Finding the Buried Treasure: Research Opportunities Using

Service-Learning

Dr. April HeiseltAssociate Professor and Director

Center for the Advancement of Service-Learning Excellence (CASLE)Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology

Center for Teaching and Learning WorkshopFebruary 27, 2013

IntroductionsDr. April Heiselt

Associate Professor & Student Affairs Program Coordinator

Director of the Center for the Advancement of Service-Learning Excellence (CASLE)

Courses taught with service-learning pedagogy: Introduction to Assessment, Administration of Student

Personnel Services, Student Affairs in Higher Education, Literature of Student Affairs, Internship in Student Affairs, Day One Leadership Community

Brief Program OverviewCASLE DescriptionWhat is service-learning?Research and service-learning

Peer-reviewed journalsPreflection ExperienceGrant Opportunities Examples of service-learning researchQuestion and Answer Period

Center for the Advancement of Service-Learning ExcellenceLearn, Serve, Become. Learn. – The Light Bulb

Students are able to learn more, with more depth, and critical thinking than in a typical classroom setting

Serve. – The HandStudents give their time to help, assist, provide knowledge,

and to in essence “give a hand” to an entity who needs it.

Become. – The Infinite ArrowStudents will take this knowledge with them throughout

their experience at MSU and into the future as independent, critical thinkers, who (ideally) will want to become civically engaged, active citizens.

References/AdaptationsLearn and Serve America

http://www.learnandserve.org

Service-Learning Research Primer

http://www.servicelearning.org/service-learning-research-primer/service-learning-research-primer

National Service Learning Clearinghouse (Research)http://www.servicelearning.org

National Service Learning Partnershiphttp://www.service-learningpartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ABT_index

Service-learning is NOT One-time volunteering experience

One sided (only the student or community benefits)

Logging community service hours in order to graduate

Service assigned as a form of punishment

An “add-on” to other assignments

What is Service-Learning? Service-learning is a pedagogy . . .

A method of teaching and learning linking meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to…

1. Meet the needs of a community organization2. Enrich the learning experience and enhance

student understanding of course material3. To teach civic responsibility and critical

thinking 4. Strengthen communities

What types of research could I conduct?Each discipline is unique; but, there are

common possibilities…

Study of the service-learning pedagogy in a specific field or discipline

Impact studies – on students, the community partner

Adapted from: Bringle & Hatcher, 2000

Research and Service-LearningWhat types of research are “counted” here at

Mississippi State University?

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles – 100’s of opportunities Note: There are other opportunities for publication (non-

peer reviewed articles), but these are not typically used for tenure and promotion

Research Presentations

Obtaining of grant funds to support research

Peer-Reviewed Writing“There is no peer-reviewed journal in my field

that would print this type of research.”

Illustration of efforts that bring about new concepts in your field.

Highlight the impact your research is having on other fields

The stimulation of knowledge can build your reputation as a researcher

Peer-Reviewed S-L JournalsService-Learning Research – theoretical

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learningwww.umich.edu/~mjcsl/

Article Examples: Service-Learning and Critical Emotion Studies: On the

Perils of Empathy and the Politics of Compassion

Revitalizing South Memphis through an Interdisciplinary Community-University Development Partnership

International Service Learning: Conceptual Frameworks and Research

Peer-Reviewed S-L JournalsJournal of Community Engagement and Scholarshipwww.jces.ua.edu

Article Examples: Fostering a Listening Community Through Testimony: Learning

with Orphans of the Genocide in Rwanda

Including Latino Communities in the Learning Process: Curricular and Pedagogical Reforms in Undergraduate Spanish Programs

Publishing Opportunities Resource List Published by The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and

Engagement (CIRCLE)

www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/SR_Homana.pdf

Journals for Scholarship of Teaching and LearningJournal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning www.iupui.edu/~josotl

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education www.indstate.edu/jcehe

Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement openjournals.libs.uga.edu/index.php/jheoe/

Common Problems in S-L ResearchSmall sample sizes

Drawing conclusions about all service-learning students by interviewing eight seniors about one class

Correlation ≠ CausationCorrelating hours of service at a site to attitudes about

diversity, and then concluding, "serving more hours at a homeless shelter caused students to have more open attitudes about diversity." Without additional evidence, a more appropriate inference would be something like, "students who served more hours at a homeless shelter had higher scores on the diversity scale."

