Moral character and the civic mission of American universities: The Catholic, Jesuit vision of justice education

2020 ◽  
pp. 205699712097243
Author(s):  
Bryan W Sokol ◽  
Steven J Sanchez ◽  
Bobby Wassel ◽  
Leah Sweetman ◽  
Ashlei M Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Jesuit Education ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
Saint Louis ◽  
American Universities ◽  
Saint Louis University ◽  
Social Projection

The formation of students’ moral character is a critical part of civic engagement programs in US higher education. This is especially evident in Catholic, Jesuit education, which emphasizes pedagogical practices at the intersection of faith and justice. Advances in the fields of moral psychology and civic education, particularly service-learning, further clarify the vision of justice found in both the Jesuit tradition and the emancipatory ideals of American democracy. The influence of the Center for Service and Community Engagement at Saint Louis University, a mid-sized Jesuit institution in the Midwestern United States, signals a way for making this vision a reality through “social projection.”

scholarly journals Solidarity, Reflection, and Imagination

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 116-139
Author(s):  
Leah Sweetman ◽  
Robert Wassel ◽  
Stephen Belt ◽  
Bryan Sokol
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Academic Excellence ◽  
Direct Measure ◽  
Jesuit Education ◽  
Assessment Data ◽  
Saint Louis ◽  
Latent Form ◽  
Saint Louis University

The Catholic, Jesuit inspired mission of Saint Louis University (SLU) – “the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity” – firmly places serving humanity in line with the institution’s goal for academic excellence. Importantly, service in the tradition of Catholic, Jesuit education is embedded in a broader vocational goal of forming people to build a just and equitable society. It remains to be seen in what manner and to what degree SLU students reflect the qualities such experiences are intended to aid and develop. What follows is an attempt to identify contemporary expressions of Ignatian education, a well-educated solidarity, depth of thought, and depth of imagination, within the students who took part in community engagement activities supported by SLU’s Center for Service and Community Engagement. The present study drew upon assessment data from three distinct undergraduate experiences. Each of the three attributes were evident, either directly or in a latent form appropriate to the nature of the activity and the level of the student participants. While it is not possible to quantify a direct measure, the results indicate that the programs are generally succeeding in promoting an Ignatian inspired formation for its students.

Service Learning: The Peace Corps, American Higher Education, and the Limits of Modernist Ideas of Development and Citizenship

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-505
Author(s):  
David S. Busch
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Peace Corps ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Work Abroad ◽  
The University

In the early 1960s, Peace Corps staff turned to American colleges and universities to prepare young Americans for volunteer service abroad. In doing so, the agency applied the university's modernist conceptions of citizenship education to volunteer training. The training staff and volunteers quickly discovered, however, that prevailing methods of education in the university were ineffective for community-development work abroad. As a result, the agency evolved its own pedagogical practices and helped shape early ideas of service learning in American higher education. The Peace Corps staff and supporters nonetheless maintained the assumptions of development and modernist citizenship, setting limits on the broader visions of education emerging out of international volunteerism in the 1960s. The history of the Peace Corps training in the 1960s and the agency's efforts to rethink training approaches offer a window onto the underlying tensions of citizenship education in the modern university.

The SAMP8 mouse as a model for Alzheimer disease: studies from Saint Louis University

2004 ◽  
Vol 1260 ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E Morley ◽  
W.A Banks ◽  
V.B Kumar ◽  
S.A Farr
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer Disease ◽  
Saint Louis ◽  
Saint Louis University ◽  
Samp8 Mouse

scholarly journals Validity of Computer Based Administration of Cognitive Assessments compared to Traditional Paper-based Administration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siao Ye ◽  
Brian Ko ◽  
Huy Phi ◽  
David Eagleman ◽  
Benjamin Flores ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neuropsychological Testing ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Screening Tools ◽  
Cognitive Assessments ◽  
Saint Louis ◽  
Saint Louis University ◽  
Stroop Color Word Test ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Composite Scores

Traditional pen and paper based neuropsychological tests (NPT) for cognition assessment have several challenges limiting their use. They are time consuming, expensive, and require highly trained specialists to administer. This leads to testing being available to only a small portion of the population and often with wait times of several months. In clinical practice, we have found results tend not to be integrated effectively into assessment and plans of the ordering provider. Here we compared several tests using BrainCheck (BC), a computer-based NPT battery, to traditional paper-based NPT, by evaluating individual tests as well as comparing composite scores to scores on traditional screening tools. 26 volunteers took both paper-based tests and BC. We found scores of four assessments (Ravens Matrix, Digit Symbol Modulation, Stroop Color Word Test and Trails Making A&B Test) were highly correlated. The Balance Examination and Immediate/Delayed Hopkins Verbal Learning, however, were not correlated. The BC composite score was correlated to results of the Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) exam [1], the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) [2], and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Our results suggest BC may offer a computer-based avenue to address the gap between basic screening and formal neuropsychological testing.

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