COMMUNITY PARTNER ASSESSING SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCE USING A SURVEY INSTRUMENT: A BEST PRACTICES MODEL

DR. SUSAN WATERS: AUBURN UNIVERSITYDR. JOANNA CEMORE: MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY

IARSLCE CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 29, 2010

I hear and I forget;

I see and I remember;

I do and I understand.

Confucius, 551-479 B.C.

INTRODUCTIONOutline

Importance of assessment

Brief project history Literature review Method Results Conclusion

Student in El Salvador

IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT

For publication purposes To improve student learning To provide immediate

feedback Help with program planning

and improvement Regulatory requirements Ensures sustained, high quality

relationships Evidence of impact

Gelmon, Holland, Driscoll, Spring & Kerrigan, 2006; Ferris, 2010

Programmatic Activity

Rationale Types

ASSESSMENT IMPORTANCE IN A NUTSHELL

Justification Improvement Expansion of

program

Gelmon et al., 2001

Working to make a difference in our communities

Ehrlich, 2000

Student Namik Geydarov works with clients Assessment needed:

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THEORY

“Offers the foundation for an approach to education and learning as a lifelong process that is soundly based in the intellectual traditions of social psychology, philosophy, and cognitive psychology” (Kolb, 1984, pp. 3-4)1. Learning through experience2. Learning from direct experience3. Learning from simulated experience

Intentionality Potential for assistance in learning Role of reflection

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Four major categories

Community characteristics

Student characteristics

Institutional characteristics

Faculty characteristics

Roldan, Strage, & David, 2004

ASSESSMENT PROJECT: BEGINNING ONLINE

Student assessment of community partner

Community partner assessment of program

Community partner assessment of student

Instructor assessment of program

Student assessment of program

Student Angela Fredrickson at Hispanic Educational Access Initiative

Five basic forms of assessment

REVIEW OF LITERATURE: EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY PARTNER VARIABLES

Capacity to fulfill organizational mission

Economic benefits Social benefits Nature of community-university

relationship Nature of community-university

interaction Satisfaction with partnership Sustainability of partnership

REVIEW OF LITERATURE: HOW DO WE MEASURE VARIABLES?

Methods Survey Interview Focus groups Documentation

review Critical incident

review

Data Providers Community partner Students Faculty Advisory

committees Governing board

OUR METHOD: QUALITATIVE BRYMAN, 1988, P. 94

Quantitative Qualitative

(1) Role of qualitative research Preparatory Means to exploration of actors’ interpretations

(2) Relationship between researcher and subject Distant Close

(3) Researcher’s stance in relation to subject Outsider Insider

(4) Relationship between theory/concepts and research Confirmation Emergent

(5) Research strategy Structured Unstructured

(6) Scope of findings Nomethetic Ideographic

(7) Image of social reality Static and external to actor Processual and socially constructed by actor

(8) Nature of data Hard, reliable Rich, deep

OUR METHOD: QUALITATIVELooking at the Survey Assessments

92 assessments from 28 states Colleges: community, four-year, and satellite Range from open-ended reflection to multi-page

specific Likert-type questions Some asked only about the relationship to course

content or evaluation of instructor or site while others addressed several areas, including self-awareness variables

OUR METHOD: CP QUESTIONING THEMES EXAMPLES

Describe purpose of your agency/organization.

About the CP

How often did you interact with the student?

CP project specifics

Was the student adequately prepared? Student hours/responsibility

Describe the duties of your S-L student.

Description of students’ service

Did the student understand the mission?

Students’ impact on CP

How can we better prepare students for your agency/organization?

Advice/Suggestions for the school programs

What will you do differently the next time?

CP future with the school program

Have your perceptions of the school changed because of the project?

CP thoughts on S-L

OUR METHOD: CP QUESTIONING THEMES ADJUSTING FOR LIT REVIEW EXAMPLES

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

Assessment is critical to success of service-learning program

Model(s) will be in upcoming manuscript After this study is completed, we have data

for these other assessment survey instruments:

Student assessment of community partner

Community partner assessment of student

Instructor assessment of program Student assessment of program

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Questions?

Seattle, Washington