Intergenerational learning at a nature center: families using prior experiences and participation frameworks to understand raptors

Using a sociocultural framework to approach intergenerational learning, this inquiry examines learning processes used by families during visits to one nature center. Data were collected from videotaped observations of families participating in an environmental education program and a follow-up task to draw the habitat of raptors. Based on a thematic analysis, researchers developed two themes about the learning processes at play in the nature center, related to the use of prior knowledge. First, families’ prior knowledge used at the nature center came from informal education activities: (a) observation in the outdoors and spaces designed to represent an aspect of nature, (b) media (including books and Internet), and (c) experiences at informal education institutions. Second, when sharing prior knowledge, participation frameworks were created through the conversation that leveled the hierarchy between parent and child allowing for negotiation and collaborative idea formation. In the nature center, families valued social harmony by positioning their children as capable contributors of environmental knowledge. Suggestions to researchers taking a sociocultural approach are given, including the potential of ‘participation frameworks’ as an analytical tool to study learning interactions and as a potential tool for environmental educators to encourage families to create roles and structures for successful learning outcomes in nature centers.     

Sleepless in Albuquerque: diversity,learning through service,and pedagogy of exploration

Community service trips are often viewed as educational because students supposedly cross socio-economic, racial, and other borders to engage with people of various backgrounds. However, diversity among students, their differing experiences of the service trip, and the ways they learn from each other’s experiences are rarely discussed. Based on ethnographic research conducted during an alternative spring break trip from the north-eastern United States to New Mexico in 2014, this article examines student narratives about their diverse experiences – particularly regarding staying at a hostel and going on hikes – and shows how they learned about the construction of differences from sharing their experiences. This article’s findings challenge the preconceived border between volunteers and the community members they work for as the only difference and show that service trips are often culturally biased in favour of white middle-class experiences. The article suggests “pedagogy of exploration” that encourages students to examine their own diverse experiences and what caused that diversity.     

The multidimensionality of multicultural service learning: The variable effects of social identity, context and pedagogy on pre-service teachers’ learning

Multicultural service learning (MSL) seeks to develop pre-service teachers’ capacities and commitment to teach diverse student populations. We use multiple regression analyses of survey data collected from 212 pre-service teachers engaged in 22 MSL sites to assess the effects of pre-service teachers’ social identities, MSL contexts, and university pedagogy on pre-service teachers’ awareness of cultural bias, understanding of social inequality, and commitment to teaching diverse students. We find that pedagogical engagement positively contributes to all three outcomes. Pre-service teacher’s social identities and MSL contextual factors, however, have variable effects. We explore the pedagogical and research implications of this multidimensionality.     

The place of content and pedagogy in shaping sustainability learning outcomes in higher education

This research investigates the ways in which undergraduate courses dealing with the environment address sustainable development (SD), and contribute to the development of sustainability learning outcomes (SLO). The participants in the study were 13 instructors, and 360 students who were enrolled in 13 courses that addressed the environment in a technical university. Mixed methods were used for data collection and analysis. We found that courses that address the environment are varied in the way that they address sustainable development, and in the pedagogy they use. We also found links between teaching methods and the pattern of reported SLOs: skills development was promoted mainly in courses with a high degree of participatory learning; changes in awareness and attitudes were reported mainly in courses that addressed sustainable development, and motivation to promote sustainable development was reported mainly in courses that addressed sustainable development and also provided opportunities for active and participatory learning. The implications of our research are discussed.     

Reconceptualising higher education pedagogy in online learning

The purpose of this collaborative inquiry project was to examine teacher education practices in two early childhood degree programmes in a school of education at a regional university in Australia. All students are enrolled in these online courses as distance learners. The reconceptualised online pedagogy immersed students, peers and their lecturers in ‘teaching through assessment’ (Edwards, 2010) in a collaborative online environment that mirrors the complexity that students are experiencing in their workplaces. This article describes the pedagogical and conceptual underpinnings we used to reconceptualise our degree programmes. It also outlines our evolving conceptualisations of learning as knowledge creation (Hong & Sullivan, 2009) in the context of our teaching and learning in online courses.     

