Effects of learning design patterns in service learning courses

Abstract

Students participate during service learning courses in a service project, which fits to a community need and has a link to curricular content. Students have a chance while engaged in the service project to apply curricular content in community practice, where they gain insights into civic engagement activities. Empirical studies revealed the effects of service learning, such as its influence on the self-concept, self-efficacy or attitudes to be engaged. However, a lack of research regarding the link between learning design patterns and the effectiveness of service learning can be found. Learning design patterns are teaching or methodical interventions to support the learning and service process of the students. This article presents a study on the experiences of students and charitable organizations in a service learning course concerning the learning design patterns. A mixed-methods design including questionnaires and interviews has been used. Significant effects regarding students' development of their self-efficacy, self-concept and attitude to being engaged were found. The qualitative results provide a deeper understanding of these changes, including the different perspectives from students and from charitable organizations. The results show differences in the learning design patterns perceived and its support for the service and learning process. Keywordsbusiness education, learning design patterns, mixed methods, service learning Conceptualization of service learningService learning is an educational approach combining academic knowledge acquisition with civic engagement (Bringle and Clayton, 2012;Bringle and Hatcher, 1996). It is embedded in the concept

Motivation in service-learning: an improvement over traditional instructional methods

“…It allows students to apply their classroom learning to make a positive change in a community (Huda et al, 2017;Gerholz, Liszt and Klingsieck, 2017;Winterbottom et al, 2015).…”

Service-Learning for Sustainability Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas: What Is Its Global Impact on Business University Students?

“…Entrepreneurship [25], our study evaluates both the students' self-perception of the benefits of an SL experience for sustainable rural entrepreneurship, covering the curricular, professional, civic and social dimensions, and the possible effect of participation in it on academic success, given the need to gain a better understanding of the global outcomes of SL in terms of training and social transformation [9,10]. Finally, since some researchers have suggested that more rigorous testing is required in order to determine the true effects of SL on university students [8,26], we aim to overcome the main previous statistical limitations regarding sample selection, experimental design, the measurement variables used, and the methodology applied.…”

“…Over the last two decades, SL experiences have been linked to increased capacity for understanding theoretical concepts, applying theory to real life, critical thinking, and problem-solving [8,32,33]. SL also builds up students' self-esteem and confidence, as well as their skills in leadership, communication and teamwork [10,34]. Also, working on aspects such as social responsibility, solidarity and sustainability promotes their education in ethical and social values and encourages their citizen participation [1,9,35].…”

“…One such methodology is Service-Learning (SL), which links students' training with service to the local community [3,4], thus enhancing curricular learning, promoting the acquisition of labour skills in line with social demands and encouraging the development of civic values and ethical awareness among students [5][6][7]. SL thus becomes a powerful tool for learning and social transformation, although little research has been done to date on its academic impact in the context of Higher Education [8][9][10].…”

“…Second, given that, to date, little international literature has been published on the application of SL both in the general area of Entrepreneurship [18,19] and in the specific area of Sustainability Entrepreneurship [13], this article describes, for the first time, an SL project designed to support sustainable development of rural areas. Third, in view of the absence of prior empirical evidence on the educational impact of SL for Sustainability Entrepreneurship [25], our study evaluates both the students' self-perception of the benefits of an SL experience for sustainable rural entrepreneurship, covering the curricular, professional, civic and social dimensions, and the possible effect of participation in it on academic success, given the need to gain a better understanding of the global outcomes of SL in terms of training and social transformation [9,10]. Finally, since some researchers have suggested that more rigorous testing is required in order to determine the true effects of SL on university students [8,26], we aim to overcome the main previous statistical limitations regarding sample selection, experimental design, the measurement variables used, and the methodology applied.…”