scholarly journals Supporting Independent Living Through Interdisciplinary Service Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-76
Author(s):  
Nicole Janich ◽  
Natasha Mendoza ◽  
Cynthia Mackey ◽  
Nidia Hernandez ◽  
Abigail Henderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Clinical Supervisors ◽  
School Of Social Work

Service learning within independent living facilities may be a highly effective means to address the service gaps that challenge older adults and people who are disabled. We present a new approach to service learning by leveraging opportunities for community–university partnerships. The Community Collaborative Model (CCM) represents synergy between organized independent living and higher education at Arizona State University and led by the School of Social Work. The CCM is a unique collaborative service learning program aligned with current thinking about independent living, supportive services, and community-based service learning. We share lessons learned from the challenges of establishing this program, which included institutional hurdles, maintaining adequate physical space, student-focused planning, varying levels of preparedness, and stigma related to service use. In conclusion, we recommend means to (1) build interprofessional teams, (2) seek support and commitment of faculty partners, (3) ensure sustainability via community liaisons and clinical supervisors, and (4) create space for reflective practice.

scholarly journals A Hong Kong University first: Establishing service-learning as an academic credit-bearing subject

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Ma ◽  
Alfred Chan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Voluntary Work ◽  
The University

Service-learning, where university students are trained to serve or educate the less able for a defined number of voluntary work hours and where the service experience is relevant to the course into which the service is integrated, can be an effective means of community engagement. Many universities in the US have factored in a term for credit-bearing service-learning courses, so that students are oriented to developing a service mentality and nurturing a ‘giving culture’ on campus. In the Asia Pacific region, Lingnan University, with its liberal arts ethos, is the first university in Hong Kong to use service-learning as a vehicle for knowledge transfer between university and community. The first service-learning program was offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences in 2004 as an optional learning experience, and the university is now moving towards making service-learning a graduation requirement that bears academic credits. Service-learning is currently integrated in the majority of disciplines of the university, as part of the undergraduate program. In addition to detailing the history, development and operation of the service-learning program, this article discusses the lessons learned in the institutionalisation of service-learning, as well as the way forward for service-learning in higher education in Hong Kong. Keywords: service-learning, knowledge transfer, whole-person education, experiential education, higher education, campus-community partnerships

scholarly journals The LSU Community Playground Project: Reflections on 16 Years of an Engineering Service-Learning Program

2014 ◽  
pp. 492-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marybeth Lima
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Biological Engineering ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
School Students ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Child Play ◽  
Service Activities ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Reading And Math

This article presents a first-year, biological engineering design course in which a placement-project combination service-learning model is used to enable students to meet practice-based and civic-based learning objectives. In this course, college students (1) work individually with elementary school students to practice reading and math skills and to learn about play and the school community, and (2) work in teams to co-create playground designs with the child play experts. Lessons learned and best practices of engineering service-learning are discussed, including the shift in instructional role, the variability and “partially controlled” nature of community-university partnerships, and the importance of language. Outcomes of the program are briefly discussed, with more detail given to five years of alumni survey data regarding the service activities of participants in the service-learning course before and after graduation. Results showed that 68% of respondents participated in service before graduation and 45% participate after graduation. Most service activities performed by graduates are not engineering related. Ideas for encouraging service in the engineering profession are discussed.

scholarly journals Teaching civic engagement: Evaluating an integrative service-learning program

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jed Metzger
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Intervention ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Integrative Learning ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Community Environments

The demands on successfully teaching intervention skills in macro (community) environments are numerous and extend beyond the confines of any one academic discipline. In particular, when considering community, the compounding of the multiple factors of social economics, diversity, social policy, history and political agendas requires an integrative approach. This mixed-methods retrospective article analyses the use of service-learning in an advanced Master of Social Work community practice course. Special attention is given to the construction of academic and community experience that facilitates learning integration and understanding of the ways in which factors compound on community wellbeing. Specifically this project involved students in efforts constructed to address violence directed by and against inner-city youth in a mid-sized northeastern city in the United States that is beset with gang violence and has led its state in per capita murders for four of the past five years. Recommendations and lessons learned presented in this article are directed at exploring a construction of service-learning that could address integrative learning in community intervention courses. Keywords: Service-learning, teaching, macro practice, violence

scholarly journals Spaces In-between: Text Poems from Community Practice and Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Gerstenblatt ◽  
Diane Rhodes ◽  
Lida Holst
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Community Members ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
The Past ◽  
Teacher Researcher ◽  
Fellow Teacher ◽  
Artist Teacher

A commitment on the part of the academy to address social issues has increased over the past three decades, resulting in service learning courses, volunteering opportunities, and community-university partnerships. Faculty, staff, and community practitioners collaborating to lead these efforts often carry enormous responsibility and answer to often competing interests of students, community members, and universities. Using the experience of an scholar/artist/teacher in a university-community partnership founded by the first author in a racially polarized town, this article explores the potential of arts-based methods, specifically poetry and collage, to mitigate the consequence of this work. The format is a dialogue between two engaged teacher/researcher/practitioners and friends to clarify the hidden experience of the researcher with narrative truth to articulate and share not only experiences, but also lessons learned as a contribution to our fellow teacher/researcher/practitioners.

