Bridging the Science-to-Service Gap: Service Learning in Graduate-Level Psychology Education

Abstract

Introduction: The discrepancy between what is known from clinical research and what is done in applied clinical practice is called the “science-to-service gap.” Teaching students to bridge this gap must be a primary focus of graduate education in applied psychology sub-disciplines. Statement of the Problem: Since science is fluid, an exclusive focus on teaching current empirically supported practices is insufficient. To make a meaningful impact, graduate students need opportunities to practice scientific reasoning in community settings. Literature Review: Service Learning facilitates applied experiences for students to practice scientific reasoning in “real world” settings in collaboration with community partners. Objective: In this paper, we describe the SL pedagogy and model how to apply the pedagogy to a sample graduate-level course. Teaching Implications: SL courses facilitate high impact opportunities for students to practice data-driven decision-making while serving the community. Conclusion: SL benefits students and the community. Future work can build on the model course we describe by evaluating the outcomes of SL courses against other models of effective teaching.

Research and practical application of a bilinear integration learning model for a college psychology course

“…The adjacency matrix is constructed by analyzing the direct connections between the individual cognitive attributes that were extracted. If we take the example of the dispersive attribute hierarchy structure shown in equation (1), where attribute 16 is denoted as A1A6, respectively, the adjacency matrix of this structure is shown in the matrix of (1):…”

“…It should be said that college students enter the university, experiencing a series of important life transitions, from minors to adults, from dependent on their parents to independently facing the new interpersonal environment, facing the re-establishment of the self; on their career, emotions, life value to choose, etc. [1][2]. Poor handling can lead to a variety of psychological problems [3].…”

An analysis of the effectiveness of psychology education in colleges and universities based on the ARCS model

“…However, the current status of teaching psychology in higher education in colleges and universities needs to be further explored and analyzed. Although many colleges and universities have already offered relevant psychology courses, there are differences in curriculum, teaching methods, and teacher quality [7][8].…”

The application of deep learning analysis based health psychology education in the ideology and politics course of universities

“…In traditional psychology education, community-based collaborative services play an important role. Literature [12] applies SL pedagogy to courses related to psychology education in higher education and proposes a way of teaching practice to effectively improve the impact of students in psychology courses. Literature [13] analyzed the psychological counseling needs of students in Portuguese universities through a survey, summarized several important directions of student needs, and used regression analysis to explore the impact of different factors on psychological stress.…”