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| I.
Faculty Knowledge and Skills |
E. Assessing Learning Outcomes
One of the most difficult, yet increasingly expected, challenges to all
of higher education is responding appropriately to accrediting agencies’
requests to document the learning achieved through experiential learning
pedagogies. Measuring the impact of learning outside the classroom, particularly
in partnership with staff members of community organizations, can involve
the use of portfolios and multiple assessment measures. No less important
are attempts that are being made to “grade” the performance
of partnering activities.
- Berry College - Hunger and Homelessness
Outreach Programs and Education
Student leaders are reported to have developed a myriad of leadership
skills that come from having gained first-hand experience in relationship
building and contributing to teamwork.
- Calvin College - Nursing Department
Partnership
In an accreditation visit, the community partnership was described as
a "national model" that could be widely emulated.
- Chaminade University - Income Tax
Preparation
Students are tested by faculty members to assess their technical and
interpersonal skills as well as to ascertain their understanding of
issues relating to diversity and policy making. Students report that
they gained significant learning and increased social awareness. Many
found employment with CPA firms soon after graduation and often return
after graduation to assist in projects.
- Chatham College - Choosing
the Right Partner
The College is planning to make more explicit connections with community
partners through academic courses and by creating new experiential learning
opportunities.
- Chatham College - Practitioner
in Residence
There has been an increase in project proposals from students, including
a greater number of projects that reflect community outreach initiatives
and off-campus partnerships.
- College Misericordia - The Service
Leadership Center
Various accountability measures were established; they include rates
of faculty participation.
- College of Notre Dame,
Baltimore - International Cooperation in Service
Use is made of an assessment survey, focus groups, individual interviews,
and evaluative observation. Favorable outcomes are reported.
- College of Notre
Dame, Baltimore - The Critical Question Reflection Method
Journal keeping for self-discovery within a group seminar format is
designed to increase self-awarness through feedback by a faculty facilitation.
Multiple outcomes measures are employed; positive results are reported.
- College of St. Catherine - Using
Technology
The infusion of technology into teacher preparation programs was an
added benefit of the grant.
- Emory & Henry College - Communities
Allied to Uplift Success in Education
Students report in great numbers that their learning about suicide and
substance abuse increased. They also indicated that they had a greater
sense of connection to and engagement with their local communities.
A one-time Youth Summit has become a year-round Youth Empowerment Leadership
Project that promotes leadership training, community service, and civic
involvement.
- Gannon University - Lake Erie Arboretum
at Frontier
University students reported enjoying the opportunity to work with small
groups of fifth graders and having the chance to reflect, refine and
re-do activities with subsequent groups of these youngsters. The confidence
of student teachers is reported to have increased.
- Gettysburg College - Nicaragua as
a Template
Learning assessments are made with "pre-test" and "post-test"
surveys designed to help measure learning. Positive results reported.
- Greensboro College - The Village
401 Project
Positive results are reported for a variety of community-based research
projects completed by students.
- Illinois College - The Illinois Partnership
of Minority Achievement
Monthly oversight and assessment meetings occured. Positive results
are reported.
- Ithaca College - Cinema on the
Edge
Significant student interest was evidenced in producing an award-winning
film that earned high international and national visibility. The project
subsequently led to strong interest in related efforts—including
one that attracted substantial grant support.
- Ithaca College - EcoVillage
of Ithaca
Pre- and post-course evaluations were conducted along with course content
and quality of instruction assessments. Work with a consultant helped
to create a sustainability initiative and develop a proposal for feasibility
study evaluations.
- Johnson C. Smith University -
Urban Research Group
This project is part of a long history of having produced results by
undertaking many research projects that have involved hundreds of students
from many majors who have studied under the guidance of faculty members
who teach in a wide variety of disciplines. Positive results are reported
by community-based organizations, faculty members, and students.
- Loyola University New Orleans
- The Office of Service Learning
Many faculty members representing all five colleges have incorporated
service-learning into their curriculum. Surveys distributed to participating
students, faculty, and community agency supervisors indicated positive
responses to the work of this office.
- Madonna University - Certificate in
Community Leadership
Levels of participation and enrollment are reported.
- Mars Hill College - Thematic Courses
in Liberal Arts in Action
Community voices brought depth and analytical complexities to an understanding
of case studies. Faculty members made revisions in traditional texts
by incorporating service-learning components. Course evaluations and
course revisions resulted from this project. Faculty and student responses
were positively reported.