Self-selection bias (non-random assignment)

Common Problems in S-L ResearchSocial desirability bias

When the behaviors and attitudes that the researcher wants to measure are "socially desirable" (i.e. social responsibility), students are inclined to make themselves look good when they give responses.

“Creaming the crop” Overgeneralization of results to draw conclusions about another group of students (i.e. all students in college vs. students in a particular first-year course).

What type of research could you conduct?

PreflectionUsed to enhance the overall reflection

process In preflection students are asked to:

Imagine what the experience will be like and express any feelings they anticipate their involvement

Comments are reviewed after the service has been completed

Looking back on these thoughts/feelings provides for some comparative analysis and brings about focused discussion and deepening insights

Service-Learning and Research Preflection Experience

What were your thoughts about coming to this workshop on service-learning research?

What did you think you might learn?

What ideas did you have (publication, presentation, grant idea) that you thought you could create based on this discussion today?

Keep these thoughts in mind as we continue…

Presentation VenuesDepending on your discipline… the sky is the limit!

International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Conference National Association for Student Personnel Administrators

(NASPA) Gulf-South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic

Engagement National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Administrators Conference

American Library Association National Conference (ALA) First-Year Experience and Students in Transition

Conference

Grant Opportunities Federal

Regional

Local

Foundation

Grant OpportunitiesFederal Grants

National Institutes of Health

National Endowment for the Arts

US Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/fund/grants-apply.html

Federal Grant Opportunities www.grants.gov

Federal Grant ExampleDepartment of Health and Human Servic

es 

*Support for Economic Development Projects to Help Low-Income Individuals

The Job Opportunity for Low Income Individuals Projects program provides support for new business ventures, business expansion, and self-employment and micro-enterprise projects designed to address the economic needs of low-income individuals and families. The application deadline is March 29, 2013.

Regional Grant ExampleDelta Rural Health Network

Development GrantWebsite: http://1.usa.gov/Viv4rP

Information: Funds organizations located in the eight Delta states to address unmet local health care needs and prevalent health disparities in rural Delta communities.

Grant OpportunitiesFoundations

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Education)http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Grants/

Ebay Foundation Community Grants (Technology)http://pages.ebay.com/community/aboutebay/foundation/

Ben and Jerry’s Foundation (Environment)http://www.benjerry.com/foundation/index.html

Community Foundation Locatorhttp://www.communityfoundationlocator.org/search/inex.cfm

Grant ExampleLocal Grants – MSU has campus grants too!

Cross-college Research Grants http://www.research.msstate.edu/funds/

Starting small with matching funds is a great indicator of success

Teaching grant – Schillig Special Teaching Grant

Examples of Service-Learning Research (involving a class)ARC 4990: Habitat Prototype, Professor

Gregory

MSU IRB Approval

Purpose of the project is to gather information on the perceptions of service-learning by architecture students to better understand the impact of service-learning on architecture education.

Thinking back to your initial research idea…what thoughts do you

have now?

References Ash, S. L., Clayton, P. H., & Atkinson, M. P. (2005). Integrating reflection and

assessment to capture and improve student learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 11(2), 49-60.

Astin, A. W., & Sax, L. J. (1998). How undergraduates are affected by service participation. Journal of College Student Development, 39, 251-263.

Bringle, R. G. (2003). Enhancing theory-based research on service-learning. In S. H. Billig & J. Eyler (Eds.), Deconstructing service-learning: Research exploring context, participation, and impacts (pp. 3-21). Greenwich, CN: Information Age Publishing.

Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (1995). A service-learning curriculum for faculty. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 2, 112-122.

Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (2000, Fall). Meaningful measurement of theory-based service learning outcomes: Making the case with quantitative research. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 68-75.

Eyler, J. (2002). Stretching to meet the challenge: Improving the quality of research to improve the quality of service-learning. In S. H. Billig & A. Furco (Eds.), Service-learning: Through a multidisciplinary lens. Advances in service-learning research series (pp. 3- 14). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

Eyler, J. & Giles, D.(1999). Where's the learning in service-learning? San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass Publishers

Furco, A., & Billig, S. (2002). Service-learning: The essence of the pedagogy. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, Inc.