Digital Commons Network^™

Priviledged Servants: Community Service In Private High Schools, Ellen Clarissa Reynolds

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Traditionally, the school has been the primary role model for citizenship development. One method schools may use to convey the roles and models of involved citizens is through community service experiences.

Public and private schools throughout the United States include community service as part of the curriculum and/or extracurricular activities. Service promotes responsibility, a caring ethic, and growth of community. Service can improve society through individuals working together and forming a bond with one another. Service provides opportunities to witness the diverse cultures of society. Through service, students may experience affective and cognitive development, form relationships with community members, and …

A Comparative Look At Marital Happiness And Conflict In American Cross-National And Same-Nation Marriages, Sandra Meinecke

Student Work

This thesis explores the similarities and dissimilarities of perceived levels of marital conflict and happiness in cross-national and same-nation marriages and some related issues. Globally, economic and social ties between nations have increased dramatically since World War II. As a result, more and more individuals are working, studying and traveling abroad. This marked increase in international mobility has also given rise to an increase in the number of international marriages (Cottrell 1990; Imamura 1986). For example, the number of foreign spouses entering the United States annually has increased from 27,761 in 1960 to 145,247 in 1994 (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization …

Health Professions Schools In Service To The Nation, Sherril B. Gelmon, Barbara A. Holland, Anu F. Shinnamon

Conference Proceedings

The Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation Program (HPSISN) was a multi-site, multi-year program designed to explore service learning as a tool for curricular reform within health professions education, and as a method for effectively preparing future professionals for work in a new health delivery system. With sponsorship from the Corporation for National Service and The Pew Charitable Trusts, 20 institutions were invited to participate from 1995 to 1998. The program was administered by the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California at San Francisco. A project-wide evaluation was commissioned at the beginning of the …

Health Professions Schools In Service To The Nation: Evaluation Report, Sherril B. Gelmon, Barbara A. Holland, Anu F. Shinnamon

Higher Education

The Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation Program (HPSISN) was a multi-site, multi-year program designed to explore service learning as a tool for curricular reform within health professions education, and as a method for effectively preparing future professionals for work in a new health delivery system. With sponsorship from the Corporation for National Service and The Pew Charitable Trusts, 20 institutions were invited to participate from 1995 to 1998. The program was administered by the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California at San Francisco. A project-wide evaluation was commissioned at the beginning of the …

Doing Well By Doing Good: A Study Of The Effects Of A Service-Learning Experience On Student Success, Judith S. Berson, William F. Younkin

Higher Education

This study explored the effects of service learning on student success in college. The study consisted of 286 students enrolled in six paired community college courses in various disciplines. One section of each pair was taught using traditional subject matter and course materials,while the other section of each pair was required to participate in a 20-hourservice learning activity in addition to the regular course curriculum.Participating faculty completed questionnaires and interviews regarding the courses, and students completed end-of-course evaluations. The results indicated that, overall, students who participated in the sections with a service learning requirement achieved higher final course grades and …

Multiple Out-Of-Home Placements & Children's Psychosocial Functioning, Brittawni Lee Olson

Student Work

This study examined the relationship between multiple out-of-home placements and children’s psychosocial functioning. Psychosocial functioning was measured by the number of mental health services recommended to the child by a licensed mental health professional and the number of negative behaviors exhibited by the child as recorded in the caseworkers’ narratives or mental health professional’s report. Independent variables included total number of placements experienced per child and average placement duration. Data were extracted from the administrative database and case files of the State of Nebraska Foster Care Review Board Tracking System (N=443). In addition to the number of out-of-home placements and …

The Middle Years Programme (Myp) Workshop For Teachers & Administrators Beginning With The Programme, Miriam Murphy

International Service Learning & Community Engagement

This workshop features Community Service as Defined by IBO; Structure of Community Service at L'ECOLE D'EDUCATION INTERNATIONALE, St. Hubert (Quebec), a Canada; and Break-out Session.

