The Impact of Service-Learning on Students’ Key Competences

Service-learning as a teaching and learning strategy, which combines meaningful service in the community with education, has spread not only in the United States but also in South America, Asia, and Europe in recent years, with the pedagogy being applied at all levels of formal and informal education. In 2005, Matej Bel University, located in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, developed a service-learning strategy, and by 2013 its usage had become widespread. This article presents the findings of a study that investigated the development of key competences of two student groups enrolled in courses that incorporated service-learning strategies during academic years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 at Matej Bel University. The findings of the study suggest that service-learning strategies have positive impacts on the development of students’ key competences. The limitations of our study were conducted with a small research (experimental) group of students who passed service-learning course. Based on our research findings we can recommend service-learning as a suitable strategy for students’ key competencies development

Service-Learning as a Means to Promote Development of Social Responsibility Competency in a Department of Economics and Business (English translation)

El enfoque metodológico de Aprendizaje-Servicio ha sido utilizado desde el año 2009 por la Facultad de Economía y Negocios de la Universidad de Chile, para propiciar, por una parte, la vinculación de la formación profesional de sus estudiantes con problemáticas y desafíos reales del entorno, y por otra parte, el desarrollo de la competencia de Responsabilidad Social. El artículo tiene como finalidad presentar los resultados comparativos entre la percepción inicial y final de los estudiantes, que participan en cursos con enfoque de Aprendizaje-Servicio, respecto a su desempeño esperado y real de la competencia. Entre los principales resultados destaca que, los ítems  del instrumento asociados a la recolección de información con socios comunitarios y la estimación de impactos económicos a pesar de mostrar una leve disminución esta no es estadísticamente significativa, el resto de los ítems presenta una leve disminución. Lo anterior, puede explicarse debido a que ciertos desempeños son mayormente abordados en el plan de formación, ratificando la necesidad de seguir fortaleciendo la institucionalización de la metodología, así como buscar nuevas formas y estrategias metodológicas para el desarrollo de la competencia de Responsabilidad Social en la formación de profesionales. Palabras Claves: Responsabilidad Social, Aprendizaje-Servicio, Competencias Genéricas, Educación Superior.

Groundbreaking Partnerships for Engaged Learning: A Review of "Service Learning, Information Literacy, and Libraries"

Reviewed in this article: Service Learning, Information Literacy, and Libraries. Edited by Jennifer Nutefall. Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara, CA. 2016. ISBN: 978-1440840913. 155 pages

Fostering Undergraduate Spiritual Growth Through Service-Learning

Scholars and educational leaders have expressed concern that higher education is not adequately meeting students’ desire for spiritual growth within an academic context. Prior studies have demonstrated a relationship between the pedagogical method of service-learning and spiritual development. This study analyzed the relationship between specific service-learning components and the occurrence of spiritual growth in an effort to better understand how such growth can be fostered within the curriculum. Findings indicated that spiritual growth occurred when students experienced significant challenge balanced with support. Challenge was initiated when students witnessed injustice while simultaneously being exposed to new, diverse perspectives in class. Support emerged from relationships as well as the effective integration of coursework with the service experience.   

Welcome to the Volume

Welcome to the fourth volume of the International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IJRSLCE), the annual, online, peer-reviewed publication of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE), the premier network for scholars studying teaching, learning, and research in civic and public life. The purpose of IJRSLCE is to make available to educational practitioners, researchers, and policy makers current highquality research and theory on service-learning and campus-community engagement

Introduction to the Section: Advances in Theory and Methodology

The Advances in Theory and Methodolgy section of IJRSLCE aims to meet the mission of IARSLCE to promote the continuous improvement of the quality of service-learning and community engagement research and to build the capacity of scholars to conduct this research. The introduction to the section briefly reviews this purpose of the section and offers an overview of Advances articles

Authentic Reflection for Experiential Learning at İnternational Schools

When students are required to reflect on their experiential learning, they face many challenges. Moreover, if teachers and advisors do not implement reflection effectively, students are less likely to internalize the lessons they learn from their experiences. Based on a multi-case study applying grounded theory, this research examined how reflection on experiential learning was implemented at six International Baccalaureate schools in Turkey. Several patterns emerged across schools from which the authors developed a theoretical framework for conceptualizing the reflection process for experiential learning with respect to (1) timing and frequency of reflections, (2) formats and contexts for reflection, and (3) feedback about reflection. The authors make a number of recommendations for improving the reflection process in the aforementioned areas and offer suggestions for future research

Introduction to the Section: Community Partnerships and Impacts

From early in its history, IARSLCE has been committed to promoting reciprocity and mutuality between students, faculty, and institutions, and the communities with which they work. The introduction to the Community Partnerships and Impacts section introduces articles in the 2016 volume that address these topics. The section editors also note that in actual practice and research, faculty and institutional agendas and needs have overhwlemingly dominated those of community partners and challenge the field to work toward resolving the differences in power and resources that keep these inequities in place

Introduction to the Section: Student Outcomes (Primary, Secondary and Higher Education)

The section editors of the Student Outcomes section report with appreciation on the abundance of high quality research and theoretical literature that is currently available on student outcomes of service-learning and community engagement. Today’s research is less atheoretical and narrowly focused on specific courses and outcomes of interest and better grounded in more sophisticated conceptualizations about the effects of student participation in service-learning and community engagement and an empirically stronger knowledge base. The section editors introduce five articles that exemplify these positive trends, including two replications and extensions of previous work. The section editors then challenge scholars of service-learning to broaden the scope of future studies by contextualizing them within global issues facing society and presenting the role that education faculty and community engagement professionals might play in addressing these issues. They provide a unique model for designing and conducting these future investigations

Exploring Service-Learning Outcomes and Experiences for Low-Income, First-Generation College Students: A Mixed-Methods Approach

This study explored the service-learning experiences of low-income, first-generation college students using a mixed-methods design that drew upon a national longitudinal dataset and in-depth, face-to-face interviews conducted over the course of a year and a half at three institutions in three states.  The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the outcomes related to service-learning participation for low-income, first-generation college students.  Findings indicated that participation in service-learning courses was significantly positively related to the development of several academic and affective outcomes related to increased academic success.  The presence of divergent findings from the two data streams also indicated particular complexity in measuring development for low-income and first-generation students—a complexity not found in the overall student population.  The author discusses specific implications of this study for practitioners, college and university administrators, researchers, and policy makers