Digital Commons Network^™

Making The Case For Social And Emotional Learning And Service-Learning, Linda Fredericks

Service Learning, General

This ECS Issue Brief provides an overview and description of both social and emotional learning (SEL) and service-learning (S-L) as tools to improve the lives and academic performance of students. It describes how the two practices arc interrelated and the research evidence that supports the expanded use of both practices in the classroom. Also provided are descriptions of the essential clements required of successful SEL and S-L programs, examples of such successful programs that are in existence today, and a discussion of state activities and experiences. Lastly, the brief discusses a series of likely challenges that education leaders implementing SEL …

Boot Camps, Gaylene Armstrong, Doris Layton Mackenzie

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Best Practices In Service-Learning At Christian Private Liberal Arts Colleges And Universities, Regan Harwell Schaffer

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to develop a working definition of service-Ieaming, identify the best practices of service-learning in the Christian college context and based upon that information develop a model that could be replicated at similar colleges and universities. To address the research questions, the researcher performed a descriptive study which incorporated the following: (a) examination of the findings of unpublished data from a survey on service-Iearning at 90 Christian colleges and universities and notes from a conference on service-learning at faith-based institutions; (b) conducting a thorough review of the literature on service-learning and the mission and purpose …

A Preliminary Investigation Of Sense Of Humor And Purpose In Life, Sandra Batten

Student Work

It was hypothesized that sense o f humor is related to purpose in life. A convenience sample o f 136 undergraduates completed the Modified Purpose in Life test (Chang & Dodder, 1983-84) and the Multidimensional Sense o f Humor Scale (Thorson & Powell, 1993). The overall correlation between the two scales in this sample was .30 ( p < .001). The sub-scales o f the MSHS that related most robustly to purpose in life were Coping ( r = . 3 1 , p < .001) and Attitude Toward Humor and Humorous People ( r = .45, p < .001).

The Process Of Parental Choice In Choosing A General Elementary Program Or A District Magnet Program, Nila Jeannette Nielsen

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to explore the process of parental choice when two educational programs were offered at one building site. This qualitative case study sought to determine if patterns exist in the parental choice process. Three main areas of (1) investigation, (2) decision-making and (3) verification were the focus of the study.

The Family Science Starter Kit: A Manual To Assist You In The Development Of A Family Aeronautical Science Program, Henry R. Leher, Uno Aviation Institute

Faculty Books and Monographs

UNOAI Report 02-6

This book is designed to involve families working together on several different hands-on activities during evening meetings at school. The basis for these activities is the in-school study of related science and mathematical concepts and topics by the students in each family. The program provides an opportunity for families to work together in an interesting and enjoyable manner. The Family Aeronautical Science demonstration project consisted of three parts: (1) the in-school study of aeronautics during select science classes; (2) the extensive after-school use of the school’s computer laboratory; and (3) evening Family Aeronautical Science Nights. Key parts …

A Spatial Analysis Of Crime For The City Of Omaha, Haifeng Zhang

Student Work

The spatial patterns of four types of crimes (assault, robbery, auto-theft, and burglary) and their relationships with the selected socio-economic characteristics for the City of Omaha, Nebraska, were examined in this research. The crime data were based on the 2000 police reported crime and the socio-economic data were extracted from the 1997 American Community Survey and land use data from the 2000 Omaha parcel file. The location quotients of crimes (LQCs) were used to measure the relative specialization and structure of crimes for each census tract, and as the dependent variables for the statistical analysis. GIS techniques such as geocoding, …

Male And Female Juvenile Delinquency: An Assessment Of Contextual Differences In Offending, Mark A. Cunningham

Student Work

This thesis examines data on gender and the incidence and prevalence of delinquent and criminal offending, as well as gender differences in the context of offending for a sample of high school students in Omaha, Nebraska. Context refers to the specific attributes of a particular offense, whose interrelationship describes both the features and the circumstances of the offense. A focus on gender differences in the context of offending highlights how gender impacts the structural and social conditions that are related to commission of delinquent and criminal acts, and the findings of this study underscore the importance of this research. Results …

The Impact Of Community Service Involvement On Three Measures Of Undergraduate Self-Concept, Joseph B. Berger, Jeffrey F. Milem

Higher Education

The central purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of how community service involvement affects the development of undergraduate self-concept. The findings from this study suggest that the quality of service involvement is more important than the amount of service performed by students.

