The Cliff, the Rope and the Safety Net: Teaching Through Service Learning

One strategy for a service-learning course is basically to push the students off of a cliff, dangle a rope, and hope they can not only find the rope, but also climb back up. This generally means getting students out there as quickly as possible, equipping them with some basic tools and knowledge to make sense of their experience along the way, and seeing if they can put it all together. A different strategy at the other end of the spectrum involves holding the students’ hands throughout the process – that is, being present when they are out in the real world, providing a safety net for their mistakes, and guiding them directly on each step of the way throughout the process. A middle-of-the-road (and perhaps ideal) approach involves a different sequence: carefully equipping students with extensive knowledge, tools, and theory, then sending them out into the real world to employ those tools and reflect on the experience. This middle way, however, is difficult to condense into a single semester if students are expected to be providing service to the community in the same time period. This presentation will reflect upon two service learning courses that have experimented with this spectrum over the past six years, focusing on the benefits and disadvantages of these approaches to service learning from three perspectives: (1) impacts on the students; (2) impacts on the recipients of students’ service; and (3) the time and effort required by the instructor. Survey research with students over five years reflects that different strategies can be successful at meeting course goals and other outcomes commonly sought in service learning courses (self-confidence, self-reflection, and thinking about the future). A shift from the dangle-the-rope strategy toward a modified version of the middle-of-the-road strategy, however, increased the efficiency of the course and the quality of the experience for participating community members. Lessons will also be shared regarding managing multiple projects within a single class

Teaching Environmental Communications Through Service Learning

The presentation will reflect on the results of evaluations of a service learning course in environmental education in which students developed and delivered afterschool environmental education programs at local elementary schools. One strategy for a service‐learning course is basically to push the students off of a cliff, dangle a rope, and hope they can not only find the rope, but also climb back up. This generally means getting students out there as quickly as possible, equipping them with some basic tools and knowledge to make sense of their experience along the way, and seeing if they can put it all together. A different strategy at the other end of the spectrum involves holding the students’ hands throughout the process – that is, being present when their out in the real world, providing a safety net for their mistakes, and guiding them directly on each step of the way throughout the process. A middle‐of‐the‐road (and perhaps ideal) approach involves a different sequence: carefully equipping students with extensive knowledge, tools, and theory, then sending them out into the real world to employ those tools and reflect on the experience. This middle way, however, is difficult to condense into a single semester if students are expected to be providing service to the community in the same time period. This service learning class has moved from the dangle‐the‐rope strategy toward a modified version of the middle‐of‐the road strategy over its four years of existence. This presentation will focus on the benefits and disadvantages of these approaches to service learning from three perspectives: (1) impacts on the students; (2) impacts on the recipients of students’ service; and (3) the time and effort required by the instructor. Evaluations reflect that while the shift increased students’ comfort levels in the course, both strategies were largely successful at meeting course goals and other outcomes commonly sought in service learning courses (self‐confidence, self‐reflection, and thinking about the future). The shift, however, also increased the efficiency of the course and the quality of the experience for participating schools

Urologists’ Views on Contact With Industry Representatives: A Pilot Survey

Purpose: The current survey aims to determine the various ways in which urologists at all levels of training view the nature of their relationships with industry representatives, and the effects these relationships may have on clinical practice and behavior. Methods: We sent an anonymous SurveyMonkey® questionnaire to a cohort of approximately 1700 practicing urologists in various urologic subspecialties across the country. The questionnaire elicited information related to demographics, personal awareness of institutional guidelines regarding PR/DMR, and opinions regarding the following: •the ability of industry-supplied gifts to compromise judgment •the utility and appropriateness of industry representatives in the clinical setting •the effects of governmental regulations addressing physician-industry contact •the effects of receipt of promotional items in influencing clinical behaviors •the need for laws governing physician contact with industry representatives Opinions were reported on 5-point Likert scales ranging from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree” allowing the respondent the freedom to be “Undecided”. Finally, a free text response was made available at the end of the survey for comments and feedback regarding the survey. In the analysis phase “Strongly Agree” and “Agree” responses were pooled, as were “Strongly Disagree” and “Disagree”. Four respondents were excluded from the final analysis because they failed to complete the opinions sections regarding PR/DMR

Exploring Producers\u27, Staff Members\u27, and Board Members\u27 Cognitive Frame on Decision Making in an Appalachian Organic Farming Venture

Sustainable development assistance organizations (SDAOs) aim to help producers of natural resource products move their goods and services to market. This article explores how the cognitive frames held by producers, staff, and board members in an agricultural SDAO in rural Appalachia influence organizational decision-making. This study explores identity, characterization, value, and membership frames. Data collected through semi-structured interviews with growers, staff, and board members reveal that the frames these stakeholders hold lead to the institutionalization of decision-making processes that allow organizational managers to make quick, consistent, and clear decisions while avoiding conflicts among members who hold competing frames. Simultaneously, these tacitly-supported practices are exclusionary, and they limit creativity and information exchange, as well as reducing transparency. Consequently, the SDAO may face organizational challenges due to limited problem-solving and adaptive management capabilities. Additionally, the prevailing nature of some members’ frames may prevent other participants from changing their views of the SDAO, limiting the firm’s flexibility to experiment with new management and organizational structures and resilience in the face of change