Service Learning Commons^™

Along The Red Road: Tribally Controlled Colleges And Student Development, Ann Marie Machamer

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

American Indian tnibally controlled colleges were created to provide higher education in a familiar cultural setting to a population that is severely underrepresented in American higher education. Since little is known regarding student development at tribal colleges, the purpose of this study was to assess retention, talent development, satisfaction, racial discrimination, and cultural knowledge/identity at tribal colleges using American Indians who attended non-Indian institutions as a comparison sample. In early 1999, survey data were collected from students who entered fourteen tribal colleges and two Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) colleges and from American Indian students who entered non-Indian. institutions in …

Characteristics Of Environmental Restoration, Service-Learning Projects In Selected California Watersheds, And The Perceived Gains By Participating At-Risk High School Students And Their Teachers (Volume I), Peter Scott Moras

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The number of at-risk youth in California public high schools has steadily increased over the last forty years, challenging school administrators to find I effective educational strategies to help them succeed academically and flourish I as contributing members of society. This need for effective educational options I is compounded by the demands of modern society (California Department of Education 1995) and a 1 percent annual population growth within the state (California Legislative Analyst's Office 1998).

Characteristics Of Environmental Restoration, Service-Learning Projects In Selected California Watersheds, And The Perceived Gains By Participating At-Risk High School Students And Their Teachers (Volume Ii), Peter Scott Moras

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

This chapter presents conclusions drawn from the data analysis, implications for future research, and recommendations for action based on the results of the study.

The primary purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of environmental restoration service-learning projects in selected California watersheds that produced gains for at-risk high school students who were I I enrolled in the programs. A second purpose was to describe the characteristics of service-learning programs that at-risk students and their teachers perceived to be most helpful in making gains in school attendance, sense of connectedness to I I community, sense of social responsibility, sense …

Service-Learning In Social Work Education: Building Democracy Through Informed Citizenship, Ryan Tolleson Knee

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Longitudinal studies spanning the last three decades have indicated that incoming college students have become increasingly concerned with individual gain, competition, and materialism. This, coupled with 1996's lowest voter turnout in 70 years and declining levels of participation in civic groups are indicators that citizens are relatively uninterested in, or lack the capacity to engage in activities that strengthen the democracy. To address this concern, faculty in social work education have been encouraged to reconsider traditional pedagogy and structure curricula so community service is combined with structured reflection; commonly known as service-learning. Undergraduate social work programs typically offer community service …

Two Studies Of The Impact Of Performance Feedback On Community Service Learning Among College Students, Mahesh Subramony

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

In Study 1, I manipulated students' access to frequent written performance feedback from agency supervisors. Thirty-eight service-learning students enrolled in a Midwest university were randomly assigned to a performance feedback (experimental) condition and a no performance feedback (control) condition. Student learning from community service (SLCS) was measured both before and after the semester-long intervention. Students in the experimental group did not show significant improvements in SLCS over those in the control condition. However, an individual differences variable, feedback disposition predicted SLCS.

In study 2, I looked at the impact of organizational feedback quality, client feedback quality, student feedback seeking, and …

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 …

The Impact Of School Based Community Service On Nine Grade Students' Self-Esteem And Sense Of Civic Inclusion, Judy Reese

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

PROBLEM: Community Service (CS) has been enshrined as a panacea for the problems of declining civic involvement among American Youth. Developing a framework to understand the impact of these programs is an essential component to evaluating their effectiveness.

HYPOTHESES: Four hypotheses were tested:
1. CS participation has a positive impact on the self-esteem of students.
2. Participation in CS has a positive impact on the students' sense of civic inclusion.
3. Participation in CS with the elderly has a greater positive impact on perception of the elderly than other types of CS.
4. Students that participate in CS show greater …

Everyday Democracy: A Study Of Two Teachers' Perspectives On Social Education, Elaine Metherall Brenneman

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

As a nation, we are concerned about the values our children learn in school. Opinions regarding the appropriate educational content and strategies to sustain and improve our democratic country span the political spectrum. The social studies, a field dedicated to the development of good citizens, is especially concerned with values issues in education. Research on citizenship education has primarily focused its interest in the development and assessment of appropriate content and teaching strategies. An important, though often neglected, aspect of social education research is the investigation of teacher perspectives. This study suggests that who a teacher is, what she knows, …

School-Sponsored Service Programs And The Educational Development Of High School Students, Andrew Furco

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Currently, a growing number of our nation's school districts are encouraging students to perform community service. Vermont, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, for example, all include community service activities as part of their K-12 education plans. Maryland requires all high school students to complete 60 hours of community service prior to graduation. And as part of California's Challenge Initiative, it is expected that by the Year 2004, every student in California will engage in at least one community service or service-learning experience prior to graduation (1996, California Department of Education).