- New England College - Teaching
the Pedagogy of Service-Learning to Pre-Service Teachers
Pre-service teachers are required to identify state certification standards
that are met as a result of their service-learning work. Students document
their work drawing connections to these standards while maintaining
an on-line portfolio that is reviewed by professional development school
and community partners. Pre-service and in-service teachers who have
engaged in service-learning with K-12 students routinely assess the
impact of their work on these students by using KIDS Speak, an assessment
tool developed by KIDS Consortium in Maine. Positive results are reported.
- New England College - The
Pericles Project
All service-learning, civic engagement, community service, and volunteerism
activities are channeled through the Center. While students involved
with this project are anecdotally reported to be more civically engaged,
future assessments of their impact on the community are projected to
be more formal.
- North Central College - The Dispute
Resolution Center
Students are evaluated through in-class and videotaped simulations.
They also receive critical feedback about what does and does not work
well in dispute resolution. High rates of mediated settlements are reported
as a result of processes established.
- Otterbein College - Community Service
Learning Center
The number of hours served is counted; increasing service is recorded.
Positive feelings about students and alumni community service are noted.
Numbers of student participants are counted and sorted by gender and
graduating class. Areas of potential improvement are identified, as
are aspirations by students to continue offering service after graduation.
Other survey data are also shared.
- Presbyterian College - Communities
Helping, Assisting, and Motivating Promising Students
Data are used to demonstrate that undergraduates gain a depth of student
interaction that is seldom attained in their regular curriculum.
- Rhodes College - Rhodes Service
Scholars Program
Measures of success include service scholars' evaluations of the program,
leadership positions held by participants on and off campus, GPAs earned,
and hours students dedicate to community organizations. Specific examples
of student impact are given, including the role they play as coordinators
for community placements and recruiting other students to serve with
them.
- Rhodes College - St. Jude's
Children's Research Hospital Summer Plus Scholars
Students report enthusiasm about their work and indicate greater interest
in pursuing careers in biomedical research. Faculty interest in participating
in this program continues to increase and work has begun on a comprehensive,
quantitative assessment of the impact of engaged learning on student
satisfaction and retention, academic achievement, and the pursuit of
postgraduate studies.
- Rhodes College - The
Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies
Exemplary papers are published in the College journal and their authors
are encouraged to submit their research to professional journals, interested
policy makers, journalists, scholars, and religious leaders in the Memphis
region and nationally. Students reported high levels of satisfaction
with their peer-learning opportunities, appreciation of their locale,
and connections they made in the mid-South.
- St. Ambrose University - Marketing
Mississippi Valley Growers' Association
The College's Department of Managerial Studies affirmed the importance
of such learning opportunities.
- St. Joseph's College of Maine - The
Rural Service-Learning Initiative
A faculty and partner effectiveness evaluation was developed. Reports
of success are identified.
- St. Thomas University - The Campus
and Community Alliance for North Dade
Faculty-community projects are evaluated by using a service-learning
survey, a faculty report, and a sample of student reflections.
- University of Indianapolis - Parish
Nursing
Projected efforts to document the effectiveness of parish nursing are
likely to include numbers of hours of parish nursing delivered by home
visits; phone, mail, and e-mail contracts; referrals made to pastors,
physician-serial service representatives; support groups; counselors,
and healthcare screeners. Health teaching, promotion presentations,
and written communications are also part of a teaching system.
- University of St. Francis - Occupational
Therapy and a Homeless Shelter
The transient nature of the population makes long-term behavioral changes
difficult to assess. From the University standpoint, student learning
is enhanced by learning from perceptions shared in focus groups, following
involvement in hands-on learning processes. Evaluation of the experience
also occurs among the faculty with student input as needed to determine
if the experience met the educational goals. The agency is consulted
to determine if surveyed needs were indeed met.
- University of the Incarnate Word
- Ministerio de Salud
Student survey results have been positive. There is a generally shared
perception that the knowledge and skills students learned in communities
will be useful in their future nursing careers. In fact, these undergraduates
wish they had more time to spend with residents.
- Utica College - The History Project
Analysis of student work is done by "using a standard rubric."
- Wagner College - Learning by Doing
Use is made of the "Student Assessment of Learning Gains."
As a result, students report high marks for their development of critical
thinking skills; better understanding of scientific inquiry and researching;
enhancing their base of scientific knowledge; capacity to conceptualize;
learning the usefulness and limitations of science; and developing a
sense of civic engagement. Experiential learning also, reportedly, makes
class material more meaningful and improves students' problem-solving
abilities.
- Wartburg College - Community Builders:
Fostering Intergenerational Civic Engagement
A key measure of project effectiveness is sustainability, based on a
sense of reciprocity among all participants.
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