Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?

Due to developments in information and communication technology, increasing knowledge production in the economy, globalisation and changes in professional structures and expectations, the call for reshaping education to increase its impact in terms of value for societal demands has become acute. In addition, many scholars have formulated criticisms on the low impact of education and higher education specifically. For this reason, it is of great importance for higher education institutions and colleges to offer their students an educational programme providing them with the basic skills and competences they can adapt to the globalising, fast and constantly changing world and meet the needs of the business life. The aim of this study is to determine the roles of seven High-impact Learning that Lasts (HILL) building blocks (urgency, learning agency, collaboration and coaching, action and knowledge sharing, flexibility, hybrid learning, and assessment as learning) in the effects of high-impact practices (HIPs). After analysing the 56 selected studies by narrative analysis, it was determined that almost all of the effects of HIPs (collaboration, personal growth and social development, communication, enhanced learning, appreciation of diversity, student-faculty/peer/community interaction, critical thinking, motivation, academic success, retention and/or engagement, job-readiness skills, knowledge transfer, positive learning environment, meaningful education opportunities, sense of belonging and institutional acceptance, problem solving, being a leader of one’s own learning, social responsibility, career related opportunities, leadership skills, being aware of one’s own skills/abilities/beliefs) were supported and strengthened by the seven HILL building blocks. To conclude, the application of the HILL building blocks will make the HIPs more applicable and effective. 

Framing the Effects of High-Impact Practices from a High-Impact Learning Perspective. A Review of Studies

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Applying High Impact Practices in an Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Program

A total of 306 students participated in a practicum/internship (P/I) program. Retention and employment outcomes suggest that students are likely to continue at the university after being exposed to career issues in beginning psychology courses and they are likely to obtain employment in ending psychology courses. Students also made improvements in their racial-cultural identity development, racial, cultural, and social justice attitudes, and problem-solving, civic responsibility, and community engagement skills from the beginning to the end of the program. Sixty-eight percent of students evaluated the course as challenging and 54% of them felt prepared to transition to the workforce or graduate school by the end of the program. Field supervisors also made favorable appraisals of student work performances. Implications for infusing career issues in beginning, middle, and ending courses in an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum are discussed.

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A Developmental Approach for Infusing Career Issues in an Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum

Little is known about the degree to which diversity courses facilitate the learning of multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. The aim of this study is to add to this area of research by identify what students learn through participation in a multicultural psychology course. A total of 71 undergraduate students participated in an assessment of a multicultural psychology course. Quantitative analyses indicate that students increased their cultural skills, leadership skills, problem-solving skills, social justice attitudes, multicultural knowledge, multicultural experiences, and empathy from the beginning to the end of the semester. Qualitative findings indicate that students increase their intercultural contact and perspective-taking skills and develop multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills over the semester. The use of a mixed-method approach increases the reliability of findings that multicultural attitudes, cultural skills, and empathy change over a semester long, multicultural psychology course. 

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Equity, Inclusion, Diversity, and Belonging in a Multicultural Psychology Course during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study compares student learning outcomes for 1,500 students enrolled in psychology courses that utilize academic- and cultural-based service-learning and experiential learning (i.e., internships) as primary pedagogical methods. A repeated measures analyses of variance with post hoc Tukey HSD analyses were conducted to measure differences in student learning outcomes from the beginning to the end of the semester for academic-based service-learners (ABSL), cultural-based service-learners (CBSL), and experiential learners (EL). There were significant Group x Time interaction effects. Experiential learners and academic-based service-learners increased their guilt and shame regarding their own Whiteness from the beginning to the end of semester compared to cultural-based service-learners. Cultural-based service-learners also increased their intercultural relationships, civic responsibility, interpersonal engagement, and understanding of diversity content by the end of the semester. ABSL, CBSL, and EL contribute to different student learning outcomes. The alignment between HIPs and student learning outcomes is discussed.

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Charlotte Marshall

Papers

Differences in Student Learning Outcomes that Utilize High Impact Practices