An Ethnographic Study Of The Qualities And Characteristics Of Democratic Elementary Classrooms Which Motivate Students To Civically Participate, Kathryn M. Obenchain

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

This study described two self-contained, upper elementary, democratic classrooms in order to determine if there were specific qualities and characteristics in these classrooms which would motivate students to be more participatory citizens. The two classrooms were ethnically and geographically diverse, one in Southern California and the other in the Midwest. The participating teachers expressed a commitment to citizenship education and it had been determined that democratic elements were present in their classrooms. The study was based in the theoretical frameworks of constructivism and interpretivism, and an ethnographic methodology was utilized to describe the classroom environment. Analyses of the data were …

Organizational Context And Young Adult Education In An Urban Service Corps, Robert A. Pence

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

As a medium-sized, state-supported youth corps, the Wisconsin Conservation Corps (WCC) is an established institutional expression of a service corps model that has potential to address some of the educational and economic needs of marginalized young adults from "at-risk" environments. The WCC is a "second chance" work experience program that attempts to prepare 18 to 25 year-old unemployed young adults for employment or continuing education while they complete useful conservation work throughout the state. It is largely a white, male, rural-based program that maintains some crews in the black and Hispanic urban core of Milwaukee. This case study critically examines …

A Profile Of Service Learning Programs In South Carolina And Their Responsiveness To The National Priorities, Mary Kathryn Gibson Carter

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of Service Learning activities and programs in South Carolina; to explore the relationship between the person coordinating these activities and the degree to which Service Learning is practiced; to determine how Service Learning projects and activities respond to the national priorities of meeting critical educational, human, public safety, and environmental needs; and to determine how many students are participating and the number of hours they are volunteering in Service Learning activities. The study addressed all public schools funded in FY93 with Serve America and FY94 with Learn and Serve America …

Service Learning And Urban Schools: A Method For Developing Attitudes Reflective Of Social Responsibility, Julianne Price

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Currently, a growing number of our nation's school districts are encouraging students to perform community service. Vermont, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, for example, all include community service activities as part of their K-12 education plans. Maryland requires all high school students to complete 60 hours of community service prior to graduation. And as part of California's Challenge Initiative, it is expected that by the Year 2004, every student in California will engage in at least one community service or service-learning experience prior to graduation (1996, California Department of Education).

A Policy Study Of Youth Service: Synthesizing Analysis Of Policy Content And Policy Process Over Time, Jean Shumway Warner

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

This dissertation uses a case study of youth service proposals to examine how policy is formulated. For this study, youth service refers to federal programs that provide America's youth with opportunities to participate in domestic, non-military, full- or part-time community service activities. A theory is proposed that synthesizes two complementary approaches to the study of policy - process analysis (Kingdon 1984, 1994) and the analysis of policy content (Schneider and Ingram 1990, 1993) --and advocates analyzing policy over time. Four theoretical categories of data -- actors, ideas, opportunities, and strategies -- guide the study.

Psychosocial Development Through Service-Learning Enhanced Spiritual Consciousness In Workcamp Experience, Timothy W. Kidd

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The problem examined in this research was the identification and description of the distinctive components associated with the Christian youth workcamp experience found to promote the psychosocial development of church youth participants and the linkages to enhanced spiritual consciousness.

The unit of analysis for this multi-case study was the Christian youth workcamp. The criteria used for selection of the three cases examined were: (1) location within the Appalachian region; (2) philosophy and practice consistent with service-learning principles; (3) emphasis upon facilitating spiritual development; and (4) logistical concerns. Thirty-four subjects were selected from three church youth groups, each attending one of …

Combining Service And Learning: A Comparison Study Of The Relationship Between A Classroom Sponsored Service Learning Initiative And The Moral, Civic And Intellectual Lives Of College Students, Timothy Patrick Leary

