Service-Learning Faculty Institute Ithaca College Dr Edward Zlotkowski May 12-13, 2015

THE SCHOLARSHIP OF ENGAGEMENT I am convinced that…the academy must become a more vigorous partner in the search for answers to our most pressing social, civic, economic, and moral problems, and must reaffirm its historic commitment to what I call the scholarship of engagement. The scholarship of engagement means connecting the rich resources of the university to our most pressing social, civic, and ethical problems…Campuses would be viewed by both students and professors not as isolated islands, but as staging grounds for action. The scholarship of engagement also means creating a special climate in which the academic and civic cultures communicate more continuously and creatively with each other. Ernest Boyer (1996), The Journal of Public Service and Outreach

Organizational Policies & Sustainability Service-Learning Volunteerism Faculty Public Research & Service Shared ResourcesExtension Services & Non-Credit Programs Civic Awareness & Deliberative Dialogue Internships & Practica Circle of Higher Education Civic Engagement Initiatives

IC Service Learning Definition Service Learning at Ithaca College is a course- based, credit- bearing educational experience in which students participate in an organized service activity that meaningfully addresses community- identified needs and then critically reflect on this service activity to further understand course content, more broadly appreciate the academic discipline, and significantly enhance their sense of civic responsibility. (Ithaca College)

IC Service Learning (SL) Designation 1. Should adhere to the Institution’s recognized service learning definition. 2. Disciplinary Skills are Applied and Practiced: The experience involves the application of concepts and knowledge learned in the students’ regular coursework, in a real-world environment. 3. Faculty mentoring is consistent: The experience involves significant, on-going mentoring by faculty throughout the experience.… 4. Learning is purposeful and measurable: The experience is purposeful, designed in advance with clear goals and explicit, measurable learning outcomes…. 5. Critical reflection is an essential component: The experience provides opportunities for reflection about what and how the student is learning....These opportunities for reflection can enhance students’ ability to apply knowledge, and to evaluate their intellectual growth, metacognitive understanding, and implications for future experiences. 6. Student responsibility moves beyond a course grade in a way that can be measured: The experience requires students to be responsible for more than a course grade, and to be responsible to people other than the professor. That is, the outcomes of these experiences should have a life outside the context of the course. 7. Community voice and perspective must be integrated into each criterion: The quality and longevity of service learning necessitates ongoing and responsive inclusion of community partners’ perspectives and voices throughout the processes of design, execution, and outcome assessment. (Ithaca College)

Service-Learning Characteristics Meets assessable learning objectives (2, 3, 4) Involves structured reflection or analysis (2, 3, 5) Is based upon principles of campus-community partnership and reciprocity (6, 7) Involves experience with a community-based organization or group suitable for promoting civic learning (1, 6)

Public Engagement Personal Contact & Direct Service Problem-solving /Asset-creating Projects Research as Resource

Service-Learning’s Academic Value Promotes the Utilization of Skills Promotes Probing of Theories and Concepts Balances Deductive and Inductive Inquiry Stretches the Moral Imagination Provides an Opportunity for Engaged Research Helps Answer the “Why do I?” Question

What the Research Shows “The method people naturally employ to acquire knowledge is largely unsupported by traditional classroom practice. The human mind is better equipped to gather information about the world by operating within it than by reading about it, hearing lectures on it, or studying abstract models of it.” The Santa Fe Institute, The Mind, the Brain and Complex Adaptive Systems (1995)

What We Know About Learning The learner creates his or her learning actively & uniquely Learning is about making meaning for each individual by establishing and reworking patterns & connections Every student learns all the time, both with us & despite us Direct experience decisively shapes individual understanding for each learner Learning occurs best when people are confronted with a compelling and identifiable problem Beyond stimulation, learning requires reflection Effective learning is social and interactive Peter Ewell, “Organizing for Learning,” AAHE Bulletin, Dec. 1997

