What Psychology Students Want From Service-Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 009862832110210
Author(s):  
Christine E. Valdez ◽  
Jennifer L. Lovell
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Psychology Major

Background: Limited research has examined how service-learning (SL) outcomes align with learning goals proposed for the undergraduate psychology major by the APA Board of Educational Affairs Task Force on Psychology Major Competences. Objective: To obtain student perspectives of SL, and to evaluate learning and inform curriculum development of SL specific to psychology learning goals. Method: Undergraduate psychology students ( N = 400) participated in a concurrent mixed-methods survey examining empathy, civic engagement, and professional identity between students who had and had not taken an upper-division SL course. Results: SL students reported increased engagement with APA learning goals of Ethical and Social Responsibility and Professional Development compared to students who did not take SL. SL students scored higher on civic engagement behaviors and professional identity. Students reported wanting more exposure to a range of psychology subdisciplines, various service opportunities, and multicultural diversity to support professional development. Conclusion: SL is a high-impact teaching practice that aligns with psychology learning goals. Teaching Implications: Findings informed the development of a generalist psychology SL course that introduced students to different domains of psychology. We discuss how to integrate learning activities to increase multicultural and other awareness, motivate social justice action, enhance career clarification, and increase professional self-efficacy.

Embedding Career Issues in Advanced Psychology Major Courses

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane S. Halonen ◽  
Dana S. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Career Preparation ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Development Goal ◽  
Capstone Courses ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Psychology Major ◽  
New Strategies

Despite the popularity of the psychology major, complaints regularly arise about the value of majoring in psychology. This article reviews the workforce advantages that accrue to successful psychology students and encourages new strategies for emphasizing the professional development goal in the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major (2013). Recommendations include infusing career preparation in advanced classes, designing career-focused capstone courses, and conducting a climate check on department support for fostering realistic and appropriate career aspirations in undergraduate psychology majors.

The Presentation of Ethics in Undergraduate Psychology Syllabi

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 346-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di You ◽  
Ana Ruiz ◽  
Judith Warchal
Keyword(s):  
Psychology Students ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Academic Honesty ◽  
Policy Statements ◽  
Psychology Courses ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Ethics Courses

To identify where ethics is presented to undergraduate psychology students, this study reviewed a national sample of 706 syllabi for required mandatory psychology courses. The results indicated that 6 syllabi were designated as ethics courses and 65 syllabi did not mention ethics at all. Even though 641 syllabi mentioned ethics, the most frequent listing was under course policies, usually as a standard statement (e.g., academic honesty and plagiarism) required by many institutions. Our recommendation is that ethics should be intentionally included in the learning goals/objectives/outcomes with a corresponding assessment (assignments) in all syllabi in addition to policy statements.

Community Engagement in the Liberal Arts: How Service Hours and Reflections Influence Course Value

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 416-430
Author(s):  
David Lynn Painter ◽  
Courtney Howell
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Arts Community ◽  
Individual Conversations

Background: In response to critics’ charges that the liberal arts lack practical value, most colleges have incorporated service-learning in their curricula. Ideally, these service-learning activities not only benefit the community but also enhance the course’s (a) pedagogical effectiveness as well as the students’ (b) civic engagement and (c) professional development. Purpose: This investigation uses a survey to measure the extent to which service-learning in community engagement courses at a liberal arts college achieved these three outcomes. Methodology/Approach: Specifically, we parsed the influence of service hours and reflection activities on 740 students’ ratings of pedagogical effectiveness, civic engagement, and professional development. Findings/Conclusions: The results suggest students in community engagement courses that included at least 15 service hours and three different types of reflections reported significantly greater outcome achievement than those with fewer hours or reflections. Moreover, class discussions and individual conversations were rated the most effective types of reflection activities. Implications: Based on these findings, we provide some best practice suggestions for service hours and reflection activities in liberal arts community engagement courses.

scholarly journals Professor–Student Rapport and Perceived Autonomy Support as Predictors of Course and Student Outcomes

