Education Commons^™

Vcu Service-Learning Impact Measure (Slim) Report, 2020-2021, Katie Elliott, Jackie Stephens

Division of Community Engagement Resources

The VCU Service-Learning Office distributes the Service-Learning Impact Measure (SLIM) at the end of every semester to evaluate the impact of service-learning classes on student learning. Results are used to guide program improvements that enhance the quality of service-learning courses and outcomes for students, faculty, and partners. This report covers the 2020-2021 academic years and highlights assessment focus areas including: career readiness, academic learning, civic learning identity development, diversity and inclusion, and the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Service-Learning Community Partner Impact Assessment Report, 2021, Rebecca Hoppe, Katie Elliott, Lynn E. Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

In 2021, the Service-Learning Office at VCU conducted an assessment of the impact of service-learning on community partner organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The assessment aimed to collect actionable feedback to inform and improve upon current service-learning course practices. Partners (N = 18) were prompted with questions to assess the following topics: operational capacity, economic functioning, social environment, and partnership quality, both prior to and in concurrent with the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative findings suggested an overall improvement in scores from the 2017 assessment. Qualitative findings indicated the importance of relationships, concluding that adaptation, communication, and involvement were key factors …

Vcu Service-Learning Impact Measure (Slim) Report, 2020-2021, Katie Elliott, Jackie Stephens

The VCU Service-Learning Office distributes the Service-Learning Impact Measure (SLIM) at the end of every semester to evaluate the impact of service-learning classes on student learning. Results are used to guide program improvements that enhance the quality of service-learning courses and outcomes for students, faculty, and partners.

Vcu Service-Learning Impact Measure (Slim) Report, 2018-2019, Tamanna Sohal, Katie Elliott

Division of Community Engagement Resources

The VCU Service-Learning Office distributes the Service-Learning Impact Measure (SLIM) at the end of every semester to evaluate the impact of service-learning classes on student learning. Results are used to guide program improvements that enhance the quality of service-learning courses and outcomes for students, faculty, and partners.

Service-Learning Faculty Assessment: Report Of Results, 2018, Lynn E. Pelco, Katie Elliott, Katie Schifano

Division of Community Engagement Resources

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 …

2017-18 Student Success And Service-Learning Report, Lynn Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Institutional data across multiple academic years were used to assess the impact of undergraduate service-learning class participation on three critical student success metrics: Inclusive excellence, Degree completion, and Quality of learning. Results indicate that traditionally underrepresented student groups participated in VCU service-learning classes at expected rates given their proportion in the overall student population. Thirty-seven percent of undergraduate service-learning students were from underrepresented minority groups and 30% were Pell grant recipients. The average three-year retention rate across four matriculating cohorts of first-time, full-time undergraduate students was 84% for service-learning students compared to 70% for non-service-learning students. Seventy-two percent of undergraduate …

Teaching Service-Learners To Be Designers Of Social Change, Matthew James Vechinski

Focused Inquiry Publications

This presentation focuses on teaching undergraduates to regard themselves as designers in the context of interdisciplinary project-based learning. Central to design thinking is storytelling, using narrative to reflect on scenarios and to build empathy with stakeholders. It also involves recognizing community partners as collaborators, not just as passive recipients of benefits, in order to produce truly innovative, sustainable projects that fulfill real needs and bring about change.

Why Service-Learning?, Audrey Trussell, Katie Elliott

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Data from VCU's "High Impact Practices (HIPS) Assessment Model: 2015-16 Pilot Mid-Year Report" offers three compelling reasons for why service-learning matters for student success.

2015-2016 Service-Learning Impact Measure Report, Samantha Poelstra

Division of Community Engagement Resources

The VCU Service-Learning Office distributes the Service-Learning Impact Measure (SLIM) at the end of every semester to evaluate the impact of service-learning classes on student learning. Results are used to guide professional development opportunities, as well as to further improve the quality of and recruit additional tenure-line faculty members to teach designated service-learning classes.

