Service-learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
D. Brian McNatt
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Future Research ◽  
University Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Project ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Learning Projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test whether engaging in course service-learning projects can impact interpersonal oral communication confidence and skill development beyond that of traditional course research projects. Design/methodology/approach Three sections of a university management course were randomly assigned to have a service-learning team project, while the other three retained the traditional research team project. All projects were student-generated. Survey data were collected at the beginning of the semester and at the end four months later. Findings Results indicated that service-learning produces greater oral communication self-efficacy. For female students, service-learning projects also increased their interpersonal communication self-efficacy and interpersonal communication competence (but not for males). Research limitations/implications The sample was limited to students in a management course, service-learning projects were only completed by groups and the study did not examine outcomes beyond four months. Future research could examine outcomes from projects by individuals, and examine what service-learning components create differing results between men and women. Practical implications Oral communication confidence can be bolstered through service-learning. Benefits may depend upon participant characteristics (like gender). Inasmuch as different service-learning projects positively impacted oral communication, students can be given flexibility in the kinds of projects they undertake. Originality/value This study answered the widespread calls for empirical data to support the claims of service-learning as a beneficial pedagogical tool. The experimental and measurement design overcame the limitations of some previous research. In addition, the study examined the crucial skill area of interpersonal oral communication.

The practice of professional skills and civic engagement through service learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhui Sophy Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Traditional Learning ◽  
Community Service Learning ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Course Material ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Learning Projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the community service learning initiative among Taiwanese communication students by examining the link between the value of work-based learning and learning outcomes from the applied classroom projects. Design/methodology/approach This study involves the applied classroom projects. Data are captured in both quantitative (i.e. survey) and qualitative methods (i.e. reflective papers). The survey is designed to measure general attitudes and perceptions of service learning students. The reflective papers focus on the participants’ expectations of the service learning outcome. Findings The findings suggest that work-based and service learning projects are beneficial for the students, faculty, university and community partners. As an extension of experiential learning, students acquire a deeper understanding of the course material, gain practical expertise in the real world, develop interpersonal communication skills and engage in civic responsibility. Practical implications This study supports the notion that service learning engagements help students develop problem-solving skills. It is suggested that since the content of traditional learning in the discipline of communication has changed extensively over the past decades (i.e. from traditional media to new digital media), service learning can be a complimentary tool to not only broaden students’ learning, but to also expand their professional horizons and opportunities. Originality/value The current study expands existing theory and advances our understanding of service learning in the discipline of communication in a Taiwanese context. With practical roots embedded in Western educational initiatives linking service learning to higher education, this paper reveals that service learning does work across cultures as well.

The service learning projects: stakeholder benefits and potential class topics

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raina M. Rutti ◽  
Joanne LaBonte ◽  
Marilyn Michelle Helms ◽  
Aref Agahei Hervani ◽  
Sy Sarkarat
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Nominal Group Technique ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Real World Learning ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
College Classes ◽  
Learning Projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize the benefits of including a service learning project in college classes and focusses on benefits to all stakeholders, including students, community, and faculty. Design/methodology/approach – Using a snowball approach in academic databases as well as a nominal group technique to poll faculty, key topics for service learning across college disciplines are presented. Findings – Findings include a wide range of service learning projects across disciplines. Research limitations/implications – Areas for future research are identified to expand the service learning topic list as well as guide studies on the long-term benefit of service learning for each identified stakeholder. Practical implications – For new faculty or faculty new to service learning, the list of paper ideas is a good first step to identify projects. While not comprehensive, the list serves to stimulate topic ideas and fills a void in the service learning literature. Social implications – Service learning exists to provide real-world learning for students, but the projects provide benefits for community groups, agencies, and organizations. Societal benefits from the student effort are numerous and there are little or no costs to the agencies who participate. Originality/value – The abundance of service learning literature has studied learning across disciplines and has quantitatively and qualitatively presented benefits, but no studies have worked to compile project ideas across major college disciplines. This research addresses this issue and provides the key first step to implement the service learning pedagogy: the topic idea.

