Becoming productive 21^stcentury citizens: A systematic review uncovering design principles for integrating community service learning into higher education courses

Abstract

Background: To prepare students to become productive 21 st century citizens, universities have to be more engaged with society. Shifting towards community service learning (CSL) enables students to participate in, and reflect on, services that both benefit the public and also contribute to their own learning. There has been considerable research conducted on the improved student competencies, both academic and personal, resulting from CSL. There is, however, no consensus on how to integrate CSL into courses successfully, owing to the diverse contextual factors that influence implementation. Purpose: By means of conducting a review, this study aimed to establish general design principles to help guide course coordinators in implementing CSL in their academic courses. Design and methods: A systematic review was conducted of articles describing the implementation of CSL in academic courses within various disciplines. Implementation elements and principles were extracted from the articles and inductively grouped together, thereby identifying various design principles. Findings: Our analysis of the literature highlighted three steps that, according to the literature, are important in the implementation of CSL: (1) aligning course objectives and format; (2) establishing a relationship with the community partner; and (3) defining a reflection and evaluation strategy. We found that the nature of the design principles and specific approaches underlying these implementation steps should depend on the students' capabilities, which include their pre-CSL experiences. Conclusion:The implementation steps and underlying design principles uncovered by this review may help guide and support course coordinators in their efforts to integrate CSL in their academic courses. The diverse range of design principles makes it possible to acknowledge students' pre-CSL experiences and, thus, construct appropriate scaffolding, which is necessary for students to attain the improved academic and personal competencies envisaged through CSL, and ultimately to become productive 21 st century citizens.

Civic-mindedness is more than Personality: Untangling the Overlapping Constructs of Service Motivation, Civic Efficacy and the Big Five

“…However, these findings suggest that for inculcating broader conceptions of civic-mindedness, educators may well find more success in blending traditional pedagogy with techniques inspired by clinical and therapeutic sciences aimed at personality change (Allemand & Flückiger, 2017;Roberts et al, 2017). Indeed, journaling and other reflective practices already included in many Community Service-Learning courses (Tijsma et al, 2020) resemble practices that are part of different therapeutic modalities. It would reach too far to argue that higher education should move towards a clinical model of personality change as a substitute to pedagogy, but the clinical literature could provide inspiration to higher education researchers and practitioners developing curriculum aimed at promoting civic-mindedness.…”

“…Across western democracies, there has long been concern about a decline of social capital, social and political trust and decreasing interest in democratic governance (Citrin & Stoker, 2018;Norris, 2011;Putnam, 2000). Paired with the broad finding that higher levels of education are correlated in higher levels of civic and political participation (Hout, 2012;Persson, 2013), many colleges and universities have embraced curricula that go beyond the idea of liberal arts education and are explicityly directed and increasing students' civic-mindedness (Colby et al, 2003;European Commission, 2017;Tijsma et al, 2020).…”

Pemanfaatan Software ERP pada UMKM: Pendampingan Konfigurasi Awal

“…Metode service learning merupakan salah satu metode pembelajaran yang melibatkan mahasiswa dan masyarakat. Penggunaan metode servise learning dalam pembelajaran digunakan untuk mereduksi gap teori dan praktek [14]. Metode service learning menggabungkan metode pembelajaran dan pengabdian masyarakat.…”

A Shift Towards Visualization in eLearning

“…Visualization allows one to transfer data in a more visual and compact form, accommodating more information in the same visual space and at the same time guaranteeing the speed and efficiency of its perception (Liu et al, 2020;Toetenel & Rienties, 2016). Visualization tools can be used on mobile devices, which simplifies the provision of information and guarantees the implementation of learning principles in the 21st century anywhere and anytime (Tijsma et al, 2020). The use of visualization tools increases the motivation and involvement of students of all ages in the learning process and thereby contributes to an increase in academic achievements and the quality of training (Dineva et al, 2019;Ginda et al, 2019;Kulasekara et al, 2011).…”