scholarly journals E-Corps’ Implementation of Environmental Sustainability-Focused Service-Learning: Conditions Supporting the Establishment of an Epistemic Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Campbell-Montalvo ◽  
Todd Campbell ◽  
Byung-Yeol Park ◽  
Chester Arnold ◽  
John C. Volin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Epistemic Community ◽  
Learning Conditions

Retaining social and cultural sustainability in the Hudson river watershed of New York, USA, a place-based participatory action research study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos J.L. Balsas
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
River Watershed

Purpose Societal problems have impacted the northeast of the USA for various generations. This paper aims to analyse various sustainability aspects in the Hudson River watershed of New York by highlighting a temporal progression from environmental sustainability at the watershed level in the 1970s to growing concerns with more localized cross-border social and cultural sustainability in recent decades. We discuss an engagement with the Rapp Road Historic District and a documentary screening series as potential ways to eliminate racism and embrace diversity. Design/methodology/approach The research was based on fieldwork and classroom teaching conducted mostly since summer 2014. It included mixed methods combining document analysis and reviews with the examination of case studies, and the assessment of public policy priorities. Findings Formal training has to be combined with a substantial dose of realism, humility and motivation to recognize that what the authors teach and research in the community matters. Future learning experiences within a place-based education paradigm could include: Having students help devise urban rehabilitation strategies whilst suggesting integrative measures with the surrounding built and natural environments; students could also help improve public spaces in the neighbourhood; and finally, they could also help to strengthen the cultural identity of the district by augmenting urban design features endogenous to the African American community. Practical implications Opportunities could be further augmented with service-learning projects and programmes, internships and even full-time jobs for recent graduates in local community development organizations. Social implications The study served to raise the community’s awareness of its own natural, ecological and human assets, and to create place-based real-world opportunities for students and faculty in environmental and cultural sustainability studies. Originality/value Environmental sustainability is discussed with the creation of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, whilst the public engagement with the Rapp Road Historic Association in the Capital Region of upstate New York, the identification of an emerging creative cluster in the Berkshires-Hudson region, and a documentary and discussion series on striving for diverse cities serve to demonstrate current concerns with social and cultural sustainability.

scholarly journals Learning Sustainable Design through Service

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Al-Khafaji ◽  
Margaret Catherine Morse
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainable Design ◽  
Learning To Teach ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Academic Setting

Environmental sustainability and sustainable development principles are vital topics that engineering education has largely failed to address. Service-learning, which integrates social service into an academic setting, is an emerging tool that can be leveraged to teach sustainable design to future engineers. We present a model of using service-learning to teach sustainable design based on the experiences of the Stanford chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World. The model involves the identification of projects and partner organizations, a student led, project-based design course, and internships coordinated with partner organizations. The model has been very successful, although limitations and challenges exist. These are discussed along with future directions for expanding the model.

scholarly journals The Frontiers of Service-Learning at Canadian Universities

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Kricsfalusy ◽  
Aleksandra Zecevic ◽  
Sunaina Assanand ◽  
Ann Bigelow ◽  
Marla Gaudet
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Community Service Learning ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Community Agencies ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Ability To Act

Service learning is a form of experiential learning that cultivates academic development, personal growth, and civic engagement. Students contribute to and learn from community. Service learning empowers students, enabling them to recognize their ability to act as agents of social change. Service learning is gaining momentum as a movement, given its ability to prepare students for the “real world” after graduation. The authors of this article come from health sciences, psychology, and environment and sustainability. Here, we illustrate service learning through four case studies: 1) An innovative team-based service-learning course partnering with older adults, healthcare providers and community agencies (Gerontology in Practice, Western University); 2) A unique curriculum design that includes service learning and interdisciplinary graduate problem-based training and research focused on experimental education (Environmental Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan); 3) An international service learning course that combines intensive coursework and a 3-month placement with a non-profit, community-based organization in Africa (Psychology and Developing Societies, University of British Columbia); and 4) An extraordinary example of an institutional-level commitment to service learning involving 50 courses, 40 faculty, 100 community agencies, and 900 students per year (St. Francis Xavier University). Our goal is to inspire other educators to engage in the pursuit of excellence in higher education through service learning.

scholarly journals Intergenerational service-learning, Sustainability and University social responsibility

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1629-1641
Author(s):  
Asier Arcos Alonso ◽  
Ángel Elías - Ortega ◽  
Ander Arcos - Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Entity ◽  
The University

This paper presents a study of university social responsibility (USR), carried out through an innovative educational action. The students of the studied classrooms in the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) collaborated with a social entity Emmaus Social Foundation dedicated to environmental sustainability, social justice and the social and solidarity economy to provide community services through a service-learning methodology. Using a mixed method approach, we combined the practical experience of the social entity with an active student-centred teaching methodology in order to foster the acquisition of general and specific competencies related to sustainability and social justice. The aim was to create learning connections between members of the university community and links with the environmental and social reality of the Basque Country. This pilot study was carried out in the first term of the 2018–2019 academic year. This work allowed (a) critical knowledge to be generated by incorporating and hybridising discussion elements of social justice, such as sustainability; (b) intergenerational participation processes to be generated between elders, university students and social organisations in order to acquire general and specific learning competencies and (c) social and environmental needs to be addressed through community services.   Keywords: Higher education, intergenerational learning, service-learning, teaching innovation, university social responsibility.