Transdisciplinary learning and teaching as answers to urban sustainability challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Biberhofer ◽  
Christian Rammel
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Urban Sustainability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Science Society ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
The City ◽  
Learning Projects

Purpose This paper aims to explain the relevance of science-society interfaces and their potential for higher education institutions to engage stakeholders in supporting sustainable change in cities, via the transdisciplinary learning and teaching approach of the Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development Vienna. Design/methodology/approach This case study stresses new forms of transdisciplinary learning and teaching as essential drivers of a sustainable urban development. The inter- and transdisciplinary teaching course “Sustainability Challenge”, which has been offered since 2010 as a collaborative project by the four largest universities of Vienna, highlights the value of experienced-based learning approaches and the method of service learning. Special attention is devoted to the opportunities and challenges of the setting provided by the applied science-society interface and the particular method of service learning with its concrete benefits for the city of Vienna. Findings In analyzing the conceptual framework of the teaching course as well as conducted service learning projects, the authors prove potential benefits of transdisciplinary learning and teaching for real answers to urban sustainability challenges. Portraits of the most successful service learning projects are presented, with partners such as the City of Vienna, an organization and one enterprise. Lessons learned from the case study and key elements of the institutionalized umbrella function of science-society interfaces that provide prerequisites for applying transdisciplinary learning and teaching are shown. Originality/value Finally, main requirements, challenges and necessary institutional settings for transdisciplinary learning and teaching are summarized.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of e-Service Learning in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (06) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Valerie Bukas Marcus ◽  
Noor Azean Atan ◽  
Sanitah Mohd Yusof ◽  
Lokman Tahir
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Digital Natives ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Learning Projects

<p class="0abstract">E-Service Learning is a service-learning course when the instruction and/or the service occurs online gains popularity among educators as we are transitioning to online learning platforms. The current study presents a systematic review of papers on the research involved information and communications technology (ICT) in the service-learning project. Studies have noted the growing use of ICT in service-learning projects for various purposes such as for communication and collaboration, data collection, reflection, and instruction delivery. However, very little research analysed students’ engagement in this e-Service Learning environment. Future research should be done to investigate an effective application of technology in service-learning courses, especially to attain the attention of digital natives nowadays and engaging learners instead of merely using technologies in service-learning courses.</p>

Ethnographic Service Learning: An Approach for Transformational Learning

Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie A. Medeiros ◽  
Jennifer Guzmán
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Transformational Learning ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
The United States ◽  
Field Methods ◽  
The Social ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Transformational Experiences ◽  
Learning Projects

Trends in higher education pedagogy increasingly point to the importance of transformational experiences as the capstone of liberal arts education. Practitioners of ethnography, the quintessential transformational experience of the social sciences, are well-positioned to take the lead in designing courses and term projects that afford undergraduate students opportunities to fundamentally reshape their understanding of the social world and their own involvement within it. Furthermore, in the United States, colleges and universities have become proponents of service learning as a critical component of a holistic educational experience. In this article, we describe how service learning can be incorporated into training students in ethnographic field methods as a means to transformational learning and to give them skills they can use beyond the classroom in a longer trajectory of civic participation. We discuss strategies, opportunities, and challenges associated with incorporating service learning into courses and programs training students in ethnographic field methods and propose five key components for successful ethnographic service learning projects. We share student insights about the transformational value of their experiences as well as introduce some ethical concerns that arise in ethnographic service-learning projects.

Service-Learning Projects: Meeting Community Needs

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly A. Peterson ◽  
Jean Yockey ◽  
Peggy Larsen ◽  
Diana Twidwell ◽  
Kathy Jorgensen
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Learning Projects

Knowledge assimilation by employees in learning organizations

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 350-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tali Marcus ◽  
Snunith Shoham
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Knowledge Assimilation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Powerful Explanation ◽  
Safety Procedures