Different Tools For Different Tasks: Strategies For Assessing Student Learning From Civic Engagement At The Student, Program, And Institutional Levels, Lynn E. Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This presentation was given at the SCHEV Civic Engagement Education and Assessment meeting on June 9, 2017.

2015-16 Service-Learning Impact Measure Report (Infographic), Audrey Trussell, Katie Elliott

Division of Community Engagement Resources

No abstract provided.

Service-Learning Community Partner Impact Assessment Report, Jennifer Jettner, Lynn Pelco, Katie Elliott

Division of Community Engagement Resources

In the summer of 2017, VCU’s Office of Service-Learning conducted an evaluation of the impact of service-learning on community partner organizations. This assessment aimed to collect actionable feedback from partners and to inform improvements to service-learning courses at VCU that successfully address partners’ concerns. An external researcher conducted phone interviews with a representative sample of 22 community partners. Partners were asked how a specific service-learning course impacted their organization in three areas: organizational capacity, economically, and socially. Partners were also asked about faculty interactions and the likelihood of recommending the service-learning course to other organizations like their own. This report …

A Dialogue Of Learning: The Exploration Of A Service-Learning Practicum And The Development Of Democratic Educational Values, Margaret P. Pienkowski

Theses and Dissertations

Using a hybrid portraiture interpretivist case study methodology, this study explores the development of democratic educational values of pre-service teachers who participated in a “nested” service-learning practicum during their first semester in a secondary teacher preparation program. In this nested model, both the pre-service teachers and the middle school students with whom they worked participated in service-learning. The study is in response to the findings of previous researchers that democratic educational values have, in many classrooms, been pushed aside by the pressures of the standardization and accountability movement and by the belief that democratic educational values are critical to a …

Empathy Activators: Teaching Tools For Enhancing Empathy Development In Service-Learning Classes, Robin Everhart, Katie Elliott, Lynn E. Pelco, Deborah Westin, Rowena Briones, Emily Peron

Division of Community Engagement Resources

On February 5, 2016, 25 educators from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the University of Richmond (UR) gathered in Richmond, Virginia, for an annual service-learning workshop. This year’s workshop featured Robin Everhart, PhD, VCU assistant professor of psychology, as keynote speaker. Jumpstarted by Everhart’s research on student empathy, workshop participants explored the concept of empathy and collaboratively developed strategies for integrating empathy into the service-learning experience. This document grows out of Everhart’s presentation and group discussions during that workshop and represents a collection of ideas generated.

Empathy Activators: Strategies For Developing Empathy In Service-Learning Students, Katie Elliott, Robin Everhart, Lynn E. Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

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.

Preparing Future Faculty As Service-Learning Instructors: A Proposal To Integrate Instruction In Service-Learning Pedagogy Into The Vcu Preparing Future Faculty Program, Amanda Hall, Lynn E. Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This proposal provides a detailed plan for incorporating service-learning pedagogy into the VCU Preparing Future Faculty Program (http://graduate.vcu.edu/development/faculty.html). The VCU Preparing Future Faculty Program (PFF Program) is an optional training program offered by the VCU Graduate School to all graduate students enrolled at the university. The PFF Program involves a series of courses and professional development opportunities aimed at preparing doctoral students for the professoriate.

Faculty Development For Service-Learning: One Size Does Not Fit All, Lynn E. Pelco, Catherine Howard

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This conference presentation describes the development of the professional development continuum currently being used at Virginia Commonwealth University to build the faculty’s capacity for teaching high-quality service-learning courses. Our professional development continuum was developed over the past 5 years by the staff of the VCU Service-Learning Office and was informed by program evaluation data, the principles of adult learning theory, and an “exposure-experience-expertise” developmental framework. The continuum targets instructors at varying levels of service-learning knowledge and experience so that faculty instructors with more service-learning experience participate in different professional development opportunities than do instructors who are new to the pedagogy.

