Abstract:Service‐learning has long been essential to university education. With the literature focusing on extolling its benefits to student learning, little direction is offered to educators interested in approaching a service‐learning project. Applying this knowledge to a studio‐based field like interior design requires additional adjustments, and questions still abound: What must be considered when integrating service‐learning in an interior design curriculum? What are the challenges and opportunities that must be r… Show more
“…As faculty, we can capitalize on these beliefs by exposing students to meaningful design projects that are community and empathy based so students can become engaged citizens. While Zollinger et al () cite that service learning projects can be time consuming and frustrating, these findings indicate that students want to make a difference, have a real desire to participate in this type of work, and have at least one, if not more, such experiences. What is interesting about these results is that the question on wanting to help people experiencing difficulties reinforces the traditional service‐learning model where the community partnership is passive (Doble, ); yet many of the questions show student willingness to become involved and active through community partnerships (Krikac & Ryan, ). Attitudes must be in place before action can occur and educators can play a strong role in influencing students by exposing them to underprivileged groups.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 95%
“…Indeed, these advantages have led to a number of interior design programs to include a service learning component in their curriculum (Belk, ; Brickley, ; Dickinson et al, 2012; Kendall & Moody, ; Krikac & Ryan, ). Yet, service learning also has disadvantages including increased faculty workload, time and pressure demands, and the unpredictable nature of the project (Bose & Horrigan, ; Zollinger et al, ). Zollinger et al created a framework for incorporating service learning in the interior design curriculum to address these issues.…”
Section: Literature Reviewmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…According to Belk () and Zollinger et al (), the client receives free design services. Indeed, allowing students to work on projects of this nature provides design services at no cost and takes business away from practitioners (Cleverdon, Wilson, Payne, & Dickinson, ; Zollinger et al, ). More importantly, do these projects address the goal of exposing students to groups with different economic means? Developing empathetic designers who understand that design can make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged is long overdue.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…At our university, we have also exposed students to "real-world" projects such as the renovation of a dance studio, visitor's center, and guitar-retail store to name a few. While these projects provide benefits to students such as interacting with clients, collaborating with design professionals, creating real-life projects, and enhancing social skills and citizenship (Zollinger, Guerin, Hadjiyanni, & Martin, 2009), there are some disadvantages. According to Belk (2009) and Zollinger et al (2009), the client receives free design services.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…While these projects provide benefits to students such as interacting with clients, collaborating with design professionals, creating real-life projects, and enhancing social skills and citizenship (Zollinger, Guerin, Hadjiyanni, & Martin, 2009), there are some disadvantages. According to Belk (2009) and Zollinger et al (2009), the client receives free design services. Indeed, allowing students to work on projects of this nature provides design services at no cost and takes business away from practitioners (Cleverdon, Wilson, Payne, & Dickinson, 2012;Zollinger et al, 2009).…”
The purpose of this study was to examine undergraduate interior design student attitudes toward poverty, homelessness, and community service. A secondary purpose was to determine if exposure to design projects for those who have experienced hardship would change student beliefs. All freshmen (n = 14), sophomore (n = 22), junior (n = 13), and senior (n = 21) interior design undergraduate students at a public university completed a questionnaire based on several existing scales. During the semester, the sophomores worked on assignments that were designed to provide exposure to different socio‐economic groups. First, students read the book Nickel and Dimed by Barabara Ehrenreich, which provided them with an overview of the problems associated with the poor. Next students completed three projects: (1) the design of a temporary homeless shelter, (2) a renovation of a childcare center office and reception area that provides services for low‐income families, and (3) the design of a low‐income, residential home. In all of these projects, students were required to conduct extensive information gathering so they could better understand the problems associated with poverty. At the end of the semester, the sophomores completed the questionnaire again and were asked additional questions regarding the class and projects. Student opinions towards the poor were more individualistic when compared to the middle class, yet when the middle‐class comparison was removed, some of their attitudes provided a more complex understanding of poverty and homelessness. The semester‐long intervention significantly shifted students' understanding that emphasized structural and multifaceted causes of poverty.