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the factors related to the employee as an individual, that affect the quality and level of the individual’s assimilation of knowledge (AOK) which is transmitted by way of organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach – All subjects (317) of this research were employed at different positions in day camps of a social organization. The study examined the subjects’ AOK relating to the organization’s security and safety procedures. The variables examined in this study include: the employee’s organizational commitment; the employee’s perception of the organization’s culture; the employee’s perception of the advantage inherent in the security and safety information; the employee’s self-efficacy; and the employee’s motivation to assimilate the new knowledge. Findings – The research variables explained a significant part (37 per cent) of the variance obtained with respect to assimilation and learning in the organization. The most powerful explanation for the variance in degree of implementation was the perception of the organization’s security and safety culture and the subject’s self-efficacy. Subjects’ perceived advantage from the knowledge did not make a significant contribution and motivation serves as a mediator but it does not mediate directly between the variables and AOK. Research limitations/implications – The research was conducted in a single organization. We recommend conducting similar studies in other organizations, including other types of organizations, to strengthen the conclusions which derive from our research. We also recommend that future research should use alternative methodologies (e.g. qualitative research and review of the results by experts) since other methodologies might reveal new facts that may have been uncovered in the use of the quantitative method applied in our research. Practical implications – We recommend that an organization which strives to be a learning organization, should pay attention, inter alia, to factors relating to the employees themselves, and in particular: increasing the employees’ self-efficacy, clarifying the benefits to the employee of the transmitted knowledge; and bringing the organization’s values and culture into clearer focus for the employees. Originality/value – The unique nature of our research model is twofold: first, the variables on which we have chosen to focus are different from other studies, and to our knowledge, the combination of these variables and the examination of these variables in relation to learning in the context of organizations have not been examined in other studies. Second, our model gauges the effects of an employee’s subjective perception with relation to his organization’s culture, his perceived advantage with regard to the subject-matter which he is learning and his self-assessed existing knowledge.

scholarly journals Reflect, Analyze, Act, Repeat: Creating Critical Consciousness through Critical Service-Learning at a Professional Development School

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Andrews ◽  
Susan Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Professional Development School ◽  
Engaged Scholarship ◽  
Traditional Service ◽  
Community Engaged Scholarship ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Learning Projects

Universities engage students in traditional service-learning projects that often yield “good feelings”, even a savior mentality, but typically leave the root causes of social justice issues unexamined and untouched. In contrast to traditional service-learning, critical service-learning bridges this gap with an explicit focus on justice and equity, situating scholars’ work with the community rather than for it. A public university in the southeast offered a doctoral course that focused on critical service-learning in the context of a professional development school partnership. Designed as an ethnographic multi-case study, each graduate student in the on-site course represents a case. Data collection included interviews, observations, written reflections, and artefacts. The analysis revealed that developing critical service-learning projects with educators—rather than for them—supported participants’ critical consciousness. Findings and discussion highlight that facilitating community-engaged scholarship through critical service-learning impacts graduate students and middle-grades educators’ research interests, work, and future directions.

scholarly journals Australian universities in a pandemic world: transforming a broken business model?

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-548
Author(s):  
Lee D. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
International Student ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
University Management ◽  
Operational Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Australian Universities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critique the accounting and financial orientation of Australian universities’ business model to identify the future university financial management and accounting role in universities’ strategic trajectory responding to COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach Informed by Habermasian perspectives on change, it uses published research into university commercialisation and media commentaries on COVID-19 impacts. Findings Australian universities have aggressively pursued an accounting-based private sector business model. Their revenue generating reliance on international student revenues has been undermined by the COVIS-19 crisis. Nonetheless, university management clings to their commercialised university identity and role colonised by the accounting structures. Fundamental change requires a reversal of this relationship. Research limitations/implications Future research must observe and evaluate university strategic crisis reactions and their impacts on national and societal well-being with a view to identifying alternative futures. Practical implications Universities face decisions concerning their ongoing role in society and their future approach to balancing operational strategies and the accounting influence. Social implications This study raises the issue of whether universities should continue being seen as an export industry supporting the national economy or as knowledge, educational and social resource for their national and regional communities. Originality/value This paper integrates research into universities over several decades into a strategic critique of their current reaction to an unprecedented global pandemic.

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