Minority As A Majority: Does It Make A Difference?, Terrance J. Taylor

Student Work

The relationship between race and crime has long been a primary concern of criminal justice researchers. Numerous studies have examined this relationship through the use of official statistics, self-reports, and victimization surveys. The results of these studies present multiple and often conflicting results. Studies examining official statistics and victimization data have generally found a significant difference in delinquency between White and minority juveniles, with minority juveniles responsible for more delinquency than White youth in terms of both incidence and seriousness. Self-report studies, on the other hand, have often found no differences between minority and White youth, or smaller differences than …

Minority As A Majority: Does It Make A Difference?, Terrance J. Taylor

Student Work

The relationship between race and crime has long been a primary concern of criminal justice researchers. Numerous studies have examined this relationship through the use of official statistics, self-reports, and victimization surveys. The results of these studies present multiple and often conflicting results. Studies examining official statistics and victimization data have generally found a significant difference in delinquency between White and minority juveniles, with minority juveniles responsible for more delinquency than White youth in terms of both incidence and seriousness. Self-report studies, on the other hand, have often found no differences between minority and White youth, or smaller differences than …

Off The Playground Of Civil Society: Freeing Democracy's Powers For The 21st Century, Harry C. Boyte

Civic Engagement

"Civil society" is now the defining map of our civic life. Embedded in its framework are assumptions about the activity of the citizen and the meaning of democracy. The idea of civil society today vividly illustrates the power of framing concepts to structure resources and define political themes. Major foundations have divisions of civil society that allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to volunteer activity. Government agencies give time off to their employees so that they can "do citizenship." Presidents gathered last year at the Summit on Volunteerism to praise the idea. Meanwhile, a coalition organized by "end of work" …

Fact Book 1998, Uno Office Of Institutional Effectiveness

Fact Book

This seventeenth edition of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Fact Book has been designed to present a variety of information and data, about the University, in a concise, easily-used format. I hope this provides a profile that will expand your understanding of our institution.

Make Sure It's Service Learning, Not Just Community Service, Leonard T. Burns

Special Topics, General

Service learning may be made more beneficial to communities by allowing students to participate aggressively in various learning activities, while keeping them abreast with their own social responsibilities. Students must also be given adequate opportunity to reflect on their service experiences.

New England College Pre-Service Teacher Service Learning Guidebook, Debra Nitschke-Shaw

Guides

In a democratic classroom, teacher and students strive to create a participatory learning community (Wade, 1997), a community where the voices and needs of all are respected and valued by the members of that community. Democratic education involves connecting with the larger community through meaningful, hands-on involvement. According to John Dewey, "schools should be democratic laboratories of learning closely linked to community need" (National Youth Leadership Council, 1991, p. 4). Therefore, the focus of a democratic classroom should be on responsible participation from all members of the classroom community.

Elder Mentors: Elder Mentors And At-Risk Youth, Marc Freedman

Intergenerational

Many at-risk youth are growing up isolated from the range of caring and consistent adult relationships so important for navigating the treacherous course from adolescence to adulthood. An accumulation of longitudinal research suggests that adult relationships-- provided not only by parents, but by grandparents, neighbors and other interested adults--are a common factor among resilient children, who achieve success despite growing up in disadvantaged and stressful circumstances. An important, and not often addressed, question for social intervention is whether the circumstances of more at-risk youth could be improved through efforts designed to provide greater access to these relationships.

Professional Digital Portfolios And Academic Community Learning (Service Learning), P. Elizabeth Pate

Project Summaries

Academic community learning is an educational experience characterized by:

a. active participation in an extended, thoughtfully organized learning experience that meets actual community and student needs;
b. collaboration among student, school, and community;
c. integration of community learning experiences into the student's academic curriculum;
d. provision of structured time for reflection and evaluation; and
e. enhancement of what is taught by extending student learning beyond the classroom and into the community (College of Education Academic Community Learning Taskforce, 1998).

Service-Learning In Economics: A Detailed Application, Kimmarie Mcgoldrick

Service Learning, General

Over the past decade, a significant push has been made toward the adoption or development of alternative methods of disseminating economic concepts to students. Much of this work is grounded in the belief that we, as educators, must recognize who our students are as well as how they process information. Siegfried and colleagues ( 1991) have suggested that more needs to be done to teach students to think like economists. They outlined a number of approaches and changes that have the potential for improving undergraduate economic education by providing opportunities for students to practice thinking like economists.

Citizenship Service Learning: Becoming Citizens By Assisting Immigrants, Robert Koulish

Civic Engagement

Citizenship Service Learning (CSL) serves to reinforce the strengths inherent in the traditional principles of higher education while concurrently transcending its limitations. CSL principles are celebrated on two grounds. The first is pedagogical. Following liberal arts traditionalists, CSL adheres to the class- room as a site for developing cognitive skills through accumulating information and learning research methods. It then stretches the learning process into the civic arena, where students gain tools in problem solving, critical thinking, leadership, and team work through the experience of working with immigrants.

