Race-Focused Service-Learning Courses: Issues and Recommendations

This article discusses the interaction between race and service-learning in the college classroom. The author found that students of color were more likely to choose the service-learning option in her courses when the incentive was higher and there was more latitude in site choice. The article then looks at factors that adversely affect the service-learning experience in courses that are specifically race-focused and suggests counterbalancing strategies

Promoting positive communication environments: a service evaluation.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation of a programme of training and support provided to staff, which aimed to encourage supported communication environments for people with learning disabilities. Design/methodology/approach Training, monitoring and support for communication, specifically augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies, was provided by speech and language therapy staff to two residential services over 46 weeks. Staff and service user communications were observed pre- and post-intervention. Findings In one provision there was an increase in service user initiations and the use of some AAC strategies by support staff. In the other provision there was no change in service user initiations and a decrease in the range of AAC strategies used. It appears that some forms for AAC remain challenging for staff to implement. Originality/value This evaluation explores ways of using specialist support services to improve communication environments for people with learning difficulties. Possible reasons for differences in the outcome of the intervention are discussed. Future research into the types of communication interactions experienced by people with learning disabilities across the range of communication styles may be useful so that support staff can be better helped to provide sustained and enriched communication environments

Scientists and the Science Educators: Collaborating to Develop Conceptual Change Teaching Strategies

Research in science education has identified conceptual change teaching strategies that may enhance pre-service teachers’ understanding of scientific concepts and processes. These strategies, supported by constructivist learning theory in the social and cognitive sciences, include the use of discrepant events to engage students’ prior knowledge, the learning cycle, and collaborative learning. Science educators have used these strategies to challenge alternative conceptions of pre-service K-8 teachers in methods courses in an effort to facilitate learning scientific concepts. Pre-service K-8 teachers, motivated to explore scientific phenomena and clarify their own understandings, gain confidence in their ability to learn science and are better prepared to use similar strategies with children. In redesigning innovative courses for pre-service teachers in university science departments, scientists and science educators would benefit from a mutual collaboration to develop instructional strategies informed by constructivist learning theory. In this partnership, scientists, experts in content and scientific research, would work with science educators to develop curriculum in both science and science methods courses that challenges pre-service teachers’ existing knowledge and facilitates more authentic understandings of science. A more seamless transition would thus be possible between science courses and science methods courses

Empathy Activators: Strategies for Developing Empathy in Service-Learning Students

This poster presentation explores the link between service-learning and the development of student empathy. It will share the initial research results of a pilot study on student empathy, service-learning, and key ingredients for cultivating empathy. It also offers instructors concrete ideas for teaching tools that activate student empathy

From A Service-Learning to A Social-Change Model

Tutor education courses that prepare students to serve as peer writing consultants often include service learning; a typical servicelearning tutor education course involves sending students to tutor in local schools, usually in underserved neighborhoods. Existing writing center scholarship on service learning tends to overlook the limitations of this model. This article advances a radically different approach for tutor education where the course acts as an incubator for social change on campus. Informed by the principles advanced by the critical service learning movement, the course described here invites students to design and implement campus-based community building projects. Ultimately, this article demonstrates that a course focused on community building, rather than tutoring theory and strategies, can effectively prepare students to serve as peer writing consultants while imparting a heightened awareness of social inequities and a deep investment in the campus community.University Writing Cente

Scheduling with Predictions and the Price of Misprediction

In many traditional job scheduling settings, it is assumed that one knows the time it will take for a job to complete service. In such cases, strategies such as shortest job first can be used to improve performance in terms of measures such as the average time a job waits in the system. We consider the setting where the service time is not known, but is predicted by for example a machine learning algorithm. Our main result is the derivation, under natural assumptions, of formulae for the performance of several strategies for queueing systems that use predictions for service times in order to schedule jobs. As part of our analysis, we suggest the framework of the "price of misprediction," which offers a measure of the cost of using predicted information

Service-Learning Faculty Assessment: Report of Results, 2018

In Spring 2018, the VCU Service-Learning Office sponsored an evaluation process that gathered feedback from faculty members who teach service-learning classes. The goal was to deepen understanding of the barriers faced by VCU’s service-learning faculty instructors and to solicit feedback about key strategies for overcoming these barriers. An independent research consultant conducted the evaluation in two phases: an online anonymous survey and a 30-minute phone interview. Eighty service-learning instructors completed the online survey, and a stratified sample of 18 instructors completed the telephone interviews. Findings indicated that both the online survey respondents and phone interview participants experienced similar supports and barriers to teaching their service-learning classes. Key findings and recommendations are outlined in the full report

Smart City Development with Urban Transfer Learning

Nowadays, the smart city development levels of different cities are still unbalanced. For a large number of cities which just started development, the governments will face a critical cold-start problem: 'how to develop a new smart city service with limited data?'. To address this problem, transfer learning can be leveraged to accelerate the smart city development, which we term the urban transfer learning paradigm. This article investigates the common process of urban transfer learning, aiming to provide city planners and relevant practitioners with guidelines on how to apply this novel learning paradigm. Our guidelines include common transfer strategies to take, general steps to follow, and case studies in public safety, transportation management, etc. We also summarize a few research opportunities and expect this article can attract more researchers to study urban transfer learning

Service Learning in Undergraduate Nursing Education: Strategies to Facilitate Meaningful Reflection

Service learning is recognized as a valuable pedagogy involving experiential learning, reflection, and reciprocal learning. Students develop critical thinking and social awareness by using the crucial activity of reflecting upon their experiential learning with community partners. The purpose of this paper is to demystify the process of reflection by identifying best practices to enhance reflection and offering suggestions for grading. By understanding “the what” and “the how” of reflection, educators can implement service learning experiences designed to include the essential component of reflection. Strategies for facilitating meaningful reflection are described including descriptions of what students should reflect upon and how to initiate reflection through writing, reading, doing, and telling. Grading rubrics are suggested to facilitate evaluation of student reflection. When properly implemented, service learning encourages students to be good citizens of the world. By using best practices associated with reflection, students can be challenged to think critically about the world and how their service can achieve community goals

A Spectrum of Service: Combining Paid Service and Volunteerism: Strategies for Effective Practice in School Settings

This is the second report in a series from P/PV's Spectrum of Service (SOS) project. P/PV has created a learning community by giving two-year grants to seven sites, supporting the expansion of efforts to combine the work of paid and unpaid service providers in enhancing youth's educational outcomes. Sites gather in a series of cross-site conferences to provide peer support and to exchange information and program data. This report shares the experiences of these sites as they endeavor to develop partnerships with, and work within, public schools to support young people's educational achievement, and describes the strategies that the SOS sites have used not only to combine the work of volunteers and paid service providers, but to do so in a public school setting