Faculty & Students “Colleges and universities today show an increasing disparity between faculty and students…What suffers as a consequence is the learning process itself - an observation that pervades in numerous national reports…Unfortunately, the natural differences in learning patterns exhibited by new students are often interpreted by faculty as deficiencies. What may be happening, then, is a fundamental ‘mismatch’ between the preferred styles of faculty and those of students.” Charles Schroeder, “New Students – New Learning Styles,” Change (Sept.-Oct. 1993)

Even At Harvard “…I assumed that most important and memorable academic learning goes on inside the classroom, while outside activities provide a useful but modest supplement. The evidence shows that the opposite is true: learning outside of classes…is vital. …Those students who make connections between what goes on inside and outside the classroom report a more satisfying college experience.” Richard Light, Making the Most of College (2004)

The Difference That Service-Learning Makes “There is an empirical fit between our goals for students and the outcomes of service- learning. If we want students who are lifelong learners, can use what they know, and have a capacity for critical analysis, then programs like service-learning, which help them construct knowledge from experience and reflection, should form the core of their educational experience.” Eyler & Giles, Where’s the Learning in Service-learning? (1999)

How Service Learning Affects Students: HERI 2000 Principal Findings “Service participation shows significant positive effects on 11 outcome measures: academic performance (GPA, writing skills, critical thinking skills), values…, self-efficacy, [and] leadership...” “Performing service as part of a course … adds significantly to the benefits associated with community service …”(original emphasis) “Qualitative findings suggest that service learning is effective because it facilitates four kinds of outcomes: an increased sense of personal efficacy, an increased awareness of the [surrounding world], an increased awareness of one’s personal values, and increased engagement in the classroom experience.”

Service-Learning and Retention “…participation in service-learning courses affects students’ plans for continued study, and…the academic aspects of the service-learning course are important in accounting for this effect.” Gallini & Moely, “Service-Learning and Engagement, Academic Challenge, and Retention,” MJCSL (Fall 2003)

The Four Quadrants of Service-Learning Program Design Student-Centered Structured Learning Community-Centered Unstructured Learning Academic Expertise Focus Common Good Focus Service-Learning FacultyStudents InstitutionCommunity Partners

Faculty Challenges Choosing an Appropriate Project Designing Multi-Level Reflection Strategies Turning Service Activities into Scholarship Making a Personal Commitment

Student Roles in Service-Learning Learning: A Pyramid of Engagement Routine Operational Responsibilities Students as Project Leaders Faculty-Student Course Collaboration Students as Engaged Scholars Level of Intellectual Engagement

Student Empowerment and Democratic Practice “On a more theoretical level, service-learning is a pedagogy that emphasizes democratic development…and thus is a natural fit with a course that employs a democratic learning process from course creation through implementation. The goals of both service- learning and democratic development are met to a greater extent when the two are employed together in the same course than when employed individually.” Bunn, Elansary & Bowman, Students as Colleagues (2006)

Possible projects identified Faculty and partner(s) discuss/design projects In-class introduction of projects/ student preparation and pre-service reflection On-site Orientation (possible project contract) Project implementation and ongoing reflection Project completion (product delivery)/ presentations and post-service reflection Faculty-partner debriefing and project assessment Project portfolio created and filed

SERVICE-LEARNING PARTNERING ROLES 1. Initial identification of possible projects Faculty Role: Partner Role: Service-Learning Center Role: 2. Project design Faculty Role: Partner Role: Service-Learning Center Role: 3. Project introduction and student preparation Faculty Role: Partner Role: Service-Learning Center Role: 4. On-site orientation Faculty Role: Partner Role: Service-Learning Center Role: 5. During the project’s implementation Faculty Role: Partner Role: Service-Learning Center Role: 6. Upon completion of the project Faculty Role: Partner Role: Service-Learning Center Role: 7. Upon completion of the course Faculty Role: Partner Role: Service-Learning Center Role: 8. Creating a project/course portfolio Faculty Role: Partner Role: Service-Learning Center Role:

