Service Learning in Philosophical Ethics

PurposeService learning is not comprehensively developed in economics such as the implementation of the 17 sustainability goals of the Agenda 2030 – although this would be beneficial as experiential learning is linked to democratic education goals. Service Learning offers itself as a didactic design for this purpose. The paper aims to discuss how service learning can be used to work critically and reflexively on sustainability issues in a cross-university context.Design/methodology/approachThe cross-university teaching-learning project brought together students of industrial engineering and economics. The idea space “sustainable city” was to be developed together with practice partners with the help of the practice-relevant project management method scrum and methods of sustainability assessment in the sense of service learning. Evaluating the project, a written and a qualitative survey were conducted and analysed by means of descriptive statistics as well as content analysis.FindingsSuccess factors include the regular feedback by practice partners and lecturers including reflection questions. Student heterogeneity can hinder effective project work. Complexity can deter effective and successful service learning. The use of scrum in service learning contexts cannot be fully recommended. Although scrum contributes to service learning concepts in economics, in complex sustainability projects either the method should be in focus or prior knowledge of scrum should be mandatory.Originality/valueThe paper discusses how service learning can be used to critically and reflexively address social and practical challenges in a cross-university context. The study contributes to the fact that the complexity of education for sustainable development competencies requires the teaching of knowledge- and fact-based fundamentals as well as methodological-research procedures for research-based and at the same time practice-oriented learning.

Introduction/Objective Research has shown that students from underserved backgrounds are capable of developing scientific practices in a service learning model. However, these learning experiences are often delivered as “one-off” opportunities, such as career fairs, STEM fairs, or one day visits, and the content of the lessons is often divorced from what students are learning in their regular science courses. The purpose of our service learning project was to increase learner efficacy in scientific practices specifically targeted to 6th grade life science standards in South Carolina. Our educational model expands the work on STEM service learning by a) utilizing dually-enrolled high school students as instructors, b) vertically integrating our service learning experiences into the preexisting state curriculum, and c) pairing student instructors with master teachers to enhance future instruction. Methods/Case Report Our biomedical science program has a well established outreach team that delivers STEM instruction throughout our local school district and community. We wished to build upon our prior work by designing outreach labs to address key standards in the state curriculum for our target population of learners (grades K-12). We hypothesized that we would see a larger impact on learning with the current project, because vertically integrating labs into the preexisting curriculum would provide relevance for learners and a concrete lab that teachers could reference back to when reinforcing content. We met with curriculum instruction leaders in our school district, including our middle school science lead, to identify target standards. As our state has recently migrated cell biology and organ system content into the 6th grade curriculum, our instructional leaders felt that this was an area where intervention was needed. The material was new for teachers and was assessed on state standardized assessments that ultimately are reflected on schools’ “report cards.” We developed a set of 8 laboratory lessons targeting 4 state standards, using the 5E instructional model. Dual enrollment students in our biomedical science program were trained as instructors for these lessons. Results During Lab Week 2025, we delivered our standard-targeted lessons to 6th grade learners at 5 district middle schools. 3-4 student instructors formed the instructional team for each lesson. The lessons targeted anatomy of a human hair, cell theory, reactions versus reflexes, and basic microbiology concepts. The breadth of scientific practices taught included microscopy skills, trichoscopy, simple stains, and EMG. Instructional teams were assigned to middle school science classrooms at each school. Over the three days of service learning, over 1,000 6th grade students participated in our lab lessons. Learners showed statistically and educationally significant increases in self-efficacy on all primary learning objectives. Our student instructors were well received by classroom teachers and reported greater confidence in their own skill set. Learners reported a strong desire to participate in additional laboratory lessons. Conclusion Service learning is advantageous for both instructor and learner. In order to serve as instructors, our biomedical science students had to create lessons, summarize content for a younger audience, and present novel laboratory skills to younger peers. In performing these tasks, student instructors were pushed to the highest levels of Blooms taxonomy. Furthermore, master middle school teachers provided valuable feedback to our student instructors. These feedback not only enhanced instructor performance; it has also informed a feedback and formal training program to be used in upcoming years’ work. Learners benefit from our model through relevance, competence, and autonomy, three key components of autonomous motivation. When learners receive instruction from older “peers,” they can see themselves in similar roles and tackling similar material. Unfortunately, one week of targeted lessons cannot meet the need of an entire district. We will further enhance our model by developing “check-out” lesson kits for teachers, implementing a formal student instructor program, and establishing a service learning calendar throughout the academic year.

