Transcript Engaging the Disengaged

Maximizing Outcomes with
Service-Learning: What
Research Says Works Best
Shelley H. Billig, Ph.D.
RMC Research Corporation
2010
Agenda
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Background: The need for youth engagement
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Relationship of engagement to service-learning
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Activities and research
Common findings and implications
Examples of high quality practice
Standards and indicators for high quality practice
Brief look at higher ed findings
Conclusions
The Back Story: Youth engagement
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“the degree to which students are psychologically
‘connected’ to what is going on in their
classes….They are there emotionally as well as
physically. They concentrate on the task at
hand, they strive to do their best when tested or
called upon…They participate actively in class
discussion, think about the material covered in
their courses, and genuinely care about the
quality of their work.” (Steinberg, Beyond the
Classroom, 1996:15)
Activity 1: Describing the Situation
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Turn to your neighbor and paint a written,
verbal picture of a disengaged student.
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Describe:
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how you can tell that the young person is
disengaged? What does the person look like?
What does the person sound like? How does
the person feel?
Activity 2: 4 Whys
Team with another person. Describe your
disengaged student. Then ask the
question:
Why is the student disengaged?
No matter what the answer is, ask why
again.
Repeat two more times – see if you can
determine the root cause of the
disengagement.
Common Answers From the Research
Lack of challenge (too easy)
 Lack of success (too hard)
 Lack of relevance (can’t see the point)
 Lack of relationships (don’t care about the
people)
 Lack of value in what is being learned
(don’t care about the information)
 Other factors are interfering (e.g., safety,
hunger, lack of sleep)
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Some Facts About Engagement in the
United States
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Over a third of students do not take school
seriously and get through the day by fooling
around with classmates;
Half said their classes were boring;
Two-thirds say they cheated on a school test;
90% copied homework from someone else;
80% say it is not important to get good grades in
school;
20% say they do not try hard in school because
they are worried what their friends may think;
20% say disengagement is a result of confusion
or difficulty of subject matter, particularly in
math and science.
Engagement Research
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Ames, (1992), Strong, et. al., (1995) and
Anderman and Midgley, (1998) show that
teachers who are most successful in
engaging students develop activities that
address intellectual and psychological
needs, including work that:
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develops their sense of competency;
encourages self-expression and originality;
allows them to develop connections with
others; and
gives them some degree of autonomy.
Engagement Research (continued)
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Other researchers (Brewster & Fager, 2000:7)
recommend:
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Ensure course materials relate to students’
lives and highlight ways learning can be
applied in real-life situations (Lumsden, 1994;
Skinner and Belmont, 1991);
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Help students feel that schoolwork is
significant, valuable, and worthy of their
efforts (Policy Studies Associates, 1995);
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Allow students to have some degree of control
over learning (Brooks, et. al., 1998);
Engagement Research (continued)
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Assign challenging but achievable tasks for all students.
Tasks that seem impossible and those that are rote and
repetitive discourage learners (Dev, 1997; Policy Studies
Associates, 1995);
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Stimulate students’ curiosity about the topic being
studied (Strong, Silver, and Robinson, 1995);
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Design projects that allow students to share new
knowledge with others. Projects are more engaging
when students share what they are learning in reciprocal
relationships, as in collaborative projects where each
student’s knowledge is needed by others in the group to
complete an assignment (Strong, Silver, and Robinson,
1995); and
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Develop caring and trust between teachers and students
(Nodding, 2000: 36).
Service-Learning as a Promising Practice
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.
Service-learning is an instructional
approach whereby students learn
important learning objectives as they
address a genuine community need.
TOP Five Reasons
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Turn to your neighbor again and
brainstorm. What are the top 5 reasons
to engage in service-learning? Please
write your list.
Common Impacts of High Quality
Service-Learning on Students/Youth
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Increase in academic engagement including
affective, behavioral, and cognitive;
Increase in valuing school;
Increase in academic achievement;
Increase in social-emotional outcomes such as
resilience, managing conflict, respect for diversity
and character development (caring, bonding,
social responsibility);
Increase in civic outcomes including knowledge,
skills, and dispositions.
But outcomes are provisional…
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Research showed repeatedly that without
high quality, there was limited student
benefit.
Service-Learning Components
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Investigating a Community Issue Through
Research and Community Needs Assessments
Planning the Ways Students Will Address the
Issue
Action – Performing the Service Activity
Reflection – Thinking About Impact on Others
and Self, What Worked and What Did Not,
Relationship of Oneself to the World
Demonstration – Showing Impact on Others
and Self
Celebration of Impact
Research Conclusions…
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We must use a good evaluation design… must at
least have comparison groups.
We must improve the quality of our practices.
Keys to success:
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Duration and intensity – IPARDC arc
Student voice
Meaningful service
High quality reflection activities
Strong community partnerships
Respect for diversity
Link to curriculum
Progress monitoring
And finally….
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We need more and better…
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Research
Communication between researchers and
practitioners
Rigor in research and practice
Any questions?
Contact [email protected]
 www.servicelearning.org
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