Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Methods Of Evaluating Student Performance Through Service Learning, Kathleen Davis, M. David Miller, Wellesley T. Corbett

Evaluation/Reflection

Service learning* includes a myriad of activities that are currently being implemented at all levels within school settings. But while thousands of service-learning projects involve over one million K-12 students nationwide, measurement alternatives for assessing their impact on students and programs are sparse. The purpose of this document is to try to outline some approaches that might be used in examining the effectiveness of service-learning activities. Effectiveness can include cognitive, behavioral, or affective measures. In addition, effectiveness can be measured for students, classes, or programs. Each of these areas of measurement and units being examined could potentially be measured by …

National Evaluation Of Learn And Serve America School And Community-Based Programs: Final Report, Alan Melchior

School K-12

In 1993, the National and Community Service Trust Act established the Learn and Serve America School and Community-Based Programs to support school and community-based efforts to involve school-aged youth in community service. The program is administered by the Corporation for National Service and funded through grants to states and national organizations, and through them to individual school districts, schools, and community organizations. In 1994-95, the first year of the program, the Corporation awarded approximately $30 million in grants supporting over 2,000 local efforts involving over 750,000 school-aged youth.

Service Learning: A National Strategy, Susan M. Andersen

Special Topics, General

This position paper discusses Policy Recommendations (National, State, and Local Levels; and School Level) and Rationale (What is the Need and Why Service Learning?; What is Service Learning?; Examples of Service Learning; What Does Service Learning Accomplish?; Voluntary or Required?; National Campaign to Promote Service Learning; and Conclusion).

A Student's Reflections On Service: What Is Service? Why Serve?, J. Jeremy Wisnewski

Evaluation/Reflection

There is an old story about an ancient Greek philosopher named Thales. According to this tale, Thales was looking to the stars as he walked about Athens, attempting to answer certain troubling philosophical questions. He became so engaged in thought that he didn't even notice the well he was approaching. Needless to say, Thales. one of the most brilliant of ancient Greek philosophers. fell into the well and became the butt of many Athenian jokes. His head was so lost in the clouds, some said, that he didn't even notice the world around him.

Effects Of Process Vs. Outcome Accountability, Responsibility, And Indentifiability On Solution Quality, Megan Potter

Student Work

This study investigated the effect of accountability, responsibility, and identifiability on the quality of solutions generated to an ill-defined problem. Accountable participants provided written justification for their output, either the solution generation process (process accountability) or the solution generation outcome (outcome accountability). Participants perceived themselves as either sharing responsibility for solution generation with others (shared responsibility) or solely responsible for solution generation (sole responsibility). Lastly, participants were either identifiable, such that their responses could be traced to them personally, or anonymous. Solution quality was measured by resolving power, or the degree to which a solution resolves conflicting aspects of the …

Community Service Learning Increases Communication Skills Across The Business Curriculum, Mary L. Tucker, Anne M. Mccarthy, John A. Hoxmeier, Margarita M. Lenk

Higher Education

Community service learning offers a unique and rewarding way for business students to reinforce communication capabilities while developing lifelong career and social skills. This article defines community service learning, discusses its importance to business as well as higher education, and describes three community service learning projects. Students in these projects taught elementary students, designed a computer system for a community nonprofit, and developed accounting systems for university divisions. In doing so, they enhanced their understanding of classroom theories and communication skills through service-learning.

Community Service Is A Way To Build Business Leadership, Rebecca Erdahl, Mary Schultz

Partnerships/Community

Minnesotans know that our famed quality of life is not a matter of serendipity. It happens here because we expect it of our businesses and community institutions. It happens here because we expect it of ourselves. It exists because we make sure that the right people come together at the right time to do the right things. Perhaps this is best illustrated by the fact that the two largest local business organizations in the state - the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of. Commerce-place the nurturing of community leadership as top priorities.

Service Learning In Overseas Nations: U.S. Student Teachers Give, Grow, And Gain Outside The Classroom, Laura L. Stachowski, Virginia A. Visconti

International Service Learning & Community Engagement

Service learning and overseas student teaching are receiving increased attention in education literature. For example, Kielsmeier (1993) touts service learning as an emerging educational improvement strategy (p. 5) in the U.S. school reform movement. Learning activities, by combining classroom work with service/social action projects, ... can help produce dramatic improvements in student attitudes, motivation, and achievement (Nathan & Kielsmeier, 1991, p. 739).