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a classroom sponsored community service initiative on students' moral judgment, commitment to civic and social responsibility, and mastery of academic course content. A multi-method approach was utilized to examine developmental and learning outcomes of students participating in two sections of a Philosophical Anthropology II course, both taught by the same instructor, offered at a small liberal arts college. Students in one section of the course participated in a structured service-Iearning experience of approximately 25 hours in length, while students in the other section were asked to complete a library …

Integrating Service And Academic Study: Service-Learning And Faculty Motivation In Michigan Higher Education, Christine M. Hammond

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Student involvement in community service projects is viewed primarily as an extra-curricular activity on most college campuses (Kendall, 1990; Lieberman and Connolly, 1992). However, an increasing number of educators are calling for greater integration between service and study through courses which incorporate service-learning (Barber, 1989, 1991, 1992: Nathan and Keilsmeier, 1991; NeWlllan, 1992: Stanton, 1987, 1990; Wieckowski, 1992).

Politicians, practitioners, and philosophers offer many arguments to support the inclusion of service-learning in the formal curriculum (Bok, 1982, 1986; Boyer, 1981, 1987; Boyte, 1992; Bradfield and Hyers, 1992; Coles, 1988: Levine, 1989; Stanley, 1989, 1991; Stanton, 1987; Wagner, 1990). This chorus …

A Multiculturally-Responsive Tenth Grade English Curriculum Nurtures An Appreciation For Individual Differences By Immersing Students In The Lives Of Others, Jayne Alexander

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The goal of a practicum was that high school students in non-academic 10th grade English classes would develop an understanding of and appreciation for cultural differences. The English teacher challenged herself, her peers, her students, and the general school population (a regional high school in a growing community in the northeastern United States) to become more knowledgeable and appreciative of many cultures by expanding her own knowledge of ethnic groups; creating a faculty reading club; developing a curriculum that responsibly presented ethnic groups in a relevant format; designing activities that provided opportunities for interaction with other cultural groups and for …

The Ideal Characteristics Of Foxfire Type Projects As Perceived By Teacher Advisors, Robert Dennis England

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Eliot Wigginton, after six weeks of classroom teaching at the Rabun-Gap Nacoochee School in rural north Georgia, was frustrated because he found that his students were not interested in the courses he was prepared to teach. He had graduated from Cornell University in May 1966 with a master's degree and had come to Rabun-Gap to instruct mountain children in English and geography. He realized, fortunately, that if his students were bored it was he who had bored them. He believed that it might be better him to seek another career (Wigginton, 1972).

The Community Involvement Program: Social Service As A Factor In Adolescent Moral And Psychological Development, F. C. Corbett

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The Community Involvement Program is a one-year high school program the aim of which is to lead students to a commitment to the solution of social problems by a combination of direct experience in social service and a classroom component in which to reflect critically on their experience. This thesis studies the effects of participation in the program on the moral and psychosocial development of adolescents.

The Effects Of A Community Involvement Program On Adolescent Student's Citizenship Attitudes, Stuart Harold Stockhaus

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Upon looking at any of the many lists of social studies instructional objectives. one can hardly avoid finding an objective called citizenship. A National Council for the Social Studies sponsored publication on civic education states, "In one sense, desirable citizenship traits in a democratic society remain the same today, in the midst of rapid cultural change. as they were hundreds of years ago. Effective participation by the individual in public affairs continues to require the same four essentials: knowledge. thought. commitment, and action. In application, however. each generation redefines good citizenship to fit demands of the times."

A Comparison Of Experiential And Classroom Learning Models In Teaching Health Problems Of The Poor, Gerald F. Braza

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The general problem was to assess differences, if any, in selected areas of knowledge, attitudes and behavior among students exposed to a classroom model with students exposed to an experiential (community live-in} model in learning about health problems of the poor. Specific problems included: the selection of instruments, the development of methods and materials for teaching the classroom and experiential groups, and the measurement of students' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to the poor and their health problems.

The Effect Of The Helping Experience Upon The Self-Concept Of The Helper, Hal J. Kelly

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Important among the reasons which many counselors have given for being counselors has been that the profession enables them to develop themselves (Carkhuff and Berenson, 1967). The idealized outcome of this development has been variously termed inner congruity, integration, self-actualization or simply the realization of a basic potentiality. Regardless of theoretical persuasions, counselors, in moments or candid self-revelation, have admitted that for them the act of engaging in counseling relationships hes contributed to personal growth more rewarding than monetary gain and self-satisfaction. This amounts to an untested truism which could be considered fundamental to the philosophical set of many who …