Civic Engagement “Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference….A morally and civically responsible individual recognizes himself or herself as a member of larger social fabric and therefore considers social problems to be at least partly his or her own…” Thomas Ehrlich, Civic Responsibility and Higher education (2000)

EXAMPLES OF CIVIC COMPETENCIES Eloquent listening Non-abrasive argumentation Suspending judgment Building consensus Organizing for action

Reflection Tools Journals Reflective papers Integrative research papers Integrative exam questions Focused in-class discussions Oral presentations (group and individual) Electronic contributions: blogs, wikis, blackboard

Evaluation & Assessment 1.Evaluation of the quality of student work (i.e., “Grading”) 2.Assessment as a diagnostic tool and as research 3.Assessment as institutional measurement

RUBRIC TO ASSESS ACADEMIC SERVICE-LEARNING REFLECTION PAPERS Adapted from Rubric Developed by Dr. Barrett Brenton, St. John’s University (NYC) and Campus Compact Graded Dimensions of Quality (Criteria) NOVICE [Grade Range F – D] APPRENTICE [Grade Range C] PROFICIENT [Grade Range B] DISTINGUISHED [Grade Range A] Yes AWARENESS OF PURPOSE OF SERVICE Student demonstrates limited awareness of the purpose of service and obtaining AS-L credit. Student expresses awareness of the purpose of service and a one-on-one connection with the experience, but it is not applied. Student expresses empathy and/or awareness of personal role in service and applies it to a connection with solutions and the bigger picture. Student expresses and acts out personal role in service and applies the experience to developing solutions. Yes CRITICAL THINKING Student accepts things at face value, as if all opinions were created equal. Opinions are stated without argument. Student accepts most things at face value, as if most opinions were created equal. Opinions are stated with limited argument. Student begins to argue for conclusions based on objective evidence that express concrete arguments. Student expresses an abstract level of responding which requires objective evidence. They demonstrate awareness of different perspectives, and weigh evidence to successfully argue for a conclusion/opinion. Yes APPLYING THE AS-L EXPERIENCE TO THE ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE BASE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE Student does not apply the academic knowledge base and objectives of the course to the service experience. Student expresses some connection between the academic knowledge base and objectives of the course and the service experience. Student develops a perspective built upon the academic knowledge base and objectives of the course that is linked to the service experience. Student creates their own academic perspective infused with the knowledge base and objectives of the course and applies it to the service experience beyond the curriculum. Optional RESPONSIBILITY TO COMMUNITY Student demonstrates a limited awareness of personal responsibility to community. Student expresses insight into community issues pertinent to the service project and integrates a personal sense of responsibility to participating in a solution but does not apply that knowledge. Student acknowledges a responsibility to community regarding issues pertinent to the service and expresses a commitment to working towards specific solution(s). Student acknowledges a responsibility to community regarding issues pertinent to the service and expresses a commitment to working towards specific solutions. In addition, student gets others involved. Optional IMPACT ON STUDENT’S PERSONAL LIFE Student expresses very limited or no connection between service and self. Student expresses a connection between service and self. Student expresses how they could change as a result of the service. Student expresses change(s) in self because of the service. Optional [INSTITUTIONAL VALUES AND MISSION] Student demonstrates a limited connectedness of the service experience to [institutional values] Student expresses some connection between [institutional] values and service. Student expresses empathy and awareness of personal role in [public engagement and problem- solving as related to institutional mission]. Student fully incorporates the [institution’s mission of public leadership] through application of reflection on the service experience and creates their own perspective based on both theory and experience

Next-Century Learning “…today, people worldwide need a whole series of new competencies…but I doubt such abilities can be taught solely in the classroom, or be developed solely by teachers. Higher order thinking and problem- solving skills grow out of direct experience…they require more than a classroom activity. They develop through active involvement and real-life experiences in workplaces and the community.” John Abbott, “The Search for Next-Century Learning,” AAHE Bulletin (March 1996)