SERVICE LEARNING AS A TOOL FOR INCREASED STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND RETENTION OF INFORMATION
Joseph D. Sclafani, University of Tampa
Service Learning (SL) is a teaching modality that blends important aspects of theory-based instruction with practical applications in the community. The role of SL in developing students' civic responsibility, duty and engagement is also reviewed. Students report a greater sense of comprehension of material and also describe a greater appreciation of the course content when it is enhanced through real-world participation. This presentation reviews data on the student performance increases associated with service learning approaches. Also presented will be a discussion of how traditional lecture courses can be converted into service learning courses. Examples of various disciplines and the uses of SL modules of varied time commitments are explored and explained.
Experiential or active learning approaches are repeatedly shown to enhance the learning capacities of students. Whenever material can be considered, applied, studied, or employed beyond the classroom, student retention and performance measures show improvement. Many universities and colleges have accepted and agreed with these results and have begun systematic reviews of their curricula so that these approaches can be incorporated into their pedagogy. Jay (2000) has reported on efforts at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee to restructure its core curriculum to include a significant community service involvement. Their motivation is based upon a desire for more civic involvement and exposure to the cultural and ethnic diversity of the area citizenry, as well as the impact on improving the general education coursework and its meaningfulness to undergraduates.
Service Learning (SL) is a type of experiential/ active teaching modality that blends important aspects of theory-based instruction with practical applications in the community. SL integrates service into the classroom. The balance of benefits to both the provider (student) and the recipient (community member) distinguishes SL from other experiential activities such as internships or community service projects (Furco, 1996).
Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the benefits of SL to undergraduate college students. Among the findings from a recent study by the Astin group at the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA (Astin, Vogelgesang, Ikeda & Yee, 2000):
• Academic performance measures such as GPA, writing skills and critical thinking skills all show improvements in SL classes
• Participation in SL activities increases the likelihood that a student will later pursue a career in human service work
• 80% of SL students believe that their work was important for the people they served AND that they learned important information from the "doing"
• SL is viewed and received most positively when linked to activities in the student's major area or area of personal interest and commitment
• Both the classroom and SL experiences are enhanced when faculty pursue discussion and connections of the two
• SL is effective because four types of outcomes are impacted: increased sense of personal efficacy; increased awareness of the world; increased awareness of personal values; and increases in classroom engagement
The importance of careful, accurate, and meaningful outcomes assessment research to further document the efficacy of SL approaches is a current hot topic in the higher education field. One example of this is the work of Bringle and Hatcher (2000), who have proposed that all future SL research be designed and guided by theory-based foundations, and that quantitative methods be employed wherever possible in addition to the traditional qualitative methods. They also propose the use of multi-method, multi-measure assessment techniques. This approach will surely strengthen the SL outcomes assessment data base if employed.
Eyler (2000) has reported that more attention needs to be paid to research on the link between SL and cognitive outcomes. She has suggested that intellectual outcomes that have been measured through surveys and self-reports lack rigor and are inadequate. Her review of the literature shows that reflection exercises can be effectively used to enhance learning outcomes if they are approached with preparatory activities, supported by faculty efforts to ensure integration of the experience with the subject matter, and if the activities themselves are shaped to focus and enhance the subject materials. She outlines a research agenda and a systematic plan to more accurately and validly demonstrate the actual gains that students make through their SL modules (Giles & Eyler, 1998).
Zlotkowski (2000) also addresses these concerns regarding the effectiveness of SL activities upon enhanced classroom performance and learning outcomes. Current research suggests that some disciplines lend themselves more to the positive benefits of an SL component (e.g., social sciences such as sociology, psychology or political science). Disciplines such as business and math have much fewer examples and data from which to measure efficacy. He argues that more can be done in the "non-traditional" SL disciplines if national and regional associations and societies make this a priority for their memberships.
Other research has focused on ways in which SL impacts students’ interpersonal skills, self-efficacy, and social responsibility (e.g., Astin & Sax, 1998). As with other studies in this area, there is a finding of small, but positive effects of SL activities on these personal variables. When reflection exercises are done well or when the SL activities are clearly tied to academic materials, the outcome effects are stronger.
Many college students in the new millennium often come to campuses with a history of service activities and volunteerism from high school. At The University of Tampa, it may be said that students not only respond favorably when such activities are offered and assigned in college courses, they have come to expect this level of involvement and engagement.
Reflection Exercises
In order to make service learning (SL) meaningful it is essential for students to link the work they do in the field with theory and lessons from the classroom. There are two components to consider. The first is in tying together the community service experiences directly to academic or theoretical content. The second is to use the experience as a way to develop civic and activist mindfulness that students will maintain over their lifetime. Reflection exercises are designed to provide a structured way to make this link.
Types of Reflection Exercises
Reflection exercises can be done individually or in groups. They can be done in writing, in report form, or through oral presentations. To maximize the efficacy of reflective components, Conrad & Hedin (1982) suggest emphasis on the three Ps - preparation, processing and product. Preparation refers to activities conducted to ready the student for the linkage between work and study. These include clarifying responsibilities and expectations, developing background information so students are sensitized to prejudices and stereotyped beliefs, and training of necessary skills and techniques to deal with specific needs of the population to be served.
