(DOWNLOAD) "Do All Students "Get It?": Comparing Students' Reflections to Course Performance." by Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Do All Students "Get It?": Comparing Students' Reflections to Course Performance.
- Author : Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning
- Release Date : January 22, 2002
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 214 KB
Description
Service-learning authors often note that service-learning practitioners do not share a common definition for "service-learning" (Kezar, 1998; Kraft, 1996; Stanton, 1987). Kezar writes, "In the broadest sense, service-learning is a form of active, experiential learning that utilizes service in order to ground the learning process" (p. 1). She goes on to identify four principles shared by most service-learning definitions: preparation (which involves establishing clear academic goals); participation (actuating the intended service); reflection (the process of thinking critically about the service-learning experience's effect relative to academic content); and evaluation (which entails assessing the learning that has transpired) (pp. 1-2). These principles represent common themes in many service-learning courses. One element often identified as central to learning in service-learning is reflection. Through reflection, the students are able to process the learning experience, to synthesize, draw connections, apply course content, and integrate what they have learned with what they have experienced in the service-learning interaction. Eyler, Giles, and Schmiede (1996) argue for the "power of the 'ah ha' moment" (p. vii) in A Practitioner's Guide to Reflection in Service-Learning. The authors note critical reflection's central role in the service-learning enterprise and report that they "became increasingly aware that important moments of insight and intellectual and personal transformation were occurring for students in service-learning courses and programs" (p. vii). Based on their interviews with 67 students, Eyler, Giles, and Schmiede identified common themes in students' service-learning reflections. These themes, or outcomes, speak to the types of benefits realized by students in service-learning classes. A body of research is beginning to develop that supports benefits obtained through this type of learning (Batchelder & Root, 1994; Eyler, Giles, & Schmiede, 1996; Hesser, 1995; Markus, Howard, & King, 1993). McKeachie (1999) writes, "In the ninth edition of this book I said that there was little research evidence of the effectiveness of service-learning. Since then a number of studies have reported positive findings" (p. 155). McKeachie goes on to identify several articles attesting to some service-learning pedagogy benefits (see Boss, 1994; Kendrick, 1996; Markus, Howard, & King, 1993; Myers-Lipton 1994, 1996).