Teaching The "Heart And Soul" Of Citizenship: Service-Learning As Citizenship Education, Bernadette Sun Chi

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Troubling trends in political disengagement among young people include decreasing knowledge of and interest in political issues as well as lower rates of voting compared to previous generations. To potentially address this CO~ service-learning has often been promoted in public schools as a means of educating active citizens, among other outcomes.

Despite the expansion of service-learning programs, the relationship between service-learning and citizenship outcomes deserves further study. This dissertation examines the following questions: Do teachers consider "citizenship" an explicit goal for service-learning experiences in K-12 schools? How do teachers and students define what it means to be a "good citizen"? …

Fact Book 2002, Uno Office Of Institutional Effectiveness

Fact Book

The Fact Book has been designed to present a variety of information and data about the University, in a concise, easily-used format. We have included details regarding student and faculty information broken out by college, rank, level, gender, age and ethnicity for both spring and fall semesters. I hope this will provide you and your staff with the necessary details regarding the activity of this institution.

Service Learning In Contemporary Japan And America, Joseph R. Feinburg

International Service Learning & Community Engagement

Among the people of both Japan and the United States, there is currently widespread concern that the student population is in trouble, that students are losing interest in civic participation and their moral sensibility. Educators in both countries are looking toward service-learning as a means of recapturing a sense of civic responsibility in today's young people. The article discusses mandated service-learning and required service-learning in schools in Japan and Maryland.

Service In A Cultural Immersion Setting: Student Teachers Evaluate "A Sense Of Community", Susan E. Johnstad

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Classroom demographics in K-12 schools in the U.S. show that students of color represent an increased percentage of those enrolled. and that the number of students whose families are in poverty is on the rise. Yet teaching is a profession long dominated by middle-class individuals of European ancestry. The recruitment of teachers from diverse backgrounds is paramount, but teacher education must also prepare new professionals to meet the needs of students whose backgrounds might be different from their own. Cultural immersion and community-based service learning are two strategies for enhancing multicultural education for preservice teachers.

This is a qualitative case …

"Beautiful Necessities:" American Beauty And The Idea Of Freedom, David L. Smith

Journal of Religion & Film

A central theme of American Beauty is the disjunction between the quests for liberation undertaken by its characters and the discoveries at which a few of them arrive. The world of the film is carefully structured as a culturally deterministic system. Nevertheless, a kind of freedom - epitomized by the experience of beauty - becomes possible for some of the characters even in the grip of fatal necessities. The Buddhist concept of mushotoku (non-attainment) and Emerson's idea of Beautiful Necessity are used to explicate the film's complex exploration of freedom and fate.

Service-Learning Leadership Development (Slld), Valerie Sorgen

Project Summaries

The Service-Learning Leadership Development (SLLD) program is a comprehensive professional development initiative, designed to increase the Service-learning leadership capacity in schools or districts that are committed to: (a) implementing school-wide or grade-wide service-learning, (b) developing new service-learning practice and policy, or (c) improving existing youth service programs to reflect high-quality service-learning practices.

