The Influence of Sense of School Community on Korean Students’ Life Satisfaction and Comparison of Sense of Community for Students’ Gender and High School Specialties

The purpose of this study was to compare the sense of community of South Korean high school students as measured by a Korean version of the Sense of Community Index 2 (KSCI2) and examine the effect of two factors of the KSCI2, reinforcement of needs and influence, on students’ life satisfaction as measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A total of 375 Korean high school students provided usable data from three vocational high schools specializing in agriculture, electronics and engineering, and business and marketing, and one Meister high school specializing in automotive. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and path analysis with structural equation modeling (SEM), were performed to analyze data. Findings suggested that there were statistically significant differences in reinforcement of needs, influence, and life satisfaction, for the gender of students and school specialties. First, male students scored higher than female students on reinforcement of needs and influence. Next, male students were more satisfied with their lives than female students. For reinforcement of needs, students specializing in automotive scored higher than those specializing in business and marketing. For influence, students specializing in automotive scored higher than those specializing in all the other three specialties. Finally, both factors of reinforcement of needs and influence had positive effects on students’ life satisfaction. Implications and suggestions for further studies are discussed

How to Design a Course Integrating Service-Learning Projects in an Educational Technology Course: A Case Example?

Service learning can be defined as an academic course-based educational experience that students can obtain credits through by participating in service activities based community needs as well as academic goals and by reflecting on the service activities. Service learning can lead students to engaging in deeper understanding of academic course content, community issues, and students themselves (Bringle, & Hatcher, 1995). According to the Kolb’s experiential learning theory, students can engage in deeper learning via service learning projects by planning, doing, observing, and reflecting/thinking (Kolb, 1984). Key components of service-learning include relevant service to course content, academic material, critical reflection, and reciprocity (Matthews, 2015). Students’ learning outcomes through service-learning can be discussed in three aspects: Civic (also called social outcomes), Personal (also known as personal outcomes), and Academic (aka leaning outcomes) (Matthews, 2015). By following the situated learning model (Fink, 2004), the three situational factors: learning goals; teaching and learning activities; and feedback and assessment were considered when designing a course in order to see students’ changes of learning outcomes through service-learning projects. Considering the experiential learning theory and service-learning literature addressed above, first, the instructor investigated problems from the previous course design and students’ learning outcomes. Based on the examination, past students’ learning outcomes did not last longer or did not reflect on real world context. For example, past students stopped blogging on their professional website that they had developed as a course assignment after the course ended. Second, based on the recognition of the problem, the instructor planned to integrate service-learning projects into the course. Third, the instructor connected educators in community to find community needs. For this, the instructor contacted K-12 teachers and obtained information that they needed products as open educational resources (OERs) that reflected their curriculum standards. Next, the instructor redesigned the course implementing service-learning projects as course requirements. Students were asked to discuss before, during, and after each project as well as to develop reflection papers following the DEAL model (Description, Examination, and Articulation of Learning). Finally, students and the instructor celebrated and demonstrated their outcomes of service-learning projects. Also, products were provided to the community as OERs. The results showed that students became more engaged in course content, knowledge, and skills as well as personal development, such as better understanding of themselves in terms of career development and preparation as well as recognizing community needs. This case example can guide other instructors and practitioners in K-16 educational settings and relevant community to design a course by integrating service-learning projects. Thus, the presenters would like to share this practice with other educators, practitioners, and community members so that suggestions and discussion can be shared from audience