Students Help In The Naturalization Of Elders, Nina Gibson

Intergenerational

Many of our elderly citizenship students are struggling to get ready to take the naturalization exam. To help these learners, a collaborative effort between City College and San Francisco State University called Project SHINE began last fall and has doubled in size this semester. Credit students from the Phelan campus and from San Francisco State University are coming out to our campuses to tutor seniors studying in our citizenship classes. The tutors receive credit in an academic class for their work as part of service learning. They have agreed to attend one citizenship class per week under the supervision of …

In The Service Of Citizenship: A Study Of Student Involvement In Community Service, Robert A. Rhoads

Higher Education

I learn more through my volunteer work than I ever do in any of my classes at school. Talking to people from diverse backgrounds provides so much insight that people just can't imagine. I study all these different theories in political science and sociology, but until you get a chance to see how the social world influences people's everyday lives, it just doesn't have that much meaning.

I have been involved in volunteer work ever since I was in high school, and I'll probably continue to do stuff like Habitat [for Humanity] until I'm old and gray. I get a …

The Effects Of Service Learning On Middle And High School Students With Emotional Disturbance, Arthur E. Brandt

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

A qualitative investigation into the efficacy of the integration of service-learning into the curriculum for emotionally disturbed students as a means of fostering social/emotional well-being was considered in this thesis. Two separate service-learning approaches were used to observe the effects of service-learning on (a) school related behaviors, (b) academic performance, (c) positive shifts in empathic feelings, (d) improved self-esteem, and (e) individual locus-of-control.

Two case studies, one group and one individual, were completed over an 11 month period in two different service-learning environments. Participants were 12-15 year old boys with emotional disturbance. Data were collected using formalized pre and post-test …

Attempting Preventing Reinventing The Wheel: Establishing Chicano/A-Latino/A Studies At A Midwest Urban University, Joseph A. Valades, Theresa Barron-Mckeagney, Michael Carroll, Lourdes Gouveia, Lucy Garza

Social Work Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

“This session will focus on the personal observations of three faculty who sought to establish a minor in Chicano/a-Latino/a Studies . . . Follow our graphic accounts as we wrestle with the decision of actually embarking on such a quest amidst our thencurrent demands of doctoral coursework, research, teaching and tenure.” In the fall semester of 1995, Chicano/a Studies was formally recognized as a "minor" at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Two years previously, three faculty members from the College of Public Affairs and Community Service at UNO diligently worked to gather student and faculty support and put the …

On Civil Education: Beginning A Dialogue, Laura Martino, Erik W. Robelen

Civic Engagement

In his recent book, The End of Work, economist and political activist Jeremy Rifkin describes the dramatic shift the global economy is undergoing as we enter the next century. Rifkin documents the move from a mass worker economy to a high technology global economy that thrives on the innovations of labor-saving technology and corporate downsizing. "In the agricultural, manufacturing, and service sectors," he writes, "machines are quickly replacing human labor and promise an economy of near automated production by the mid-decades of the twenty-first century." Rifkin argues that government is also offering fewer employment opportunities, and that the rising high-tech …

Animal Tracks Habitat Action Pack, Rhonda Lucas Donald, Marsha A. Lakes Matyas, Sara Bradley, Cheryl Dixon, Elenor Hodges, Jennifer Kier, Margaret Tunstall, Charles Wilkinson

Curriculum

Welcome to Animal Tracks ®, a classroom education program of the National Wildlife Federation focusing on teacher training and environmental education resources. In Animal Tracks materials, the animals and their tracks lead educators and students on an exploration of conservation issues.

Thank you for using this Action Pack, our newest resource. We hope you find the Action Packs useful and because this is a "work-in-progress," we welcome any comments you might have for improvements. As you turn the page you'll see our questionnaire. Please take a minute to fill it out and put it in the mail. We'll include you …

Communo Magazine, Spring 1998, School Of Communication

CommUNO Magazine

CommUNO magazine is currently produced annually by the UNO School of Communication: 6001 Dodge Street, ASH 140, Omaha, NE 68182: Phone: 402.554.2600. Fax: 402.554.3836. For more information, follow us on Twitter@ CommUNO, join the “UNO School of Communication” page on Facebook or visit communication.unomaha.edu.