Processing refers to activities such as those detailed below. This requires the student to become consciously engaged in linking their service to their classroom content. Product refers to a final tangible outcome that summarizes and further integrates the connection of the service activities to the theories explored in class.
Writing exercises include diaries and journals, reflections through letters and memos, papers, and an organizational analysis. The diary/journal approach is structured so that students answer pre-written questions that may have an organizing theme or learning objective. A weekly question/response format works well over a semester. The diary/ journal is a private communication between student and faculty member and allows the student a vehicle to communicate personal insights and reactions to the work they do.
Letters and memos can be set up where students are asked to write to superiors or others in the places they are serving. These letters can be proposed solutions to problems or other suggestions for improvement. They do not have to be actually sent, but may provide an opening for students to become more active partners in their placements.
Papers may also be requested. These should be of a set length and in response to a particular theme or questions that are designed to force the student to think about and integrate their SL experiences to theory or textbook material. These papers can also be related to suggested improvements and problem solving as well as a case study related to the agency’s role in serving the community.
Organizational analyses may also be assigned. These allow the student to examine how their placement is run and where process improvements can be made. These OAs are best used in classes that teach organizational behavior so that there are direct tie-ins between the text and the experience. However, the student's fresh perspective on how and why things are run as they are may be a valuable input to the placement.
Oral presentations are also useful ways to have students reflect and share their SL experiences. These may be structured so that each student in a class is addressing the same issues for reflection. In this open sharing, students can see and hear how their peers were also transformed by their SL experience and then a group reflection exercise on the importance of service, civic duty and citizenship responsibilities can be added.
In my classes, a service learning diary format is employed for individual students to record their thoughts in response to selected questions. In the extended module (10 weeks of service/ 40 hours+), students are given a new question each week to which they must respond. The questions are given at the beginning of the week and must be answered by Friday. There is no advance look at the questions. At the end, each student has a collection of eight 2 page responses. The list of questions is below.
As can be seen the reflection questions allow the student a chance to tie together what has been covered in class with an activity that has been completed. To the extent there are disconnects between experiences and observations and the textbook material, this is a good place to begin classroom discussion. Reflection questions can be targeted to be related to personal growth and insights, awareness of political and activist opportunities, and specific ways to link classroom/ lecture content with real world experiences.
This writer assures students that their comments will be held confidentially to encourage honest and candid responses. This writer will write back minimal comments so that students don't write to a perceived expectation. At the same time, this writer may suggest that they try a certain activity or look for a certain behavior or situation in the following week. Based upon the comments received, it is also possible to approach students to take a lead in classroom discussions as certain SL related matters overlap with in-class materials.
These are the questions this writer uses for the service learning diary in his Child Psychology class:
QUESTION for Week #1: Why have I selected this age group to work with during the semester? Is there something about this age group that I find challenging/ interesting/ attractive? What do I hope I will learn after my ten weeks with this group?
QUESTION for Week #2: What are your first impressions from your first service learning experience? What are your thoughts about your placement and how you fit in?
QUESTION for Week #3: Now that you have had a chance to interact with children in your placement, what has been your biggest surprise? What did you not expect or know about this age group that you know now to be true?
QUESTION for Week #4: Tell me about the organization or agency you are affiliated with. Is this an effective organization? What changes might you make so that children could be better served?
QUESTION for Week #5: How does your organization or agency fit into the "politics of children?" Is this a priority for your agency/organization? Why or why not?
QUESTION for Week #6: If I gave you the next class to teach, what would you lecture on based upon your experiences to-date? Be specific and give me an outline of the topics you would cover.
QUESTION for Week #7: Write a "letter to the editor" based upon an experience or issue you have encountered where children are not being served as they should. In the letter, state your issue or experience, why it is important to you and what you want to see for the issue to be resolved for the betterment of children. (You may send it off to the newspaper if you want.)
QUESTION for Week #8: How has your service learning experience affected your thinking about children? Please give me a specific example of a service learning-related experience which helped you understand an issue discussed in class as more than just theory.
As can be seen the questions are designed to join the activity with the course lecture material. It may be pointed out during course lectures that the students look for examples of "the course content in action" in their placement that week. A further goal of the questions is to arouse civic responsibility and to have students learn the ways that they can make a difference on an individual level.
In the shorter SL module (20 hours), the students have a series of five questions from which to choose. In this set-up all questions are known in advance. The advantage here is that students can enter into the SL experience knowing up front some of the objectives this writer hopes for them to achieve. The hand-out directions are as follows:
In order to make this course truly meaningful, and as an aid to help you to integrate and understand the materials we will be studying, Child Psychology employs a paradigm called Service Learning (SL). SL involves the combination of learning with doing. By actually working with children in real life situations, the information we study in class will make more sense and you will have a concrete reference to learn from.