Is Service Learning A Good Idea? Data From The National Longitudinal Study Of 1988., June R. Chapin

Service Learning, General

Service learning is an integral part of social studies that aims to instill social responsibility among students. According to the National Longitudinal Study of 1988, a significant percentage of high school students participated in community work during the previous two years and that this involvement in community service was greatest in church or church-related groups. However, the survey showed that students favor diversity in their choice of community work and that social action is not their top priority. Furthennore, there is confusion about the difference between service and community learning.

Innovative Pedagogy: Academic Service- Learning For Business Communication, Jean L. Bush-Bacelis

Service Learning, General

Academic Service-Learning (AS-L) is an innovative business communication pedagogy. Like community service, AS-L involves students volunteering in the community; however, AS-L requires the infusion of the classroom content into the community service experience. This article describes AS-L, the assignment for a business communication class, and students’ reactions as well as benefits and challenges to its use. The greatest strength of using AS-L is students’ tying theory into actual application of principles, student passion for the work, faculty enthusiasm for the results, and community satisfaction.

Service Learning: What's A Political Scientist Doing In Yonkers?, Glenn Beamer

Service Learning, General

As an urban politics teacher, I discerned a disconnect between what I said about urban politics and what my students understood. Although I offered a variety of perspectives, I nonetheless felt that students were coming to class, and leaving class, with their opinions -- liberal, conservative, and in-between -- formed. Because of the constraints on dialogue about urban politics, I decided to develop a service learning project focusing on urban homelessness and housing. The project would combine elements of a typical undergraduate course and a participant observation project. I wanted a setting in which the students and I would learn …

The Quality Assurance Component Of The Quality Mangement System, Demonstration Project For People With Disabilities

Disabilities

This document contains a list of performance measurement areas to be used in the DPPD. This document is developing from left to right, so the content of the columns to the right are less developed than those on the left. The Performance Measures are being developed by the Quality Management Workgroup of the DPPB Stakeholder's Advisory Committee.

Integration Of Service, Education, And Research In Local Official Public Health Agencies, Larry W. Chambers, John Hoey, Jane Underwood, Namrata Bains

Special Topics, General

Chambers et al discuss improved education for future public health practitioners. continuing education of existing staff, and research and evaluations activities in local official public health agencies in Ontario Canada.

Happy Meals At Mcdonald's : A Qualitative Field Study Of Family Dinner At Mcdonald's, Joy Sandersen-Smith

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to examine the family meal at McDonald’s as a family dinner ritual and as an arena for socialization of children. A field study, including six McDonald’s restaurants in Omaha, Nebraska, was conducted during the months of May and June. Approximately 25 hours of observations were recorded using the method of participant observation. The main sample consisted of 58 families (adults with children) and included single mothers, single fathers, two-parent families, as well as grandparents with children and other family constellations with children and adults. The most common family type at McDonald’s was single mothers …

When Socialism Meets Capitalism: Corrupt Practices And Post-Communist Transition. A Comparative Analysis, Alin M. Ceobanu

Student Work

This study examines the conditions of transitional societies that favor the continuous creation and recreation of corrupt practices. By comparing the present contexts of "Westernized" Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) and of the "Balkanized" Romania, I attempt to reveal that a framework for analyzing corruption in post-Communist societies requires the attention to the formal structures and informal secondary arrangements. The analysis focuses on two of the multiple determinants of corruption -- the immaturity of civil society, and the method of transferring public property (state assets) to private interests. Concerted actions are needed to curb the implications of corrupt practices. A …

Final Report: 9-B English Service-Learning Evaluation, Moorhead High School, Moorhead, Minnesota, Mark K. Covey

Evaluation/Reflection

Mark Jensen, English faculty at MHS offered his service-learning program for an evaluation. This evaluation was initiated by Jeanie Jacobs consequent to the conditions of a grant she received; the structure of this evaluation evolved over several team meetings between Jensen, Ann Larson (District 152 Director of Community Service-learning) and myself.

Evaulation Workgroup Initial Proceedings, Learn And Serve America

Evaluation/Reflection

The following sessions are included: Learn and Serve Data Collection; Rolling Up Local Evaluation Results into a State-Wide Evaluation; Answered and Unanswered Questions About National Service; The Disappearing Handprint: A discussion about how to ascertain the impact of Learn and Serve America K-12 when integrated within a system - within an institution.; and Using Community Resources, Especially College/University programs;

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 …

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).

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.

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.