Lessons Learned From 15 Years of Service-Learning

2018 ◽  
pp. 17-40
Author(s):  
Lori Simons ◽  
Lawrence Fehr ◽  
Lake Greene
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Intercultural Relationships ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Psychology Course ◽  
Service Experiences

This chapter describes lessons learned from students involved in a service-learning program in an urban school district during the past 15 years. A total of 729 undergraduate students enrolled in an educational psychology course took part in the study. Students completed a survey at the beginning and end of the course. The findings indicate that academic-based service-learning and cultural-based service-learning contribute to different learning outcomes. Academic-based service-learners develop intercultural relationships with service recipients and community partners and acquire an understanding of social disparities in the community while cultural-based service-learners develop interpersonal and problem-solving skills. Students also appeared to make meaning out of their diverse service experiences and acquired a deeper understanding about how social responsibility is part of their role as preservice teachers in their school community. Implications for incorporating CBSL strategies in a teacher education program are discussed.

Lessons Learned From 15 Years of Service-Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 903-925
Author(s):  
Lori Simons ◽  
Lawrence Fehr ◽  
Lake Greene
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Intercultural Relationships ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Psychology Course ◽  
Service Experiences

This chapter describes lessons learned from students involved in a service-learning program in an urban school district during the past 15 years. A total of 729 undergraduate students enrolled in an educational psychology course took part in the study. Students completed a survey at the beginning and end of the course. The findings indicate that academic-based service-learning and cultural-based service-learning contribute to different learning outcomes. Academic-based service-learners develop intercultural relationships with service recipients and community partners and acquire an understanding of social disparities in the community while cultural-based service-learners develop interpersonal and problem-solving skills. Students also appeared to make meaning out of their diverse service experiences and acquired a deeper understanding about how social responsibility is part of their role as preservice teachers in their school community. Implications for incorporating CBSL strategies in a teacher education program are discussed.

Building Gardens: Food Justice, Community Engagement, and Gardens for the Asian Pacific Islander Community in the San Gabriel Valley

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 180-197
Author(s):  
Juily Phun ◽  
Elise Dang
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Culturally Relevant ◽  
Food Justice ◽  
The Body ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
San Gabriel Valley

Culturally relevant gardens can significantly benefit regions like the San Gabriel Valley, which contain nearly a third of Asian Americans who are low income, by providing organically grown produce for students (Asian Americans Advancing Justice, 2018). This article focuses on one service-learning program: Asian/Asian American Studies 3510 Food Justice, the Body, and the Environment in the API Community at Cal State LA that works with schools throughout the San Gabriel Valley to build culturally relevant produce gardens. While our work focuses on building gardens and considerations of food justice, one of the greatest barriers to community-university partnerships is the lack of procedural transparency embedded within the university structure and culture. The heart of this essay is this process.

scholarly journals Community organization feedback about an undergraduate medical education service learning program

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Berrington ◽  
Nina Condo ◽  
Felicien Rubayita ◽  
Karen Cook ◽  
Chelsea Jalloh
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Education ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Community Organizations ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Community Partners ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Community Based Organization ◽  
The University

Background: In 2016, Service Learning (SL) became a curricular requirement for undergraduate medical education (UGME) students at the University of Manitoba. Students partner with a community-based organization for two years to engage in non-clinical activities in community settings. Significant feedback has been collected from students re: their SL experiences. This project specifically collected feedback from community organizations involved with SL. Methods: In June 2019, an electronic survey was distributed to the 36 community organizations involved with SL. Results: Twenty-seven organizations completed the survey. Feedback was grouped into two main themes: 1) Logistics and 2) The SL Experience. About half (52%) of respondents indicated it was “easy” to schedule students for SL; however, students’ busy schedules and differences between hours of organization programming and students’ availability were highlighted. Most respondents described students as “engaged” (70%); respondents indicated SL raised students’ understanding of power and privilege (56%) and systemic oppression (63%). Conclusions: Community organizations shared valuable insights to inform the SL program. Results identified specific aspects of the SL program to address moving forward, such as sharing learning objectives with community partners. Ensuring processes are in place to obtain feedback from community partners is an essential step to improve SL programs, and to strengthen reciprocal community-university partnerships.  

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