Open Journals at the University of Georgia Libraries
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Secondary Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Interpretations of the Situative Perspective
No full textIn this study, we examined five mathematics teacher educators’ (MTEs’) interpretation of the situative perspective, who self-identify as holding that perspective. Furthermore, we share how they designed and facilitated their secondary mathematics methods course pertaining to the activities they identified as most important for the course. We discuss the participants’ two interpretations of the perspective rooted in the context of teaching and the act of teaching, which seemed to influence their approach to topics of equity but not the types of activities they identified as being most important. Overall, findings from this study indicate there is diversity with respect to how the five MTEs interpret the situative perspective, and that diversity seems to be contextual
Actualizing Critical Commitments for Community Engagement Professionals
Get PDFCommunity engagement professionals (CEPs) often must develop and maintain equitable, high-quality relationships with community partners while supporting student learning and civic development through cocurricular community engagement or for-credit community-based learning programs. Lack of alignment between campus goals and values and those of communities creates challenges for CEPs. Our community partners have expressed the feeling that students were not adequately prepared for community engagement and that it is the university’s job to prepare them. To support partnerships in inclusive and equitable ways, CEPs need to be skilled and comfortable with some critical, complex topics before they can train students or provide professional development to instructors. This reflective essay examines specific strategies for CEPs doing this work, informed by the literature, feedback from community partners and social justice training professionals, and classroom experience. Topics addressed include social identity, systems of privilege and oppression, cultural humility, and institutional–community power dynamics
Public Libraries as a Context for the Study of Learning and Development
Get PDFPublic libraries are ideal contexts for supporting child development and family involvement (Families and Work Institute, 2015; IMLS, 2013). Families with children often attend public libraries to participate in educational programming and experiences, yet university-based developmental scientists who study how people develop and adapt across the lifespan have not fully recognized them as a significant context for the study of learning and development. This reflective essay suggests that developmental scientists and public libraries can achieve mutual benefits through joint research and evaluation efforts within the library context. We illustrate this type of collaboration through a firsthand account of a university–library partnership developed to support family engagement in library settings that promotes optimal parenting and enhances children’s school readiness
Dilemmas in Service-Learning: (Missed) Opportunities for Transformative Partnership
Get PDFAlthough there have been growing concerns on how service-learning can accentuate the power differences between the server and the served, service-learning can foster transformative partnership by recognizing the contributions each can offer for a better society. Using participant observation and discourse analysis, this case study examines the perceptions of third-year undergraduate students of a health-related degree in a Philippine-based Jesuit university about their school–community collaboration in a primary healthcare setting. Despite apprehensions at the start of service-learning, students saw themselves confronted with the challenge to overcome personal barriers from authentically encountering the urban poor, whom they served in the community. However, establishing transformative partnership in service-learning was not without its share of dilemmas. Such findings can contribute to discourses on service-learning, informing practitioners how to support social transformation in university– community collaboration
The State of Service-Learning in Australia
Get PDFThis article provides an overview of the present status of service-learning in Australia. It explores the evidence for service-learning in Australia through published literature and a desktop audit that identified service-learning units/courses publicly available on university websites. Authorship of the article has provided a wider perspective to ensure the accuracy of its substance and conclusions. Service-learning is a relatively new curriculum approach in Australia in all but small pockets within universities and in faith-based institutions. However, in recent years, interest in civic learning outcomes for students has been behind efforts to include it more broadly in higher education approaches to engendering citizenship and social awareness as well as to expand the range of approaches to work-integrated learning. To capture this growing interest, an Australian service-learning network and summit is planned for November 2019
Engaging Students: Conducting Community-Based Research in the Senior Capstone Course
Get PDFEngaging undergraduate students in community-based research (CBR) offers rich benefits to both students and communities (Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, Stoeker, & Donahue, 2006). Finding ways to expand its application promises to multiply those benefits. Senior capstone courses represent a promising vehicle for that expansion, as they are also generally research based and extremely common in contemporary higher education (Hauhart & Grahe, 2015). However, CBR and capstones each have multiple goals and present significant challenges, raising questions about the feasibility of merging practices. This research presents a case study of a capstone sociology course organized around group-based CBR projects. The case demonstrates that CBR-focused capstones, if intentionally designed, are feasible. Assessments by students and community partners provide evidence that the course also achieved the goals of capstones and of CBR. Discussion addresses steps taken since the initial case study to sustain and institutionalize the practice, including measures to assist instructors
Understanding the Intersection of Spirituality and Service Engagement Among Undergraduates From a Reasoned Action Approach
Get PDFService engagement is critical to many higher education institutions. Past research has looked at spiritual change as a result of service engagement, but few studies have looked at how spirituality might contribute to engagement in service projects, particularly from a reasoned action approach. This quantitative study looked at God concept and religious motivation as predictors of intention to serve with two particular projects being offered at a faith-based university, an inner-city experience and a tutoring service. Participants were 305 ethnically diverse undergraduates. Data were analyzed using multiple regressions. The spirituality variables were associated with attitudes, social norms, and moral evaluations toward both service projects, as hypothesized. However, the spirituality variables were not significantly related with intention to serve for either service project. The findings suggest that spirituality may shape beliefs about service projects but may have little effect on intention to engage in service projects, at least in certain cases
Evaluating the Complexity of Service-Learning Practices: Lessons From and for Complex Systems Theory
Get PDFThis article examines the intersection of service-learning with complex systems theory. It is based on a research project we undertook to explore whether complex systems theory might be useful for better understanding the dynamics of service-learning practice and thus for assisting in the design, running, and evaluation of service-learning projects. Additionally, we were interested to find out whether the specifics of our service-learning experience and knowledge, what we refer to as “critical service-learning,” might have something of value to contribute to the interdisciplinary and ever-broadening paradigm of complexity studies. Our findings respond to these two tasks in the affirmative: We conclude complex systems theory can be of benefit to service-learning practice in a conceptual, operational, and strategic capacity. In instances where critical service-learning practice initially appears to be incongruent with complex systems theory, conversely these instances instead highlight precisely how service-learning could advance the analysis of systems in complexity studies