St. Joseph's College of Maine (Standish,
ME)
The
Rural Service-Learning Initiative
Summary
In recognition of the need for the College to create and strengthen partnerships
in the Sebago Lake Region, one of the goals through its Engaging Communities
and Campuses grant program was to expand and sustain the rural service-learning
initiative. In order to address this goal, Saint Joseph’s learned
that it also needed to broaden the definition of community-based learning
to further community engagement and to encourage innovative liberal arts
and sciences pedagogy. The College determined that faculty development,
support, and leadership were essential components to meeting the two overall
goals.
The Practice
In July 2001, three service-learning faculty members participated in the
Advanced Problem Based Service-Learning training provided by the Maine
Campus Compact. Problem Based Service-Learning is specific community engaged
pedagogy. In the fall of 2001, the Vice-President of Academic Affairs
named the three experienced service-learning faculty as Service-Learning
Mentors. The three mentors presented the basic Problem-Based Service-Learning
model and pedagogy in a two-day faculty development workshop in January
2002, prior to the beginning of the spring semester.
Future plans for Problem-Based Service-Learning training continue along
the same lines. In June 2004, the Maine Campus Compact will sponsor a
two-day workshop for interested faculty. Admission is competitive and
is based on a faculty application, which details the integration of service-learning
into their individual growth plan. To augment this faculty training, Saint
Joseph’s College Office of Service-Learning, with funding support
from the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, conducted
an Introduction to Service-Learning workshop for faculty and
community partners on December 9, 2003.
Effectiveness
Thirteen faculty members participated in the January 2002 workshop. As
a result of this workshop, four new academic disciplines became involved
in the community engagement initiative. Due to the positive response from
the first workshop, the three mentors provided a follow-up workshop in
January, 2003 titled “Focus on the Total Service-Learning Experience:
Outcomes, Course Enhancement and Syllabus Design.” Seven faculty
members from the first workshop returned for the follow-up and two faculty
new to service learning also attended. Following this presentation, three
faculty members incorporated service-learning into their courses for the
first time.
The emphasis on Problem Based Service-Learning provided multiple approaches
to community engagement. This new model and the support of the faculty
mentors enabled the new service-learning faculty from different academic
disciplines to feel “less restricted” and free to express
and apply their own ideas of engagement and pedagogy. Six of the seven
new service-learning faculty members created new partnerships or worked
with existing partnerships in the Sebago Lake Region. The leadership of
the faculty mentors and the engagement of new service-learning faculty
resulted in the development and strengthening of approximately ten partnerships
in the rural Sebago Lake Region. The faculty members are committed to
their involvement with service-learning and dedicated to building relationships
with community partners in our rural communities.
Faculty members have been encouraged to apply for admission to the June
2004 Problem Based Service-Learning conference. One new faculty member
attended in June 2003 and others have been encouraged to apply for the
June 2004 workshop.
A faculty and community partner effectiveness evaluation was developed
and sent via e-mail attachment to all fall 2003 service-learning faculty
and community partners. Thus far, the response rate has been 100 percent
for community partners and still pending for faculty. The responses will
be shared with appropriate partners and hopefully serve as a basis for
continuing the partnership dialogue around enhancing service-learning
experiences for students, faculty, and community partners. One service-learning
site held a strategic planning meeting and invited two faculty members
and the department chairperson to participate in the discussion.
The three faculty members involved in the Advanced Problem Based Service
Learning workshop divided among them the list of all faculty members new
to service-learning. The experienced faculty members have mentored colleagues
to encourage and support the establishment or revision of service-learning
components in courses. A notable example was planned in summer 2003 and
executed in fall 2003. A partnership was developed between an astronomy
professor and an after-school care program at a local elementary school.
The astronomy professor sent his first semester elementary education majors
in small groups to conduct after school sessions on astronomy related
subjects. The reflections the astronomy students submitted and the feedback
from the community party demonstrated a highly successful project. The
after-school children benefited from more structure and learning opportunities,
which parents had been asking for, and the Saint Joseph’s students
benefited from preparing activities, which were developmentally appropriate
applications of course content. The faculty member involved was so impressed
by the experience that he has made arrangements to invite the after-school
students and their parents to the campus observatory for an evening of
telescope viewing as a capstone to the project.
Resources
Resources for problem-based service-learning may be purchased through
the National Campus Compact office website.
Rick Gordon, formerly of Antioch College, delivered the first of the Maine
PBSL workshops and he, along with other colleagues, have published notable
works that are available through the Maine Campus Compact office at Bates
College at mainecompact@bates.edu
or through Antioch New England Graduate School.
Two references the College has found particularly helpful are listed below.
The first resource contains an overview of six service-learning models,
one of which is problem-based service-learning. A particularly helpful
section is located in the chapter titled “Implementation,”
and lists model syllabi in problem-based service-learning courses. The
second resource is part of a series written by faculty at Antioch New
England and form a highly user-friendly exploration of problem-based learning
in the classroom.
Fundamentals of Service-Learning Course Construction
Kerissa Heffernan, Ed.D.
Campus Compact
2001
Education by Design ™
The Critical Skills Program Created by Wendy Mobilia and Rick
Gordon and the EBD Leadership Community
Antioch New England Graduate School
40 Avon Street
Keene, New Hampshire 03431
Contact Information
Susan Taylor Fickett MSN, RN
Director of Service-Learning
Saint Joseph’s College of Maine
278 Whites Bridge Road
Standish, ME 04084
Phone: 207-893-7576
sfickett@sjcme.edu
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