Studies show that Service Learning (SL) has a positive influence on student learning outcomes regardless of how learning is or was measured. However, literature makes it clear that, as a pedagogy, SL lacks a common definition and therefore has been described in various ways by different authors. This paper explored the knowledge and understanding of SL by third-year students and their lecturers in the Faculties of Engineering and Built Environment, Information and Communications Technology, and Humanities at a University of Technology in South Africa. Following a qualitative research design, three focus groups were held with ten students per group, and the qualitative questionnaire was administered to eight lecturers. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The study found that SL is not well known to both lecturers and students, even those who attempted to impart their knowledge and understanding. Both lecturers and students likened SL to other programmes such as experiential learning, Work-integrated Learning (WiL), and in-service training. The study highlights the critical disconnect amid the multifaceted academic discourse on SL and the definite, practical understanding of the concept among lecturers and students by providing clear, practical recommendations that contribute to the effective implementation of SL. Institutions can benefit from SL by implementing awareness and training programs to build a foundational understanding among all stakeholders. This shifts the scholarly focus from simply defining SL to the prerequisite step of educating the academic community about its core principles, distinguishing it from other pedagogies.

An expanding body of scholarship and other writing is emerging across may disciplines that views service learning as an effective, and perhaps core element of the higher education mission. James Applegate and Sherwyn Morreale, writing as disciplinary association officers of the National Communication Association, suggest that faculty, students and communities will continue to witness the proliferation of service learning initiatives as university service missions are recast with a new vision for community outreach that matches the expertise and values of the university with the needs of local, state, national, and international communities.1 It has not been clear to date how much of an impact service learning pedagogies have had among those who teach journalism and mass communication. The journalism and mass communication literature in this area is, in comparison to other disciplines, small. The study described below attempts to address this imbalance. Service learning has been defined by several scholars whose theoretical positions vary. Most acknowledge that the essence of service learning is in its ability to connect student involvement to community outlets.2 One of the more inclusive definitions of service learning is offered by the American Association of Higher Education: Service learning means a method under which students learn and develop a thoughtfully organized service that: is conducted in and meets the needs of a community and is coordinated with an institution of higher education and with the community; helps foster civic responsibility; is integrated into and embraces the academic curriculum of the students enrolled; and includes structured time for the students to reflect on the service experience.3 Although service learning can be categorized within the more general paradigm of experiential learning, its major distinction lies in the philosophical basis from which it springs-integrating a sense of civic responsibility into the academic environment in order to impart character development as part of the academic mission.4 For the democratic process to work, society needs active citizens with a sense of responsibility and involvement in the communities in which they live, not passive consumers. In fact, service learning has been posited as a way for the academy to acknowledge its commitment or renew its civic responsibility to the community it finds itself in. Studies that have assessed service learning experiences conclude that the outcomes have been positive for most involved: students, faculty, community and institution.5 Students are more motivated in their classwork, work harder and learn more; and many of the benefits acquired from their service learning experience are long term.6 Faculty find that student learning is enhanced and that there is an interaction between theory and practice and thought to action.7 Community organizations have also found student contributions valuable. Campus/community relationships are constructive, and connections are made that did not exist before.9 Researchers have studied particular class experience regarding the incorporation of service learning alongside more traditional classroom methods.10 With regard to the journalism/mass communication discipline, Cohen and Kinsey incorporated service learning projects into the Mass Communication and Society course and found that the greatest strength of this approach was in assisting students in placing classroom material into a meaningful context.11 They also found that both students and teachers observed the service learning projects they participated in were an effective use of academic time. Focusing on service-learning designated courses, Corbett and Kendall found that students enrolled in these courses believed that the service learning experiences heighten their sense of citizenship and assisted them in understanding basic concepts and theories of course content.12 Other researchers have looked at university-wide curricula and have determined that service learning components are found predominantly in education and social science courses. …

This article explores the potential for music making activities such as jamming, song writing, and performance to act as a medium for intercultural connection and relationship building during service learning programs with Indigenous communities in Australia. To set the context, the paper begins with an overview of current international perspectives on service learning and then moves towards a theoretical and practical discussion of how these processes, politics, and learning outcomes arise when intercultural engagement is used in service learning programs. The paper then extends this discussion to consider the ways in which shared music making can bring a sense of intercultural “proximity” that has the potential to evoke deep learning experiences for all involved in the service learning activity. These learning experiences arise from three different “facings” in the process of making music together: facing others together; facing each other; facing ourselves. In order to flesh out how these theoretical ideas work in practice, the article draws on insights and data from Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University’s award winning Winanjjikari Service Learning Program, which has been running in partnership with Barkly Regional Arts and Winanjjikari Music Centre in Tennant Creek since 2009. This program involves annual service learning trips where university music students travel to Central Australia to work alongside Aboriginal and non-Indigenous musicians and artists on a range of community-led projects. By looking at the ways in which shared music making brings participants in this program “face to face”, we explore how this proximity leads to powerful learning experiences that foster mutual appreciation, relationship building, and intercultural reconciliation.

