No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Mud, Muck, and Service: Action research on direct and indirect service-learning in ecology
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
As service-learning becomes more prevalent in university courses, the relative proportion of courses in the scientific disciplines has not kept pace. An understandable challenge is simultaneously introducing a thorough, rigorous, canon of new material while working to provide opportunities for students to apply that material to issues in local communities. In some cases, the challenge for ecology courses becomes identifying the most fruitful collaborations that can be most effectively blended with the course material beyond caring for the environment in a general way. This action research aimed to test the viability and contributions of two types of service-learning incorporated into an undergraduate ecology course. The indirect model involved students providing data and research reports to community partners, but interactions with partners was limited to site visits. The direct model involved partnering with a local urban high school to guide high school student participation in research projects designed by the ecology students. By comparing fall and spring quarters, the effects of indirect and direct service-learning models were evaluated. Results/Conclusions
Overall, students increased ecological and research understanding and interests through both service-learning models, but increases were enhanced when the students participated in direct service-learning by guiding high school students through research on marsh restoration in a polluted local river. Based upon a post-course survey, students who participated in the direct model indicated greater understanding and interest in ecology and field research compared to students in the indirect model. Through comparing pre- and post-course surveys, responses reinforced the direct model students' greater understanding and interest. The most substantial difference between service-learning models was in field research understanding, with the direct model, where students had to guide high school students through all the aspects of ecological methods, strengthening that understanding.
... Although SLCE is widespread in disciplines such as nursing, education, and social sciences, is it less common in biological sciences and is very rare in physiology courses. In biological sciences, SLCE is relatively common in microbiology (51) and environmental sciences (25,47,52). In contrast, a search of the journal Advances in Physiology Education (2/23/2018) found only two publications on service learning and none on community engagement. ...
To better prepare physiology students for 21st century careers, we incorporated classroom-based undergraduate research experiences and service learning/community-engaged learning (SLCE) into a college-level physiology laboratory course. The interventions were incorporated over 4 yr and assessed using validated surveys of student-reported learning gains related to attitudes toward science, the scientific process, and career paths. Students reported the greatest learning gains in those years when students did novel research oriented around a common theme of water quality. The gains were greater than those of a matched cohort that participated in an apprentice-style summer undergraduate research experience. With respect to the SLCE related to youth science literacy, students provided evidence of learning related to academics, personal growth, and civic mindedness. For example, many expressed discomfort about being in a new situation, often describing the differences between themselves and the youth with whom they interacted. However, students also grew in confidence about collaborating with people who were different from them and in their role as the "scientist." Limitations of the study include the quasi-experimental design and the incorporation of multiple interventions at the same time. Future studies should examine improvement in content acquisition and competency-based learning skills. Nonetheless, these results suggest that both novel research and SLCE increase student learning in the context of an undergraduate physiology laboratory course. Many of the learning gains observed with the SLCE are particularly important for physiology students, many of whom aspire to careers in health sciences, where they will be regularly working with nonscientists.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.