Transcript Promoting Civic Agency Through Service Learning (2015)

Promoting Civic Agency Through Service Learning:
An Exploration of Syllabi, Course Assignments, and Faculty Self-Report
Contributors: Leah Sweetman, Bryan Sokol, and Peter Marle – Center for Service and Community Engagement
Special thanks to: Katelyn Poelker, Michael Sauceda, Nicole Yong – Department of Psychology
Abstract
Key Findings
Service Learning holds opportunities for both self- and community
improvement, stressing active learning, and it gives students a chance
to develop their ideas beyond the classroom. Empirical research has
supported theoretical claims with students engaged in service-learning
reporting advances in five domains not reported by others in control
groups (Cielo, Durlak, & Dymnicki, 2011):
•
•
•
•
•
Attitudes toward the self
Attitudes toward school and learning
School achievement
Civic engagement
Social skills
(Higher Numbers Corresponding to
Better Ranking)
Average Rank
7
Overall Ranked Means
6
5
4
3
2
1
To give
To enhance
students
student's
exposure to
professional
specific
and/or
environments or vocational
populations
development
To enrich
To promote To give back to
students' self- multicultural
the service/
knowledge and competence
community
self-awareness and awareness learning site
7
4
3
*p = .032
1
5
1
6
2
2
Method
Participants
• Data from 31 university faculty members who taught a servicelearning course
Materials and Procedure
Course Syllabi
• Faculty sent course syllabi via e-mail to researchers
• Syllabi were coded:
• Categories were determined a priori
• Elucidated aspects of service-learning courses that promote
agency
Survey
• 42 items, addressed information about the course and
motivations for teaching service-learning courses
• Assessments of faculty-perceived student experiences with
service-learning courses
2
5
3
4
4
1
To promote
teamwork/
collaboration
among
classmates
Service Learning
3
3
7
7
7
5
Other
8
8
4
6
6
1
To give
To enhance
students
students’
exposure to
professional
specific
and/or
environments or vocational
populations
development
To enrich
To promote To give back to
students' self- multicultural
the service/
knowledge and competence
community
self-awareness and awareness learning site
1
To give students exposure to
specific environments or
populations
2
To promote multicultural
competence and awareness
3
To promote civic engagement
and social responsibility
Field Experience (N = 9)
To give students exposure to
specific environments or
populations
To enhance students’
professional and/or vocational
development
To give back to the service/
community learning site
To promote
civic
engagement
and social
responsibility
To live out the
University,
Jesuit mission
(relationship
between faith
and justice)
• Courses designated as service learning provided different
goals for students.
• Service-learning courses promote civic engagement and social
responsibility.
• Other community–based learning courses are used for
professional and skill development.
• There is a similarity in faculty rankings among service-learning
courses as reported; for other community-based learning
courses, there is a hierarchical structure in faculty rankings.
Site selection
• If a primary goal is to give students opportunities to promote
understanding of diverse groups, then using an existing
university partnership may be beneficial.
• Students, if given the opportunity to choose their own site, may
not be as willing to expose themselves to people different than
themselves.
Encourage students to stay involved with their sites
8
2
Service Learning (N = 11)
Civic agency may be facilitated by helping the individual to understand
their role and breadth of impact within the immediate environment. Past
research suggests that civic agency can be fostered through an
education aimed at promoting understanding of the civic or democratic
system (Bergan, 2005).
To live out the
University,
Jesuit mission
(relationship
between faith
and justice)
Field Experience
6
5
To promote
civic
engagement
and social
responsibility
Average Rankings of Faculty’s Reasons for Offering a
Course with a Service or Community Component
8
(Higher Numbers Corresponding to
Better Ranking)
Introduction
What’s in a name?
Average Rankings of Faculty’s Reasons for Offering a
Course with a Service or Community Component
8
Average Rank
Service Learning is a useful avenue in developing agency in college
students, giving them the opportunity to interact with issues linking
course content and professional training with community issues. For
some students, those experiences can empower them as agents of
social change and give them a venue to find their voice on community
issues. Although much of the focus is on student learning outcomes,
the current study was interested in the faculty-generated ServiceLearning opportunities in classes at Saint Louis University, a Catholic,
Jesuit university. We propose that by determining the structural
attributes of the Service-learning experience, which are more or less
effective at fostering the development of civic agency in college
students, we might be able to develop a replicable service-learning
model to promote such development. Our goal for the current research
was to describe the differences and similarities among service- learning
courses at SLU, and how their structure, conveyed through syllabi,
course assignments, and faculty self-report, may encourage students’
agency.
Conclusions
To promote
teamwork/
collaboration
among
classmates
Other (N = 8)
To enrich students' selfknowledge and self-awareness
To give students exposure to
specific environments or
populations
To enhance students’
professional and/or vocational
development
A significant difference was found comparing Service Learning course (M = 5.18, SD = 2.22)
rankings and Field/Practicum course (M = 3.33, SD = 1.22) rankings on the civic engagement
and social responsibility item, t(16.02; Welsh’s t test used) = 2.22, p = .032.
Further analyses (repeated measures ANOVAs) revealed that, for Service Learning courses,
no significant differences between rankings occurred, F(7, 70) = 1.16, p = .337
However, for Field/Practicum courses, significant differences between rankings were found,
F(7, 56) = 5.21, p < .001, as well as for “Other” courses, F(7, 49) = 3.20, p = .007
Correlation analyses revealed higher promotion of civic engagement was associated with a
greater perceived degree of diversity understanding (r = .51, p = .004) and stronger
encouragement to maintain involvement in the service site after the course (r = .47, p = .01)
A greater degree of encouragement to maintain involvement with the site was associated with
more integration of the experience into the classroom (r = .45, p = .03), a greater degree of
diversity understanding (r = .60, p = .001), and more opportunity for faith reflection (r = .48, p =
.03)
• The correlation between encouraging students to stay involved
in working the service site and the degree that the servicelearning experience is integrated into classroom lecture and
discussion suggests those two factors may create a sense of
investment in students.
Suggestions for Future Research
1. Explore the balance between faculty as autonomy-granters and the
prioritization of the faculty organizing and facilitating the ServiceLearning experience and subsequent learning outcomes, especially
their sense of personal and civic agency.
• For example, does too much autonomy limit student outcomes?
Does too much faculty-control limit student outcomes? What is
the right balance?
• In addition, what is the appropriate balance between allowing
students to engage in autonomous and agentic learning with
practical considerations for faculty?
2. Assess student outcomes from service-learning courses. In
particular, is there congruence in faculty perceptions of the course
and actual student learning outcomes?
• Do faculty perceptions match student outcomes on continued
involvement?
• Survey students in these courses to examine congruencies
3. Further examine the differences among service-learning courses
and other community-based learning courses.
Specifically,
examine differences in faculty rationale and description of expected
student-learning outcomes.
Presented at the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement conference; November 17, 2015. For more information, contact Leah Sweetman at [email protected]