Many managers now routinely receive training in business ethics using the case method. However the efficacy of this training has not been studied. Organizational crises, in the form of cases which present managers with ethical dilemmas, are commonly used to illustrate principles in business ethics courses. As illustrated in the classroom, these organizational ethical crises often result in severe financial consequences for the organization involved such as litigation or bankruptcy. The present study assessed the potential of the case method for teaching managers to respond ethically to organizational crisis. The author also assessed the role of organizational and ideographic factors in determining which managers would choose to act. Managers who had received classroom training in ethical case analysis were compared to those who had not. The majority in both groups of managers chose to take action when confronted with ethical dilemmas. However, managers who had received ethical training were more likely to act in some ethical situations than managers who had not. The ethical culture of an organization and the gender of the managers was also found to influence managerial action in response to ethical dilemmas.

The use of experiential learning as a pedagogical mechanism to facilitate the learning of skills taught in the classroom has become common in college curricula. Service learning and community engagement models are frequently used to combine academic skills with “real-world” experience to foster understanding, and to largely broaden the perspective of the learner. Service-learning and community engagement are both commonly used in construction management (CM) curricula to allow the CM learner to develop a greater understanding of construction materials, processes, and management techniques presented in CM coursework. CM educators, in an effort to formalize the experiential learning process into course curricula, inaccurately describe the experiential learning project as service-learning rather than community engagement because there is confusion about the parameters differentiating these two experiential models. In fact, many CM courses that include experiential learning are in fact practicing community engagement and not service-learning. It is the parameters that set these two forms of experiential learning apart that make the practice of using service-learning in CM curricula a challenge.

This study examines whether summer programming that relies on the delivery of a hands-on, experiential service learning curriculum to deliver content is able to reduce or eliminate summer learning loss in middle school students. Using Alexander, Entwisle, and Olson's (2001) faucet theory as a theoretical framework and a qualitative case study design, the study explores two summer programs in Rhode Island. These programs, one in a low-income community and the other in a mixed-income community both shares a common curriculum of experiential service learning as the framework for their programs. The findings suggest that these hands-on, experiential summer programs had significant positive effects on a variety of student outcomes. Primarily, stakeholders perceived significant effects of the program on social and emotional learning and the development of 21st century skills including problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. Data also suggests that programs do have academic benefits for students as well, but the extent of those benefits are less clear. The study also found that the service learning component was not implemented effectively and therefore had little impact on program outcomes. This research has implications for experiential learning research as well as research on effective summer interventions that can help reduce achievement gaps. It also has implications for policymakers and practitioners seeking to implement different forms of summer programming that can be effective at reducing or eliminating summer learning loss. The need for further quantitative research to confirm these findings is required, but the study does suggest that experiential learning is an effective tool for reducing summer learning loss and helping to stem the growth of achievement gaps during the summer months.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the community service learning initiative among Taiwanese communication students by examining the link between the value of work-based learning and learning outcomes from the applied classroom projects.Design/methodology/approachThis study involves the applied classroom projects. Data are captured in both quantitative (i.e. survey) and qualitative methods (i.e. reflective papers). The survey is designed to measure general attitudes and perceptions of service learning students. The reflective papers focus on the participants’ expectations of the service learning outcome.FindingsThe findings suggest that work-based and service learning projects are beneficial for the students, faculty, university and community partners. As an extension of experiential learning, students acquire a deeper understanding of the course material, gain practical expertise in the real world, develop interpersonal communication skills and engage in civic responsibility.Practical implicationsThis study supports the notion that service learning engagements help students develop problem-solving skills. It is suggested that since the content of traditional learning in the discipline of communication has changed extensively over the past decades (i.e. from traditional media to new digital media), service learning can be a complimentary tool to not only broaden students’ learning, but to also expand their professional horizons and opportunities.Originality/valueThe current study expands existing theory and advances our understanding of service learning in the discipline of communication in a Taiwanese context. With practical roots embedded in Western educational initiatives linking service learning to higher education, this paper reveals that service learning does work across cultures as well.