Some possible SL activities for this course include: Volunteering at a preschool or elementary school - get involved in a literacy project or mentor program. (Most every school will have some way for you to be involved.) Volunteer at a local church/synagogue with a children's program. Call the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts and help with their activities. Work at a daycare or after school program. Be a coach in a sports league.
This writer has seen very positive results from these approaches. These include better understanding of the course material, more active and passionate classroom discussions, more interest in ways to be involved, and improved levels of satisfaction with the course as reported on faculty course evaluations.
Adding a Service Learning Component to an Existing Course
It is at first an imposing obstacle to consider re-designing a course that one has developed over the years and now has down to a "T." It is easy to retreat to an "it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" defense. Miserandino (1999), in an overview of the importance of adding experiential learning components to the classroom, lists such impediments as being wed to your lecture notes, fears that faculty won't be able to fully cover or lecture on every topic, worries that students, department chairs or deans won't be supportive of the course changes, and general fear of the unknown. While each of these may ring true, they are excuses to avoid fear associated with change.
Good teachers believe that their existing teaching methodology and pedagogy are always evolving and developing into more meaningful and student-usable iterations. With this mindset, SL becomes an established way to upgrade and improve your class. Burack (2000) has reported on ways in which faculty can assist each other and create a collegial support system to foster community-based and SL activities. Her program, called Project Colleague, uses a "train the trainers" approach so that there is a core of competent and committed faculty at an institution to support and teach their peers the skills needed for successful SL implementation.
Many resources are available, including collections of existing SL course syllabi, to any faculty member who wishes to modify a course. Please refer to the resource list at the end of this paper for more information.
A Word about Potential Liability
It is most important in setting up these SL activities that care is given to the safety and preparedness of students in their placement. For example, if students are to work in placements which are in neighborhoods that may have higher crime rates, it is necessary to discuss safety issues. These would include having students work in pairs, limiting service time to daytime hours, and a warning that if they feel the situation to be unsafe to leave immediately. In addition, frank discussions about these matters with people from the agencies/ placements is encouraged at the time these are set up.
Similarly, students working with adult populations in criminal justice or mental health may need to first learn and get certification in aggression control techniques. Some placements require dress codes and other rules which also must be clearly communicated to students before their SL experience begins. A signed Informed Consent which details the safety information and an acknowledgement that the form has been read is also recommended.
References
Astin, A.W. & Sax, L. (1998) How undergraduates are affected by service learning participation. Journal of College Student Development, 39 (3), 251-263.
Astin, A.W., Vogelgesang, L., Ikeda.E.K. & Yee, J.A. (2000) How service learning affects students. Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA., Report date: January, 2000
Bringle,R.G. & Hatcher, J.A. (2000) Meaningful measurement of theory-based service-learning outcomes: Making the case with quantitative research. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall Special Issue, 68-75.
Burack, C. (2000) Project colleague. Academe: Bulletin of the AAUP, Jul-Aug, 2000, 43-45.
Conrad, D. & Hedin, D. (1982) Learning from service: Experience is the best teacher - or is it? A guidebook for developing and operating effective programs. pp 39-45.
Eyler, J.S. (2000) What do we most need to know about the impact of service-learning on student learning? Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall Special Issue, 11-17.
Furco, A. (1996) Service learning: A balanced approach to experiential education. In: Expanding boundaries: Serving and learning. Corporation for National Service pp 2-6.
Giles, D.D. & Eyler J.S. (1998) A service-learning research agenda for the next five years. In: R. Rhoads & J. Howard (Eds.) Academic service-learning: A pedagogy of action and reflection, 65-72. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Jay, G. (2000) The community in the classroom.Academe: Bulletin of the AAUP, Jul-Aug, 2000, 33-37.
Miserandino, M. (1999) Those who can do: Implementing active learning. In: Perlman, B., McCann, L.I. & McFadden, S.H. (Eds.) Lessons learned: Practical advice for the teaching of psychology. pp 109-114.
Zlotkowski, E. (2000) Service-learning research in the disciplines. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall Special Issue, 61-67.
Other Resources
AAHE series on service learning in the disciplines. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
Addison-Jacobson, J. & Hill, D. (1996) Building support for service learning. (Order: 415-322-7271)
Billig, S.H. (1998) Building support for service learning. (Order: 800-922-3636)
Kendall, J. & Duley, J. Increasing faculty involvement. In: Part I: Practical issues and ideas: Faculty (pp 137-160). NSEE (Order: 919-787-3263).
Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall 2000 Special Issue. OCSL Press: The University of Michigan.
Web Resources
American Association for Higher Education: www.aahe.org
Campus Compact: www.compact.org
Faculty involvement & recruitment issues: www.fiu.edu/~time4chg/library/bigdummy.html
National Service Learning Clearinghouse www.nicsl.coled.umn.edu
National Society for Experiential Learning: www.nsee.org
Sample syllabi in various disciplines: csf.Colorado.edu/sl/syllabi/index.html