextualized Learning
Get PDFService-learning creates a space for contextualized learning whereby students connect classroom concepts to real-world practices relative to their own frame of reference. These experiences occur within a societal status quo rooted within historical and social inequalities. Affective responses to encounters with inequalities are not routinely addressed within the learning outcomes of formal curricula. Thus, the pedagogy of discomfort calls for an awareness and a critical self-examination among educators and students of how their passive acceptance or non-acceptance of apparent social injustices has been shaped by the status quo. By incorporating affective learning into the reflective process, we realized that contradictions in South African society permeate students’ experiences in ways that are indicative of the status quo. Increased recognition of the potential of affective learning to address social injustices in higher education could enable efforts toward social transformation.
The Estimated Effects of Participation in Service-Learning on Liberal Arts Outcomes
Get PDFThis study used data from a longitudinal, national study of recent college students to examine the estimated effects of students’ participation in service-learning on six liberal arts outcomes. Findings indicate that service-learning was a positive, significant predictor for students’ political and social involvement. Service-learning did not have a significant effect on students’ growth regarding critical thinking, moral reasoning, inclination to inquire and lifelong learn, intercultural effectiveness, or psychological well-being.
Student Development and Service-Learning: A Three-Phased Model for Course Design
Get PDFMany key resources in service-learning literature offer tools and advice to faculty members for designing effective service-learning courses; these materials typically focus on integrating service-learning effectively into a syllabus, fostering reciprocal partnerships, and using reflection to analyze experience. In addition, a number of research studies have explored the impact of participation in service-learning on student development outcomes. However, very few resources “flip” this equation—that is, there is less information in the literature on how student development theory can inform the effective design of service-learning courses and curricula. This article utilizes an extensive review of student/adult development and learning theory to propose a three-phased model for service-learning course design. Informed by the authors’ experiences working with faculty members and departments, the article provides examples illustrating the potential impact of this approach for individual courses or sequential curricula
STEM and Service-Learning: Does Service-Learning Increase STEM Literacy?
Get PDFThe importance of education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is again a topic of discussion among policy makers and scientists, particularly given perceived declines in STEM performance by students in the U.S. Service-learning has been used in innovative and creative ways to enhance learning in a variety of STEM-related courses. Improving STEM literacy is also a focal point of STEM education and has been explicitly linked to service-learning projects. Herein the authors review literature linking service-learning to academic achievement in STEM-related courses. They then examine whether service-learning enhances STEM literacy in a STEM-centered communications course at an aeronautics engineering university and in two biology courses at a small rural college. Despite early calls by researchers for improved rigor in the field of service-learning research, the literature review indicates that few studies over the past 15 years employed rigorous research techniques when examining whether service-learning affects academic achievement in STEM courses. Results of mixed-methods analyses showed that service-learning enhanced science literacy in the three STEM-related courses. First, students scored significantly higher on a post-service survey of skills and content relative to the pre-survey survey at the aeronautics engineering university. Second, students earned significantly higher grades in a written report of their service-learning project relative to a non-service-oriented project in the small rural college. Third, students indicated through comments on evaluations and reflections that the service-learning projects enhanced the STEM content in the courses.
Engaging Religious Institutions to Address Racial Disparities in HIV/AIDS: A Case of Academic-Community Partnership
Get PDFAfrican Americans face the most severe burden of HIV among all racial and ethnic groups. Direct involvement of faith leaders and faith communities is increasingly suggested as a primary strategy to reduce HIV-related disparities, and Black churches are uniquely positioned to address HIV stigma, prevention, and care in African American communities. The authors describe an academic-community partnership to engage Black churches to address HIV in a predominantly African American, urban, southern Midwest location. The opportunities, process, and challenges in forming this academic-community partnership with Black churches can be used to guide future efforts toward engaging faith institutions, academia, and other community partners in the fight against HIV.
Experiences of Health System Preceptors and Faculty Advisors with Community Service-Learning Initiatives: Learning from the Dalhousie University Drug Use Management and Policy Residency Program
Get PDFFrom 2001 to 2011, an innovative approach to pharmaceutical policy and drug use management graduate education—the Drug Use Management and Policy Residency Program—was developed and implemented by the College of Pharmacy at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This in-depth qualitative assessment of the experience of faculty members and site preceptors who guided residents in their 17-week placements identifies components, characteristics, strategies, and principles associated with successful service-learning initiatives and provides guidance around the development of programs in other jurisdictions.
Spanish L2 Students’ Perceptions of Service-Learning: A Case Study from Ecuador
Get PDFThis article examines students’ perceptions of the relationship between the service-learning component of a four-week study-abroad program in Ecuador and the development of their linguistic and cultural competency. The data come from two sources: (1) students’ responses to a survey composed of Likert-scale and rank-order items and (2) student journals written for an introductory translation course after the completion of several service projects relative to dental care and hygiene. The quantitative survey solicited students´ perceptions of the effectiveness of the service-learning component and other characteristics typical of study-abroad programs. In general, students perceived a positive relationship between their participation in service-learning projects while abroad in Ecuador and the development of their linguistic and cultural proficiency. Analysis of students’ reflective journals concerning the service-learning experience resulted in the identification of several themes within the areas of language-related and culture-related learning, contributing to the discussion around the complexities of acquiring linguistic and cultural knowledge through International Service-Learning (ISL)
Enduring Commitments to Community Service among Diverse College Students: Testing a Multidimensional Conceptual Model
Get PDFThe Enduring Community Service Engagement Model illustrates how multiple dimensions of service participation – including the type and intensity of service, the motivations to serve, and the benefits of service – relate to subsequent citizenship values and behaviors. This study draws on data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) and utilizes structural equation modeling to examine the extent to which the relationships in the model are conditional on college students’ gender, race and ethnicity, income level, and institutional type. The findings provide evidence for model invariance in the case of institutional type; however, some model parameters differ by gender, race and ethnicity, and income level
Can We Count on Counting? An Analysis of the Validity of Community Engagement Survey Measures
Get PDFResearchers use various survey efforts to understand students’ community engagement experiences. Among the crucial pieces of information for both academic and applied research is the extent to which (or whether or not) students participate in community engagement activities. However, recent studies have questioned the validity of many college student survey items. This paper describes an exploratory study that sought to investigate the validity of several survey items related to students’ community engagement participation. The study found that large percentages of students who have taken community-based learning courses do not accurately report these experiences on student surveys and examines what factors relate to misreporting. Implications for future community engagement research are discussed.