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melikşah Demir ◽  
Shelby Burton ◽  
Nora Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Autonomy Support ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
Unique Variance ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Perceived Autonomy Support

Two robust predictors of student success, rapport, and autonomy support were assessed to determine which had a greater impact on course and student outcomes. Survey responses from undergraduate psychology students ( n = 412) were collected. Together, rapport and autonomy support explained substantial variance in professor effectiveness ( R2 = .72), perception of the course ( R2 = .49), and perceived amount learned ( R2 = .27). However, rapport accounted for more unique variance than autonomy support. To a lesser degree, these predictors explained variability in expected ( R2 = .07) and actual ( R2 = .04) final grade, and absences ( R2 = .04). Autonomy support was the only significant predictor of grades. Providing professional development opportunities to professors to enhance rapport and autonomy support may improve student success.

scholarly journals Profissionalização docente: uma leitura piagetiana de sua construção

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (184) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cilene Ribeiro Chakur
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Formation Continue ◽  
Desarrollo Profesional ◽  
Long Run

Apresenta reflexões acerca da formação continuada do professor, visando, a longo prazo, contribuir para a formulação de uma teoria do desenvolvimento profissional docente, fundamentada no construtivismo piagetiano. São revisados alguns conceitos e princípios desta corrente, particularmente os relacionados com o processo de tomada de consciência, e discutidos problemas trazidos por uma leitura piagetiana da prática docente. Propõe-se, ao final, uma hierarquia de níveis de construção da profissional idade docente, tendo como eixos a prática pedagógica, a conquista da autonomia e a identidade profissional do professor. Abstract This paper presents considerations about continue teachers formation aiming at in the long run, contributing to the proposition of a theory of the teacher's professional development based on the Piagetian constructivism. Some concepts and principles of this theoretical framework, especially those related to the awareness taking process, are reviewed, and the problems that are raised by a Piagetian reading of the teaching practice are discussed. It is finally proposed a hierarchy of the levels of the teacher's professionalism construction along the following axes: the pedagogical practice, the autonomy achievement, and the teacher's professional identity. Résumé Le travail présente des réflexions sur la formation continue de l'enseignant et prétend, à long terme, contribuer à la formulation d'une théorie du développement professionnel de l'enseignant, fondée sur le constructivisme piagetien. Certains concepts et principes de ce courant sont revisés, en particulier ceux qui sont reliés au processus de la prise de conscience. Certains problèmes dérivés de la lecture piagetienne de la pratique de l'enseignant sont aussi discutés. Finalement, est proposée une hiérarchie de niveaux de construction du professionalisme de l'enseignant ayant comme axes la pratique pédagogique, la conquête de l'autonomie et l'identité professionnelle de l'enseignant. Resumen El trabajo plantea reflexiones sobre la formación continuada del profesor, visando, a largo plazo, contribuir hacia una teoría del desarrollo profesional docente basada en el constructivismo piagetiano. Se revisan algunos conceptos y principios de esa corriente, en particular aquellos relacionados al proceso de toma de conciencia, y se discuten problemas traedos por una lectura piagetiana de la práctica docente. Por fin, se propone una jerarquía de niveles de construcción de la profesionalidad docente, teniendo como ejes la práctica pedagógica, la conquista de la autonomia y la identidad profesional del profesor.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Service Learning and Undergraduate Social Work Students' Professional Value Development

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-155
Author(s):  
Denise Levy ◽  
Alisha Edmiston
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Core Values ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Relationship

Service learning has long been used to foster students' personal and professional development and encourage civic engagement. This study explored how service learning affected the development of professional values in undergraduate social work students, with a focus on the core values of the profession outlined by the National Association of Social Workers. Thirty- six students enrolled in a service- learning course with 30 hours of required service in an agency completed a survey at the end of the semester. The majority of respondents reported observing a slight or significant increase for them personally in each of the core values as a result of the service-learning experience. The core values of service and competence increased the most. Working with agency clients and participating in class discussions were the most helpful in the development of all the core values.