Variation in Environmentalism Among University Students: Majoring in Outdoor Recreation,Parks, and Tourism Predicts Environmental Concerns and Behaviors

In a survey of Canadian university students (N = 205), the relationship between majoring in an outdoor recreation university program and environmental concern, cooperation, and behavior were examined. Stepwise linear regression indicated that enrollment in outdoor recreation was predictive of environmental behavior and ecological cooperation; and these results held independently of age and gender. We then examined the possibility that environmental concern may mediate these relationships. Inclusion of ecocentrism as a mediating variable indicated that environmental concern partially accounted for the relation between outdoor recreation and self-reported environmental behavior, and fully mediated (reduced to nonsignificance) the relationship between outdoor recreation and ecological cooperation. Results are discussed in the context of education, and more specifically experiential outdoor education as promoting environmental behavior through greater concern for the ecosystem.     

Chronicling innovative learning in primary classrooms: conceptualizing a theatrical pedagogy to successfully engage young children learning science

This article reports on an innovative pedagogical approach devised to re-envigorate primary (elementary) teachers’ practice in the United Kingdom for older children. Learning science in elementary schools for 8–11 year olds (Key Stage 2 in England) has been constrained for several decades while teachers prepared them for national tests. The recent demise of these high stakes assessments (for the 11 year olds) has opened up creative space to enable re-development of the ways that science is taught and learnt. This article describes how an innovative approach to teaching science to more mature primary children can be developed through the application of theatrical techniques. Dramatizing science can offer a more lively, none traditional way to learn, that can appeal to and involve all children in a science classroom. In this study, 17 teachers from 12 Staffordshire schools experimented with these new pedagogical approaches to explore how they might enhance their practice and augment their children’s learning. Reflective journal extracts, field notes, informal discussions, interviews and classroom observations indicated how successfully the thespian techniques were applied. Findings indicate that dramatizing science learning through various means that encourage social interaction, improvisation and reflection on historical narratives appears to not only engage and motivate learners but also aid them in grasping more challenging conceptual and procedural ideas.     

Ensuring good character and civic education: connecting through service learning

Character and citizenship education are part of the vision of many countries, including Singapore. Ensuring they are implemented in academic environments, service learning has been shown to be a natural bridge between the two. Research has shown that service learning, when done well, produces outcomes related to character development and citizenship education. As a modern educational movement, its early founders described it as a pedagogy to engage individuals in service activities dictated by the community, whereby the learning applies academic subject matter to the service. It is also a philosophy where the service is developed in collaboration with the community, where the goal is empowering those most affected by social and economic challenges. It is often delivered through academic course connections, but is effectively developed through constructivist approaches to curriculum, where the community prescribed needs define the subjects required for study and service. Service learning and character education are mutually connected constructs where service learning becomes the vehicle for delivery of character development. Individuals learn good character by applying those character traits in social settings through service. Good learning is assured when the nature of the service and character are intertwined, and the knowledge and skills gained connect directly to the actions of the people involved.     

Tutor training for service learning: impact on self-efficacy beliefs

The aim of my study was: (a) to measure the effectiveness of a supporting tutor-training curriculum and content knowledge gains for preservice teachers engaged in service learning and (b) to determine whether tutor training and field experience improved the preservice teachers’ teaching self-efficacy beliefs. One hundred and thirteen upper-division undergraduate students enrolled in Social Foundations of Multicultural Education courses participated in course-embedded tutor-training and fulfilled a 20-h service-learning requirement by tutoring pupils in local elementary schools. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) on a pretest and posttest measures of content knowledge, tutoring skills, and teaching self-efficacy demonstrated a statistically significant difference with higher mean scores at the post time. These results suggest that a course-specific tutor-training curriculum advances the participants’ knowledge and skill in tutoring. The results also indicate that the combination of tutor training and field application (i.e. tutoring in a classroom) function to increase students’ self-efficacy as future teachers.     