The process of receiving and using feedback from teachers and peer editing groups in the writing classroom, while valuable, is not sufficient in the discipline of technical communication. Technical communication relies heavily on experiential learning, which is typically gained through internships and coops. Similarly, in courses with a service-learning component or activities, students are able to interact with real-world audiences, getting feedback on their work from audiences beyond the classroom. There has been little integration of service learning into technical communication courses serving a student population comprised of engineering students. In courses with this type of curricular structure, students have the opportunity to learn and apply writing, editing, and collaboration strategies specific to the field of engineering in non academic situations. This paper outlines the justification and methodology for using community engagement and service learning assignments in technical writing courses that primarily serve students in engineering programs. It outlines the benefits to the students and community organizations; details how I, while at the University of Alaska Anchorage, used service learning as a means of programmatic assessment in my technical communication courses; and concludes with the methods of assessment used to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of course.

PurposeIn 2001, Ellis and Griffith used a multidimensional ethics scale including three subdimensions of moral equality, relativism and contractualism to examine the ethicality of IT scenarios. In the 20 plus years to follow, there has been an exponential growth in uses and users of technology. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to ascertain if the multi-item ethics measure remains valid in spite of the technological advances and progression of communication made possible through technology.Design/methodology/approachThe survey consisted of technology-related ethical situations, an ethical judgment scale, an engagement scale and demographical questions. The sample size was 366, consisting of mainly white, upperclassman, American-native males having proficient experience with computers and spending an average of 20 h or less a week on a computer.FindingsThe findings reveal that both moral equity and relativism have a positive relationship with engagement across all tested scenarios, while contractualism has a positive relationship in four scenarios. Furthermore, a significant difference between the means of gender exists in four of the six scenarios. These findings indicate that indeed college students can not only recognize, but also make an ethical decision to not engage in unethical behavior and reconfirm that using a multidimensional ethics scale is warranted.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is not without limitations. First, the data is cross-sectional and causal inferences are not warranted. Second, the sample consisted of students and may not be generalizable to employees. Therefore, future research may sample employees in a technology organization to provide greater insight into ethical judgment and engagement in such scenarios. Another limitation of this study is that the scenarios were generated from students discussing their concerns regarding various ethical judgment situations they anticipate encountering in the near future with technology. Although this method of developing scenarios addresses current concerns of students, some of the scenarios do not directly apply to the workplace and may appear to be limited in their applicability. Therefore, future studies should consider developing scenarios that reflect more practical situations that occur in the workplace in general and through work-life blending.Practical implicationsOne of the implications of these findings is that universities and business schools who embed ethics courses in the curriculum need to incorporate moral reasoning in ethics courses, as moral reasoning is an essential component of ethical decision-making and is shown to have a positive relationship with engagement in this study. By providing students with instruction on moral reasoning, universities can equip them with the skills to make ethical decisions that align with the values of their future employers and ameliorate their engagement levels. Continuing professional education in these ethical issues areas helps bridge college edification with practical career application, and ensures that as technologies and situations change, future business professionals are equipped to navigate changing environments and ethical scenarios.Social implicationsWith a brighter spotlight shining on employee ethical behavior both in and out of the workplace (Parker et al., 2019), the ability to make moral choices is vital. This study’s findings indicate that an increased focus on ethics education in universities is effective in helping future business professionals recognize and avoid ethical lapses. Therefore, it may be worthwhile for organizations to invest in ethics training programs to promote ethical decision-making skills among employees. By doing so, organizations may create a culture that values ethical behavior and provides employees with the tools and knowledge necessary to make informed and ethical decisions.Originality/valueThis study highlights the importance of ethics education and training programs and underscores the need for organizations to foster a culture of ethical behavior. Additionally, the study’s findings regarding gender differences call for greater efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace, particularly in leadership positions.

Service Learning: Industrial Embedded Systems CourseService learning is defined by the National Service-Learning Clearing House as “a teaching and learningstrategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich thelearning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” A service learningcapstone project was incorporated into a senior/graduate level industrial control course. The courseprovides instruction on control system design commonly encountered in industry. The design of controlsystems incorporating programmable logic controllers and microcontrollers is covered along withaccompanying laboratory work to reinforce course concepts. To integrate course concepts, practiceteam design skills and expose students to service learning; students were required to complete acapstone service learning project. The students worked in a large team effort to design, construct, testand deliver a Concrete Curing Box (CCB) for use in a high school STEM recruiting and enrichmentprogram. This paper will discuss how the service learning program was constructed and integrated intothe course, the objectives of the service learning component and the results of the project. The CCB willbe used as a case study to illustrate service learning in action.

