Sustainability service learning in economics

Background. Service learning has gained recognition as a valuable pedagogical approach in higher education, aiming to bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world practice. In the context of educational institutions, the role of leadership, particularly transformational leadership, plays a significant role in shaping the effectiveness of such programs. Purpose. This research explores the influence of principal transformational leadership on teacher performance within the framework of service learning in higher education institutions. Method. The study aims to assess how transformational leadership behaviors of school principals impact the engagement and performance of teachers involved in service learning programs. Using a quantitative research design, this study surveyed 150 teachers across several higher education institutions that implement service learning programs. Data were collected through questionnaires that assessed principals’ leadership styles and teachers’ performance in service learning contexts. Results. The results indicate that transformational leadership has a positive and significant effect on teacher performance, particularly in areas related to motivation, professional development, and commitment to service learning objectives. Teachers reported higher levels of engagement and effectiveness when their principals exhibited transformational leadership behaviors, such as inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation. Conclusion. This study concludes that principals who embrace transformational leadership can significantly enhance teacher performance, thereby strengthening the impact of service learning programs.

This investigation explores service learning as an experiential conduit for learning in context where real-world problems and emotions can be dynamically combined and where emotions and learning can be knitted together successfully. Service learning, as a kind of experiential education, provides a needed foil to the current overemphasis on standardized testing in education. This hyperfocus on testing ignores the development of the whole person in authentic learning contexts and overlooks the neuroscience of teaching and learning. A case study of a service learning intervention with teacher education students is reported in this chapter and grounds this work in practice, showcasing the possibilities for enlarging pedagogical learning opportunities in STEM fields. Research from cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience is cited to help build the case for emotions in learning. Through engagement and reflection on engagement through service learning contexts in STEM fields, optimal levels of engagement can be achieved and students can understand more deeply the broader impacts of the STEM disciplines.

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. …

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.

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.

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.

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.

The study aimed to determine: (1) the differences in the self-regulated of students in economics learning using a portfolio assessment model and without using a portfolio assessment model, and (2) the effectiveness of using a portfolio assessment model on students' self-regulated in economics learning. This research is a quasi-experimental study with a randomized control group pretest-posttest design. The population of this research is class XI students majoring in Social Sciences (IIS) for the academic year 2021/2022 which consists of four classes with a sampling technique, namely cluster random sampling. Based on the lottery results, class XI IIS 1 and 2 were given a portfolio assessment model and class XI IIS 3 and 4 did not use the portfolio assessment model. Data collection techniques used are indirect communication techniques. The data collection tool used is a learning self-regulated questionnaire. The hypothesis was tested using parametric statistics, namely the two-tailed t-test with the help of the SPSS version 20 program at a significance level of 0.05. Based on the results of data analysis, it can be concluded that: (1) there are differences in the self-regulated learning of students in economic learning using a portfolio assessment model and without a portfolio assessment model, and (2) the effectiveness of using a portfolio assessment model on student self-regulated in economics learning is 0,31.

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.

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.

Ethics training is becoming increasingly common in pre-professional contexts to address ethical misconduct in business, medicine, science, and other disciplines. These courses are often taught by philosophers. The question is whether such ethics training, which involves philosophical reflection, is effective in cultivating ethical behavior. This paper takes a closer look at the goals of teaching ethics and how our current methods are ineffective in achieving the affective and active goals of teaching ethics. This paper then suggests how experiential learning and, specifically, service learning may be one way forward in achieving these goals. While some pre-professional programs have implemented service learning, the ethics courses offered by philosophers also may be improved by giving students more opportunities to engage their communities through service learning.

At many universities, there is a growing realization that the university owes a social responsibility to the community. Society invests in its citizens through the university, and the university empowers its students to realize their potential, both as competent professionals and as responsible citizens. This requires the cultivation of attributes such as social awareness, ethical leadership, and social responsibility, which are generally recognized as being difficult to teach in a classroom setting. Service learning is a form of active learning that integrates meaningful service to the community with academic study and reflective learning. In service learning, the learning goals of the students are as important as the benefits of the service that is rendered to the community; in addition, the two are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Research has shown that service learning contributes positively to the attainment of many of the aforementioned desired graduate attributes for university students. However, there is much controversy about whether service learning should be mandated. There is a need to examine whether and to what extent students’ learning and development from completing a mandatory service learning subject are influenced by their initial inclination. Data described in this article were collected from 756 students via an online post-experience survey. Results show that students’ total learning experience from service learning had a much stronger impact on their learning and development than their initial inclination or even interest in the subject.

Current reforms in science education call for science for all. In the most progressive sense, this means teachers finding ways to help all children feel comfortable with and connected to science. It also means helping all children develop strong, intellectual, conceptual understandings of the major concepts and theories in science. Despite general consensus about ideal science for all, science educators have been largely unsuccessful in transforming the curricular and pedagogical strategies from traditional practices to practices inclusive of all students (Atwater, 1996). Teacher education programs have had little or no impact on preservice teachers' philosophy of teaching and learning, especially as it relates to underserved populations in science (Rodriguez, 1998). Teacher education programs are populated with many students resistant to deep exploration of racist and other socially oppressive classroom practices (Rodriguez, 1998). In this article, I explore the role of a community-based service learning project in enhancing the multicultural dimension of preservice education and on the development of preservice teachers crafting a multicultural science teaching practice. Community Service Learning Some (Checkoway, 1996) define community service learning as learning activities combining classroom work with social and service action to promote student development of subject matter knowledge, practical skills, social responsibility, and civic values. Although most research about community service learning has dealt with K-12 education, the literature points to the significant impact community service has on improvement in the attitudes, motivation, and achievement of all students, including college students (Barber, Schine, & Kielsmeier, 1997). These improvements have been attributed to how these educational experiences integrate life experience with substantive and practical knowledge and skills. Recently, service learning has garnered attention in teacher education programs as one way to help preservice and inservice teachers learn about complex social problems such as poverty encountered in schools (DeJong & Groomes, 1996). Preservice students can acquire this kind of learning in out-of-school settings in which they can develop relationships with children and families in nonschool contexts, learn about children as children rather than merely as students, develop ties with the community, develop social and interaction skills, and gain greater awareness of other cultural and social norms and values as well as their own beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses (Stachowski & Visconti, 1998). Service learning in teacher education is not new. Many of the most influential thinkers in education and related fields, including Dewey and Freire, have advocated the idea of learning about children, community, disciplinary knowledge, and the relationships among these areas in informal educational settings. Dewey (1938/1963) wrote that the experience in itself is not enough, whether it be a service learning experience or any other kind of experience. He argues that not all experiences are genuinely or equally educative (p. 25). The experience has to be examined, understood, and challenged, thus providing intellectual and psychological continuity and growth. In college-level programs, including teacher education, service learning historically has been enacted individually and collectively. In the individual approach, students must, either as part of a course or program requirement or for individual course credit, engage in some form of service such as volunteer tutoring, serving meals at a soup kitchen, or providing adult companionship for homebound adults (Checkoway, 1996). Students usually generate ongoing reflection journals and written or oral reports documenting the activity from conception to conclusion. Although these are individual service projects, students often share the reflections and reports in a group setting such as a course or seminar, where participating students receive critical feedback, support, and encouragement from peers and professors. …

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.