Building a Culture of Completers by Understanding the Etiology of Adult Learning Deficits Stemming from Childhood

2017 ◽  
pp. 784-798
Author(s):  
Theresa D. Neimann ◽  
Uta M. Stelson ◽  
Stefan J. Malecek
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Transformational Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
Transformational Theory ◽  
Transformational Teaching ◽  
Conference Attendance ◽  
Teaching Learning

Statistics about achievement gaps and college non-completion have been published in journals geared to inform administrators of higher education, such as the Chronicles of Higher Education and publications by the Community College Research Center (see, for example: Bailey, Jeong & Cho (2008). While the focus is usually on cognitive or systemic remedies, many educators and administrators fail to see the connection between psychological development during childhood and college non-completion as one of the possible problems. Chronic exposure to stress hormones, whether it occurs during the prenatal period, infancy, or childhood has long term effects in adulthood learning. While many educators in higher education have spent hours on professional development processes, many shy away from transformational teaching/learning because a certain amount of vulnerability or unfamiliar paradigms are involved. Concurrently, many administrators fail to see the need to inform their faculty about new teaching modalities, such as transformational teaching, and also fail to allocate funding for professional development in this area, whether in the form of in-service learning opportunities or external conference attendance. The authors suggest that both teachers and educational managers at both the college and state levels, particularly at the level of adult education, need to understand the ramifications of Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs on students' ability to learn and adopt an approach to transformational teaching/learning whereby they can help to offset the gloomy statistics in achievement gaps. In transformational learning the educator becomes a facilitator that enables students to learn through activities that are shared by educators and students. This platform has the potential to empower students and educators to re-examine their roles, beliefs, and assumptions, and ultimately helps to reform teaching practice in teaching environments to the benefit of both educators and their learners. Training of educators to adopt a transformational teaching approach can come at the level of each college, but can also come through statewide trainings conducted by educational managers within each State's Department of Education or Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development. Thus, the authors seek to encourage educators as well as educational managers to re-consider their philosophy of teaching from the perspective of transformational theory.

Yes, You Can Get a Job With That Major! Goal 5 Strategies for Facilitating, Assessing, and Demonstrating Psychology Students’ Professional Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-315
Author(s):  
Kristin M. Vespia ◽  
Karen Z. Naufel ◽  
Jerry Rudmann ◽  
Jaye F. Van Kirk ◽  
Deborah Briihl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
National Assessment ◽  
Evaluation Strategies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Psychology Major ◽  
Evaluating Professional Development

The Summit on the National Assessment of Psychology was held on June 2016 to chart a path for assessing student achievement of the goals of the undergraduate psychology major. Our subcommittee was charged with identifying evaluation strategies and tools for students’ professional development, which included applying psychology to various careers; engaging in effective self-regulation, project management, and teamwork; and developing lifelong professional skills. In this article, therefore, we not only review a wide range of assessment tools for facilitating and evaluating professional development in psychology, but we also discuss the larger importance of the learning goal both to students and to public perceptions of psychology.

scholarly journals Teaching and learning social justice through online service-learning courses

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy L. Guthrie ◽  
Holly McCracken
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Online Service

Creating a virtual classroom in which diverse students feel welcome to discuss and experience topics related to social justice, action, and change is a study in the value of connectedness and collaboration. Through a combination of technologies, pedagogies, and on-site experiences, virtual cultures develop that encourage the formation of demanding yet stimulating learning environments in which communications and interactions are intellectually transformative. This article explores student perceptions of their participation in an online service-learning course while working in local service organizations. Qualitative methodology was used to identify the philosophical intersection at which multiple pedagogies meet: social justice, service-learning, civic engagement, and leadership as instructed in a web-based environment. This study illustrates the capacity for intentionally constructed online educational experiences focused on social justice, civic engagement, and leadership to affect learning and to provide educators with pedagogical best practices to facilitate requisite change in teaching practice.

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