“…As faculty, we can capitalize on these beliefs by exposing students to meaningful design projects that are community and empathy based so students can become engaged citizens. While Zollinger et al () cite that service learning projects can be time consuming and frustrating, these findings indicate that students want to make a difference, have a real desire to participate in this type of work, and have at least one, if not more, such experiences. What is interesting about these results is that the question on wanting to help people experiencing difficulties reinforces the traditional service‐learning model where the community partnership is passive (Doble, ); yet many of the questions show student willingness to become involved and active through community partnerships (Krikac & Ryan, ). Attitudes must be in place before action can occur and educators can play a strong role in influencing students by exposing them to underprivileged groups.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 95%
“…Indeed, these advantages have led to a number of interior design programs to include a service learning component in their curriculum (Belk, ; Brickley, ; Dickinson et al, 2012; Kendall & Moody, ; Krikac & Ryan, ). Yet, service learning also has disadvantages including increased faculty workload, time and pressure demands, and the unpredictable nature of the project (Bose & Horrigan, ; Zollinger et al, ). Zollinger et al created a framework for incorporating service learning in the interior design curriculum to address these issues.…”
Section: Literature Reviewmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…According to Belk () and Zollinger et al (), the client receives free design services. Indeed, allowing students to work on projects of this nature provides design services at no cost and takes business away from practitioners (Cleverdon, Wilson, Payne, & Dickinson, ; Zollinger et al, ). More importantly, do these projects address the goal of exposing students to groups with different economic means? Developing empathetic designers who understand that design can make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged is long overdue.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…At our university, we have also exposed students to "real-world" projects such as the renovation of a dance studio, visitor's center, and guitar-retail store to name a few. While these projects provide benefits to students such as interacting with clients, collaborating with design professionals, creating real-life projects, and enhancing social skills and citizenship (Zollinger, Guerin, Hadjiyanni, & Martin, 2009), there are some disadvantages. According to Belk (2009) and Zollinger et al (2009), the client receives free design services.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…While these projects provide benefits to students such as interacting with clients, collaborating with design professionals, creating real-life projects, and enhancing social skills and citizenship (Zollinger, Guerin, Hadjiyanni, & Martin, 2009), there are some disadvantages. According to Belk (2009) and Zollinger et al (2009), the client receives free design services. Indeed, allowing students to work on projects of this nature provides design services at no cost and takes business away from practitioners (Cleverdon, Wilson, Payne, & Dickinson, 2012;Zollinger et al, 2009).…”
The purpose of this study was to examine undergraduate interior design student attitudes toward poverty, homelessness, and community service. A secondary purpose was to determine if exposure to design projects for those who have experienced hardship would change student beliefs. All freshmen (n = 14), sophomore (n = 22), junior (n = 13), and senior (n = 21) interior design undergraduate students at a public university completed a questionnaire based on several existing scales. During the semester, the sophomores worked on assignments that were designed to provide exposure to different socio‐economic groups. First, students read the book Nickel and Dimed by Barabara Ehrenreich, which provided them with an overview of the problems associated with the poor. Next students completed three projects: (1) the design of a temporary homeless shelter, (2) a renovation of a childcare center office and reception area that provides services for low‐income families, and (3) the design of a low‐income, residential home. In all of these projects, students were required to conduct extensive information gathering so they could better understand the problems associated with poverty. At the end of the semester, the sophomores completed the questionnaire again and were asked additional questions regarding the class and projects. Student opinions towards the poor were more individualistic when compared to the middle class, yet when the middle‐class comparison was removed, some of their attitudes provided a more complex understanding of poverty and homelessness. The semester‐long intervention significantly shifted students' understanding that emphasized structural and multifaceted causes of poverty.
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.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