Understanding the behavioral intention to play Austronesian learning games: from the perspectives of learning outcome,service quality,and hedonic value

Although ubiquitous learning is a novel and creative teaching approach, two key issues inhibit its success overall: a lack of appropriate learning strategies regarding learning objectives, and ineffective learning tools for receiving knowledge regarding the chosen subjects. To address these issues, we develops and designs a game-based educational app and an object-linked knowledge environment in order to help learners learn about Taiwan’s Austronesian culture. 70 fifth-grade students are split into experimental and control groups to determine whether there are significant learning differences. For the experimental group, we use a questionnaire survey to assess students’ learning condition and to measure their willingness to continue to use this app. The questionnaire examines mobile learning from the perspectives of service quality, hedonic value,and certain control variables. Service quality reliability is found to be the key factor driving learners’ willingness to use the system. The perception of hedonic value also has significant influence on learners’ willingness. The control variable of subjective norm is found to be beneficial in encouraging learners to use the system, thus affecting and increasing learners’ willingness. We conclude that in an outdoor object-linked knowledge environment, students learn more effectively when the activities involve the use of an educational app.     

Community-level environmental projects as learning tools for planners: a case study of graduate planning students

Despite the potential environmental impact of urban planning, there is little research on Environmental Education (EE) in the context of urban planning curricula. This study follows graduate planning students’ learning experience during group projects assigned as part of a planning course at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. These participatory projects, characterized as project-based learning and service learning, took place in several communities in Israel. We examined the types of learning impacts the projects engendered by analyzing the reported experiences of the students using parameters from the field of EE. The main goal of this research is to understand the contribution of such practical, hands-on project exercises to the course curriculum for inculcating environmental education themes. Findings indicate that projects helped students acquire and/or improve professional tools. They enhanced motivation to consider environmental concerns in their work and in some cases changed students’ personal environmental behavior.     

Community-embedded learning experiences: putting the pedagogy of service-learning to work in online courses

This paper considers the applicability and adaptability of service-learning pedagogy to online and distance education teaching environments. More specifically, it looks at the community-embedded learning model (CEL), which asks distance students to conduct service projects in their local communities, as manifested in a project undertaken by online graduate students in the library science programme at Appalachian State University, a mid-sized university in the United States of America. For this assignment, students, who are located throughout the state of North Carolina and surrounding areas, performed service work in libraries located within their own communities and neighbourhoods, coming together to discuss their experiences in regular synchronous course meetings conducted online. In addition to describing this project, this paper will offer analysis of student reflections, describing what students perceived as challenging, important and rewarding about the experience. Through this study, the researchers highlight the potential value of community-embedded learning experiences for classes conducted in online environments.     

关于服务学习理念在高职思政课应用的思考

服务学习是一种通过社区服务来完成学习目标的学习,其本质内容是社会学习,鼓励学生参与社区各种活动,注重培养学生的社会责任感与公民意识,提供真实的学习经验。本文通过对服务学习理念的阐述,提出在高职思政课中引入该理论加强实践教学环节,构建专题讲座教学与实践教学相结合的教学模式,提高了思想政治教育的实效性。     

More than experiential learning or volunteering: a case study of community service learning within the Australian context

Community service learning is the integration of experiential learning and community service into coursework such that community needs are met and students gain both professional skills and a sense of civic responsibility. A critical component is student reflection. This paper provides an example of the application of community service learning within an undergraduate health unit at the Queensland University of Technology. Based on survey data from 36 program participants, it demonstrates the impact of CSL on student outcomes. Results show that students benefited by developing autonomy through real world experiences, through increased self‐assurance and achievement of personal growth, through gaining new insights into the operations of community service organisations and through moving towards becoming responsible citizens. Students expect their CSL experience to have long‐lasting impact on their lives, with two‐thirds of participants noting that they would like to continue volunteering as part of their future development.     

基层电大学习支持服务系统的构建与实践

功能完善的学习支持服务系统是远程开放教育成功的基础,直接影响远程开放教育的质量。本文重点分析了中山电大学习过程支持服务系统的现状,提出了进一步完善的对策及建议。     

A comparative analysis of service learning in social work and criminal justice education

The current study sought input from a national sample of social work (SW) and criminal justice (CJ) educators (N = 276) to explore characteristics of those who use service learning in the two disciplines, differences in the conceptions of and beliefs about service learning, and distinctions in how it is used and implemented. This study offers the first explicitly cross-disciplinary comparison of service learning within two related, but distinct disciplines. The results indicated that SW educators, compared to their CJ peers, used service learning more frequently and perceived fewer barriers to using it. Additionally, a higher percentage of SW faculty members reported using service learning at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, suggesting that SW educators may be more likely to see the value of service learning across education levels. Among those who reported that they have used service learning, few differences were found between the two disciplines.