Why Are We Here? What Are We Doing? Interdisciplinary Social Studies For The 21st Century, Ann L. Rappaport

School K-12

It's the interdisciplinary potential that drew many of us into social studies from the start, isn't it? Because the human condition is, in fact, interdisciplinary. We're attracted by the study of real people and their challenges. We're magnetized by the processes people use to find solutions to a variety of societal problems. It's appealing to learn how people organize to accomplish certain goals. We thrive on diversity, on relationships, on cultural artifacts, on connections. We love the drama of discovery.

Service Learning On The Information Superhighway, Bonnie Bracey

Service Learning, General

The Information Superhighway is more than the Internet. It is a series of components, including the collection of...high-speed, interactive...networks that exist today and will emerge tomorrow. It is the satellite, terrestrial, and wireless technologies....It is the information and content that flow over the infrastructure....It is the computers, televisions, telephones, radios, and other products....It is the people who will provide, manage, and generate new information....And it is the individual Americans who will use and benefit from the Information Superhighway. The Information Superhighway...encompasses all these components and captures the vision of a nationwide, invisible, seamless, dynamic web of transmission mechanisms, information, appliances, …

De-Platonizing And Democratizing Education As The Bases Of Service Learning, Ira Harkavy, Lee Benson

Service Learning, General

The theoretical bases of academic service learning are examined, with particular attention to John Dewey’s contributions. The service learning movement is conceptualized as part of an ongoing—and still unsuccessful—effort to “de-Platonize” and democratize American higher education in particular and American schooling in general.

What Are Students Learning?: Assessing Service Learning And The Curriculum, Kathryn Blash Cumbo, Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur

Service Learning, General

Service learning, a method of learning and teaching, has the potential to move our educational system into the 21st century by providing a vehicle for integrating the needs of schools and communities while reflecting current reform agendas and providing meaningful learning experiences for students. In order for service learning to play a role in the transformation of our schools, however, educators must become successful at linking service to learning- making connections between service experiences and academic learning explicit. This paper explores the meaning of learning in service learning by explicating: a) how service learning links to current standards based reform …

Weaving Service-Learning Into The Fabric Of Your College, Nan Ottenritter, C. David Lisman

Higher Education

Institutionalizing service-learning can be a rich and complex process. The following ideas about sustainability are offered as points to keep in mind as we go about getting service-learning programs more solidly grounded within our institutions. We've organized our ideas into the following categories: institutional mission, faculty outcomes, student outcomes, community impact, coordination of services, and advancement of the field. Most topics are accompanied by a checklist and "thought prompts." The checklist provides a guide for improving service-learning programs from the perspective of many different constituencies across an institution. The thought prompts are key words that frequently surface in discussions about …

Cross-Cultural Field Placements: Student Teachers Learning From Schools And Communities, Laura L. Stachowski, James M. Mahan

Higher Education

The student teaching experience is typically characterized by a collaboration of school and university-cooperating teacher and university supervisor- to prepare novice educators for the instructional, managerial, and disciplinary demands of classroom teaching. Less often are individuals and groups outside of the immediate school environment perceived as active and important contributors to learning outcomes and professional development for student teachers. However, an increasing number of teacher educators are addressing the role of the community in providing student teachers with information and insights that will enhance the classroom experience in vital ways.

A Pedagogy For Citizenship: Service Learning And Democratic Education, Meta Mendel-Reyes

Higher Education

Maria clutches the papers tightly. After over two hours of waiting through reports, announcements, awards, and other agenda items that seemed much less urgent than hers, the chance to speak has nearly arrived. She looks at the determined face of the African American woman seated beside her, one of several residents living across the street from a trash incinerator that has brought pollution, disease, noise, and rats to their quiet neighborhood. At last, they would have the opportunity to tell their story to elected officials who could do something about it. Maria glances down at the statistics that took her …

Leaders Of The New School: A Comparative Analysis Of Selected African American Rap Artists, Andrew P. Smallwood

Black Studies Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

“This is a presentation examining the cultural influence of rap groups Gang Starr, The Roots, and Rakim to examine their message directed at African American youth culture . . . It is through examining the messages in Rap music that we can educate Black youth about Black culture and Black life at the dawn of the 21st century.”