The program is funded by the California Department of Education CalServe Initiatives, as part of a statewide effort to develop effective, replicable models of service-learning professional development (for more information see: http:/ /www.cde.ca.gov/calserve). The SLLD model developed by Youth Community Service, a non-profit based in Palo Alto, California, …

Short-Term Outcomes For Youth Receiving Runaway And Homeless Shelter Services, Sanna J. Thompson, David E. Pollio, Jodi Constantine, Donna Reid, Von Eugene Nebbitt

Social Work Faculty Publications

Objective: Few studies have assessed the outcomes of runaway/homeless youth that seek assistance from shelter or crisis services, which would provide much needed documentation of intervention effectiveness and point to new directions for service provision. The goals of the current study were to: (1) assess short-term outcomes among runaway/homeless youth using emergency shelters and crisis services and (2) compare short-term outcomes achieved by runaway/homeless youth in crisis shelters with similar youth using other, longer-term treatment modalities. Method: The study sampled 261 youth using runaway/homeless shelters from four midwestern states at intake and six-weeks postdischarge and 47 high-risk youth using longer-term …

Cityworks Evaluation Summary, Joseph Kahne, Bernadette Chi, Ellen Middaugh

Project Summaries

This report summarizes findings from our study of the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) CityWorks curriculum. This high school government curriculum was designed to respond to growing recognition of the need to promote commitments and capacities associated with civic engagement. Our data consists of pre/post surveys from CityWorks classes and control classrooms. We also observed classrooms and collected interview data through focus groups.

Foundation Resource Guide: A Compilation Of Major Foundations That Sponsor Activities Relevant To College-Community Partnerships, Office Of University Partnerships

Higher Education

This guide was prepared by the Office of University Partnerships (OUP), an office established by HUD in 1994 to encourage and expand the efforts of colleges and universities that are striving to make a difference in their communities. The original version of this publication was developed as a resource for grantees under HUD’s Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) Program. OUP now administers seven university and college programs serving a broad range of institutions of higher education. The foundations described in this guide are national foundations that likely will fund the kinds of projects OUP grantees are undertaking.

Empowering Students Through Community Action, Natasha Diane Yanez

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Service Learning is a pedagogy in which the student must participate directly in a service-oriented project, which addresses a real community need. This study focused on the effect of service learning in the curriculum. Research was conducted over service learning, its implementation, and its effects. In addition, the study looks at how one junior high school implemented service learning into their curriculum and the difficulties involved in creating a more intense program.

It was discovered that service learning was often not integrated into the curriculum as expected, teachers often did not require students to reflect on their experiences, and teachers …

Impacts And Effects Of Service-Learning On High School Students, Bryan Richard Rossi

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

In the ten years this researcher has spent preparing to complete the requirements for a Ph.D. in Education Policy and Administration, he has come to see some of the transformations society and education have gone through. This has been fascinating to examine in parallel the educational transformations and human development of work and research in various schools. On the one hand, there have been the developments of the "macro-education" world through the Department of Children, Families and Learning, the state legislature, the news media, and the role of the university in education policy. On the other hand, there have been …

Students In Service To America. A Guidebook For Engaging America's Students In A Lifelong Habit Of Service, Corporation For National And Community Service, Us. Department Of Education, Points Of Light Foundation, Usa Freedom Corps, Volunteer Center National Network

Guides

For young people, service to others can develop important habits and skills that help them become an asset to their neighborhoods. This guide was created to help adults teachers, parents, after-school providers, and members of community-based organizations to find and create opportunities for young people to answer President George W. Bush's call for all U.S. people to dedicate at least two years of their lives in service to their communities, their country, or the world. The guide contains nine sections: (1) "Letter from the President of the United States of America"; (2) "Letter from Supporting Organizations"; (3) "Table of Contents"; …

Service Learning's Influence On Multicultural Goals: Among Elite High School Girls: An Interpretative Case Study, Gina Miller Blackburn

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

This qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences of high school girls in a service-learning class that I co-taught with my husband, Jeffrey Stephens. an economics and World Civilizations teacher at the Bayou School. I observed the participants during their three-week service class entitled The Economy's Impact Upon Its Citizenry when they served at a Salvation Anny community center and during their class discussions. I also interviewed all of the students before the class began, three times during the class. and twice after the class was over. The students kept journals throughout the class and wrote a case study …

A Study Of Community College Student Attitudes Related To Service Learning, Dana Lee Haines

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The fourfold purpose of this study was to determine if (1) student attitudes toward community service, (2) student attitudes toward civic involvement, (3) student attitudes about life skills, and (4) student attitudes toward civic engagement and service learning differed based on enrollment in a course with a service learning component or enrollment in a course without a service learning component. A related purpose for students enrolled in a course with a service learning component was to determine if the service learning component had an impact on students' future educational or career plans.