Students promoting economic development and environmental sustainability

2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Keen ◽  
Elizabeth Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Partners ◽  
Community Based Research ◽  
New Information ◽  
Effective Form

Community‐based research has been suggested as a particularly effective form of service learning in college‐community collaborations. This paper reviews findings from interviews with alumni/ae and community partners of an environmental and economic sustainability center at Allegheny College in Northwest Pennsylvania, the Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED). CEED's community‐based research projects have spanned the natural and social sciences to analyze water quality, reduce waste streams and local energy consumption, identify environmental problems and enhance forest management. Interviews with alumni/ae point to the valued real world experience, enhanced cognitive development, and improved communication skills for students. Community partners valued new information and networks resulting from research and stressed the contribution they were making to college students' learning. Community‐based research projects can benefit from interviewees' recommendations to increase continuity, clarity of purpose, and follow‐through in projects, while maximizing opportunities for dialogue between community partners and students. Community‐based research may have a strong contribution to make to students' cognitive, academic, social, civic and career development.

scholarly journals ETHNOBOTANY EDUCATION AND OUTREACH THROUGH EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

HortScience ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 877e-877
Author(s):  
M. Haque ◽  
M. Baker ◽  
C. Roper ◽  
C. Carver Wallace ◽  
M. Whitmire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Botanical Garden ◽  
Landscape Design ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
School Students ◽  
Survey Question ◽  
Design And Implementation

The term Ethnobotany describes the study of people's relationships to plants as foods, fibers, medicines, dyes, and tools throughout the ages. Using the student active technique of experiential learning, undergraduate students enrolled in landscape design and implementation classes at Clemson University planned and installed an Ethnobotany garden in partnership with the South Carolina Botanical Garden (SCBG) staff, volunteers, and Sprouting Wings children. Sprouting Wings is an after-school gardening and nature exploration program for under-served elementary school students. College students and faculty working on this service-learning project contributed over 1,000 hours to their community while learning more about both the art and the science of landscape design and implementation. Students enrolled in the landscape Implementation class were surveyed to evaluate their perceptions on a variety of possible learning outcomes for this class. Students indicated that their service learning experience with the Ethnobotany project allowed them to acquire and practice new skills, broadened their understanding of the surrounding community, increased their ability to work in real world situations, introduced new career possibilities, gave students a better understanding of their course work, increased their ability to work on a team, increased their knowledge of environmental sustainability, and allowed them to discover or develop leadership capabilities. In a survey question regarding preference for service learning rather than traditional classes, the majority of students prefer the service learning pedagogy. In addition, most students reported a high degree of initiative for this project in their reflections.

scholarly journals Global Trends in Coffee Agronomy Research

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1471
Author(s):  
Héctor Madrid-Casaca ◽  
Guido Salazar-Sepúlveda ◽  
Nicolás Contreras-Barraza ◽  
Miseldra Gil-Marín ◽  
Alejandro Vega-Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Scientific Production ◽  
Epistemic Community ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Coauthorship Networks ◽  
Exponential Increase ◽  
Bibliometric Approach ◽  
Coffee Species

This article empirically provides a scientific production trends overview of coffee agronomy at the global level, allowing us to understand the structure of the epistemic community on this topic. The knowledge contributions documented are examined using a bibliometric approach (spatial, productive, and relational) based on data from 1618 records stored in the Web of Science (JCR and ESCI) between 1963 and May 2021, applying traditional bibliometric laws and using VOSviewer for the massive treatment of data and metadata. At the results level, there was an exponential increase in scientific production in the last six decades, with a concentration on only 15 specific journals; the insertion of new investigative peripheral and semiperipheral countries and organizations in worldwide relevance coauthorship networks, an evolution of almost 60 years in relevant thematic issues; and a co-occurring concentration in three large blocks: environmental sustainability of forestry, biological growth variables of coffee, and biotechnology of coffee species; topic blocks that, although in interaction, constitute three specific communities of knowledge production that have been delineated over time.

Students Involvement in Multilingual and Multicultural Community Services

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying-Chiao Tsao
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Cultural Humility ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Multicultural Community ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Teaching Learning

Promoting cultural competence in serving diverse clients has become critically important across disciplines. Yet, progress has been limited in raising awareness and sensitivity. Tervalon and Murray-Garcia (1998) believed that cultural competence can only be truly achieved through critical self-assessment, recognition of limits, and ongoing acquisition of knowledge (known as “cultural humility”). Teaching cultural humility, and the value associated with it remains a challenging task for many educators. Challenges inherent in such instruction stem from lack of resources/known strategies as well as learner and instructor readiness. Kirk (2007) further indicates that providing feedback on one's integrity could be threatening. In current study, both traditional classroom-based teaching pedagogy and hands-on community engagement were reviewed. To bridge a gap between academic teaching/learning and real world situations, the author proposed service learning as a means to teach cultural humility and empower students with confidence in serving clients from culturally/linguistically diverse backgrounds. To provide a class of 51 students with multicultural and multilingual community service experience, the author partnered with the Tzu-Chi Foundation (an international nonprofit organization). In this article, the results, strengths, and limitations of this service learning project are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document