Service learning or social innovation projects in higher education institutions (HEIs) have become more mainstream and are no longer optional endeavors done by students only when they have time to do so. Such initiatives have become a critical part of learning and character development for young people keen to lead change and find meaning in what they do. As HEIs strive to offer more relevant and authentic learning opportunities for their students, service learning or social innovation projects have become common in HEI curricula. Other than the opportunity to work with others on projects that aim to address social issues and challenges, students get to carry out self-retrospection and introspection on what they experienced and learned. This paper presents excerpts from written reflection entries authored by fifteen students who participated in a social innovation project module at an applied learning university in Singapore. Their written reflective practice provided rich insights into their personal development, team interactions and dynamics, challenges faced, perceptions of the social impact of their work, and areas for improvement based on what the students experienced. The paper concludes with suggestions for implementing similar modules or initiatives related to social innovation or social impact in HEI curricula.

Many accredited schools and programs of public health integrate experiential learning into the capstone experience for undergraduate public health majors; thus, the experiential learning capstone must be both cumulative and integrative. A goal of experiential learning is to foster the application of concepts and skills learned in the classroom to real-world public health situations. Students may benefit from earlier opportunities to engage in high-impact experiential learning activities. Therefore, the University of Iowa College of Public Health developed an experiential learning requirement that is separate from the capstone course. Our students' experiential learning activities do not need to be cumulative across the entire curriculum, but they should be integrative. Public health undergraduate students at the University of Iowa must successfully complete at least one of the following experiences in public health: research, internship, service learning, or global learning. This article will provide a model for the creation of an experiential learning program for undergraduate public health students that is separate from the culminating, capstone experience.

Moral education, Derek Bok (1990) reminds us, once occupied a central place in the intellectual life of students and professors. Strengthening or building the character of students was part and parcel of academe, at least until World War II. College presidents and professors believed that character building contributed to educated class committed to a principled life in the service of (Bok, 1990, 66). This view and practice, Bok contends, has been largely abandoned, having lost ground to logical positivists, the growth of big science, and the spectacular advances of technology. The secularization of society also took its toll on moral education in the halls of academe. In public administration, questions of morality and ethics became captives of the Wilsonian legacy of neutral competency, which found expression in the dominant operating philosophy of public managers to get the job done. Getting the job done right meant for all practical purposes doing what was right or ethical. Professionals in the pro-state tirelessly pursued the holy trilogy of efficiency, economy, and effectiveness (Stillman, 1991). In combination with a heavy dose of clientelism and paternalism, questions of morality and ethics were largely relegated to the sidelines in the teaching and practice of public administration, even though new public administration theorists made a determined effort to inject values into the life of the administrative state. Then came Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair, and the Wall Street-HUD-Capitol Hill scandals of the 1980s. The near impeachment and removal of a sitting president stirred the American soul and prompted renewed public interest in governmental ethics. Thus, in 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Ethics in Government Act, committing federal employees to standards of behavior believed to be in the best interests of the American public. Six years later, in 1984, the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) adopted an ethics code designed to raise the ethical standards and practices of its members. And in the late 1980s, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) incorporated language into its curriculum standards that called for public administration programs to enhance the student's values, knowledge, and skills to act ethically and effectively. These laudable efforts -- federal legislation, ASPA's code of ethics, and NASPAA's new language -- were clear signals to the public and academe that ethical behavior is needed and expected of government officials. Moreover, the message sent to public administration graduate programs was unequivocal -- ethics education cannot and should not be relegated to the curriculum sidelines. Indeed, the evidence points to the fact that MPA programs have moved steadily over the past 25 years toward the incorporation of ethics instruction and courses in their curriculums. A 1995 survey of NASPAA-member schools found that about a dozen schools added ethics courses in the 1970s, with another ten schools added to the list in the early and mid-1980s (Menzel, forthcoming). The adoption curve increased sharply in the late 1980s and 1990s following NASPAA's change in the language of its accreditation standards. By the mid-1990s, 78 NASPAA-member, MPA-degree-granting schools offered an ethics course. Among these 78 schools, one of every four requires matriculating students to complete an ethics course (Menzel, forthcoming). The purpose of this article is to extend previous research in order to address what is probably the most important but least investigated question facing faculty and public administration programs that provide ethics instruction: Does ethics education make a difference? That is, does formal ethics instruction in graduate public affairs/administration (PA/A) schools help public service professionals resolve ethical dilemmas? Stated differently, does ethics pedagogy matter? …