Strategies For Establishing Mutually Beneficial Service-Learning Partnerships, Erin Marie Burke Brown

Division of Community Engagement Resources

In an ideal world, instructors would begin the process of planning for their service-learning course at least one year in advance of teaching it, but sometimes that is not the case. Use these steps to get started whether you are one year or a few weeks out before the semester starts.

Community Partner Challenges And Strategies Infographic, Audrey Trussell

Division of Community Engagement Resources

The infographic depicts common community partner challenges and strategies that were compiled in the Spring 2-15 VCU Service-Learning Institute.

Learning Through Serving: Why University-Community Collaboration Is An Educational Imperative, Erin Marie Burke Brown, Sierra Croker, Taryn Dollings, Kaitlyn Donahue, Rachel Dyer, Omequa Eaddie, Rebecca Kellerman

Division of Community Engagement Resources

The objectives of this presentation were to: (1) understand how universities impact communities; (2) discuss importance of university-community collaboration; (3) review best practices for university-community collaboration; (4) explore ways to positively impact communities through university-community collaboration; and (5) learn ways to combine academic and professional goals through civic engagement.

Growing Community-School Garden Partnerships, Amanda Hall, Lynn Pelco, Toby Vernon

Division of Community Engagement Resources

No abstract provided.

The Emotions Of Teaching Through Service-Learning, Carrie Lecrom, Jill Lassiter, Lynn Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

No abstract provided.

My Service Learning Experience, Destiny Brazeal

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This presentation produced by Destiny Brazeal, student at Virginia Commonwealth University, reflects on her experience in a service-learning course.

An Annotated Review Of Scholarship: Partnerships For Community-Engaged Teaching And Learning, Division Of Community Engagement

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This series of 22 annotations of scholarly products published between 2006 through 2013 seeks to clearly define partnerships and collaboration. The document helps to illuminate the Division of Community Engagement’s mission to mobilize partnerships and advance the university’s strategic plan, Quest for Distinction. These annotations will provide a resource to community-engaged faculty at VCU and other higher education institutions.

Utilizing Service-Learning Teaching Assistants In The Classroom, Erin Burke Brown, Kristy Byrd, James Fueglein

Division of Community Engagement Resources

No abstract provided.

2013 Service-Learning Faculty Survey Results Report, Office Of Service-Learning, Division Of Community Engagement, Virginia Commonwealth University

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Service-learning is an important teaching pedagogy that has been proven effective in enhancing student learning and promoting both academic and civic engagement. As civic engagement continues to gain prominence as an integral aspect of higher education, it is increasingly important that engagement metrics are consistently measured to demonstrate outcomes. This is especially true of service-learning as it strongly correlates with student learning, academic performance, and retention rates. Feedback and suggestions from service-learning faculty members are useful for gaining insights into how service-learning quality can be enhanced at the classroom level and understanding the resource needs of faculty members.

The purpose …

Community Engagement Living-Learning Programs: Build It Well And They Will Come, Lynn Pelco, Mary Slade

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Objectives for this presentation were: (1) overview the literature on benefits and models of living-learning programs; (2) describe the components of VCU's new community-engagement living-learning program, VCU ASPiRE; (3) introduce a theoretical model for building high-quality community-engagement living-learning programs; (4) facilitate discussion amongst participants to exchange ideas and to begin strategic problem-solving that will create high-quality community engagement, living-learning programs; and (5) provide living-learning program online resources.

The Impact Of Service-Learning On Degree Completion, Kelly Lockeman, Lynn Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

No abstract provided.

Engaging Teachers And Students In Stem Instruction Through Service-Learning, Kelly Lockeman, Suzanne Kirk, Lynn Pelco, Erin-Marie Burke Brown

Division of Community Engagement Resources

GreenSTEM at VCU integrates science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education with a focus on energy and the environment using service-learning techniques for middle school science, mathematics and technology teachers.

Service-Learning In English Language Courses, Audrey Short, Susan Dudley, Lynn Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

No abstract provided.