A Comparison Of Two Omaha Radio Talk Shows: Local Vs. National Issues, Jodeane F. Brownlee, Michael L. Hilt

Communication Faculty Publications

It's 9:06 a.m. in Omaha, Nebraska. A stout, forty-year-old male with sandy blond air sips a cup of coffee. The "on air" microphone turns red signaling the start of a new morning on talk radio. "Good morning you're on news/talk 1110 KFAB." Tom Becka, a three-year veteran of talk radio speaks quickly and loudly. Becka describes his show and re audience as the gang in the kitchen. "By that I mean, if you're at a party the best part of the party is the gang in the kitchen," says Becka. "They're arguing, they're fighting, they're laughing, they're discussing, they're disagreeing. …

The Airline Quality Rating 1998, Brent Bowen, Dean Headley, Uno Aviation Institute

Faculty Books and Monographs

UNOAI Report 98-1

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline performance on combined multiple factors important to consumers. Development history and calculation details for the AQR rating system are detailed in The Airline Quality Rating issued in April, 1991, by the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. This current report, Airline Quality Rating 1998, contains monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for 1997. Additional copies are available by contacting Wichita State University or the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The Airline Quality Rating 1998 is …

Performance-Based Standards For Juvenile Corrections, Doris Layton Mackenzie, Gaylene Armstrong, Angela R. Grover

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Total quality management (TQM) has revolutionized business, and some of its components can be applied to corrections. The importance of information for developing performance-based standards is obvious. Much more difficult is the process of deciding what information to obtain and how to use it. In the area of juvenile corrections, information about the conditions or environments of juvenile facilities and how these conditions are associated with intermediate and longterm outcomes will be invaluable in developing performance-based standards.

Animal Tracks Northern Forest Action Pack, Elizabeth Soper, Marsha A. Lakes Matyas, Sara Bradley, Cheryl Dixon, Elenor Hodges, Jennifer Kier, Margaret Tunstall, Charles Wilkinson

Curriculum

Welcome to Animal Tracks®, a classroom education program of the National Wildlife Federation focusing on teacher training and environmental education resources. In Animal Tracks materials, the animals and their tracks lead educators and students on an exploration of conservation issues.

Thank you for using this Action Pack, our newest resource. We hope you find the Action Packs useful and as a ''work-in-progress,'' we welcome any comments you might have for improvements. As you turn the page you'll see our questionnaire. Please take a minute to fill it out and put it in the mail. We'll include you on our mailing …

Why Service-Learning Is Bad, John Eby

Service Learning, General

Service-learning has potential to transform teaching and learning in the academy and to call a generation of students to develop social responsibility and an ethic of service. Research on the learning side of the service-learning equation shows that students develop social responsibility, reduce racism, develop leadership and gain personal and social skills. There are however important questions which must be examined on the service side of the equation. The demands a learning orientation places on service limits its effectiveness and its ability to address community needs at a structural level. The service students do is often ameliorative and the explanations …

Awarding Credit For Service: A Study Conducted For The Corporation For National Service, Robert D. Shumer

Higher Education

The expansion of service-learning and service programs throughout the educational system in the United States continues at a strong rate. Bolstered by the national initiatives sponsored by the Corporation for National Service (CNS) and by state movements such as the mandated graduation requirement for service in Maryland, many people are interested in where and in how this reform movement is being implemented. Specifically, they are interested in understanding what counts for service, how service is monitored, and how service counts or is credited in school districts. A central issue focuses on the criteria school systems and school personnel use to …

Animal Tracks Wetlands Action Pack, Maria Hagedorn, Marsha A. Lakes Matyas, Sara Bradley, Cheryl Dixon, Elenor Hodges, Jennifer Kier, Margaret Tunstall, Charles Wilkinson

Curriculum

Welcome to Animal Tracks®, a classroom education program of the National Wildlife Federation focusing on teacher training and environmental education resources. In Animal Tracks materials, the animals and their tracks lead educators and students on an exploration of conservation issues.

Thank you for using this Action Pack, our newest resource. We hope you find the Action Packs useful and as a "work-in-progress," we welcome any comments you might have for I improvements. As you turn the page you'll see our questionnaire. Please take a minute to fill it out and put it in the mail. We'll include you on our …