The study was conducted at Mesa Community College …

Toward An Expanded Conceptualization Of Transformative Learning: A Case Study Of International Service-Learning In Nicaragua, Richard C. Kiely

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

This dissertation research stems from both practical and theoretical problems related to understanding the nature of transformation in international service-learning. In terms of the practical problems, the primary motivation for conducting this study had to do with pedagogical challenges associated with fostering adult college students' transformational learning as the coordinator and instructor of Tompkins Cortland Community College's international service learning program (TC3-NICA)¹ over the past eight years. A review of theoretical and empirical literature in the fields of adult learning, service-learning, and intercultural learning did not adequately address the concerns that ( had about the significant and problematic nature …

Behavioral Finance: Psychographics, Curt W. Becker

Student Work

This research is a review of psychographics and its impact on rejoinder. Experiments were conducted to ascertain the association between two stimuli and changes in habitual behavior. The foci of this review are to examine applicable, previous research and compare with results on the two stimuli. Statistically different responses to the stimuli were observed.

Behavioral Finance: Psychographics, Curt W. Becker

Student Work

This research is a review of psychographics and its impact on rejoinder. Experiments were conducted to ascertain the association between two stimuli and changes in habitual behavior. The foci of this review are to examine applicable, previous research and compare with results on the two stimuli. Statistically different responses to the stimuli were observed.

Got Math? Implementation Guide, Margo Shea, Christopher Nye

Curriculum

For many kids math is like spinach--something to be avoided if possible. This may well be because they see learning math as a rather abstract process, cut off from the real world. For many teachers, with large classes and pressure to prepare for standardized tests, opportunities to individualize math instruction and to experiment with creative group activities that bring math alive remain out of reach. As a result of these and other factors, across the nation our children's math achievement levels remain pretty disappointing.

Got Math?, an out-of-school-time mentoring program for third through fifth graders, is one model that aims …

Support For K-12 Service-Learning Practice: A Brief Review Of The Research, Shelley Billig

Special Topics, General

Each year, more K-12 schools and districts are adopting service-learning as an educational reform strategy to help students achieve :important educational goals. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that service-learning is being practiced in. more than one-third of all public schools in the United States and in about half of all public high schools. The 1999 National Student. Service-Learning and Community Service Survey found that rates of participation in service-learning progressively increase across grade levels. Passion for the practice of service-learning sometimes reaches evangelical proportions. However, by its nature, the practice of service-learning varies widely, and even ardent practitioners …

Outcomes In Research In Out-Of-School Time Program Design, Nancy Peter

Project Summaries

Overview
• "After-school programs keep children of all ages safe and out of trouble." (Safe and Smart)¹
• "Community-based youth development programs promote positive academic and social outcomes among teenagers."(Children's Aid Society) ²
• "Children who spend time in after-school programs are better behaved and more respectful toward others." (The After-School Corporation) ³
• "After-school programs have been shown to reduce the use of tobacco, drugs, and alcohol among adolescents. "(The After-School Corporation) ⁴
• "Quality youth development programs can cut crime immediately and transform this prime time for juvenile crime into hours of academic enrichment, wholesome fun and …

The Effects Of Family Structure, Education, And Religion On Contraceptive Decisions By Women In Their Early Twenties, Brigid K. Howard

Student Work

Using the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, this study investigates the effects of family structure, education, and religion on contraceptive use by never-married women aged 20-24 years. Included in the sample are sexually active women aged 20-24 who had never been married and were not cohabitating, who were not intending to become pregnant or were not pregnant, postpartum, or infertile for reasons other than for contraception at the time of the interview. Results indicate that Hispanic origin is related to use of less effective methods of contraception by sexually active women. Conversely, family structure influences contraceptive decisions in that …