Return to Student Affairs Work Experience
Return to Graduate Curriculum
Research Assistant
This semester I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Nicole Webster, a faculty member at Penn State who conducts research around service-learning. Currently we are focusing on the assessment of a service-learning initiative sponsored by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and State Farm insurance company. Three charter schools were selected to pilot the implementation of this initiative as a complement to their current academic curriculum. This integration of service-learning is coupled with program objectives and learning outcomes, implementation strategies, guidelines, and assessments. It is not in addition to their school structure in the way that many after school programs occur at the conclusion of the academic day, but rather in conjunction with their academic day, enhancing, and adding to, their curricular requirements.
Each of the schools has seen the project come to fruition uniquely to their institution, however a few underlying structural guidelines remain consistent for all three. The schools all follow similar models in which an entire class period during the academic day is dedicated to the planning and development of the service learning projects; this is in place of an elective or advisory course. Students begin by dialoguing around topics such as what it means to think critically followed by the application of those conversations when asked to identify and discuss pertinent issues that students believe were pervasive to their community.
An essential objective and component to the service learning program is student empowerment. This is outcome is facilitated in large part by the student-lead approach to the service initiatives. Students are required to take active roles in each of the projects; this ensures their leadership, their sense of ownership, and guarantees that these projects are entirely based on student voice and opinion. Once the students identify the areas of focus such as teen pregnancy or healthier living, the service-learning initiatives around those issues are then developed and planned in their class time. From the discussions and planning that occurs within the individual classroom, the school then integrates the projects into other academic content areas.
My role in this program is to aid Dr. Webster with the assessment process. We will travel to the sites and conduct focus groups as well as individual interviews. In addition to the assessment process, I am currently working on developing a publication about the initiative that will be utilized to garner financial interest and hopefully solidify additional sponsors for this program. With increased sponsors and results of the assessments, the hope is to increase the program from a pilot to integration and extend the reach of this initiative. Being able to see the research conducted around an area that I am so passionate about has been insightful and I am hoping that this research experience serves as a bridge to be able to conduct my own research in the future.
Each of the schools has seen the project come to fruition uniquely to their institution, however a few underlying structural guidelines remain consistent for all three. The schools all follow similar models in which an entire class period during the academic day is dedicated to the planning and development of the service learning projects; this is in place of an elective or advisory course. Students begin by dialoguing around topics such as what it means to think critically followed by the application of those conversations when asked to identify and discuss pertinent issues that students believe were pervasive to their community.
An essential objective and component to the service learning program is student empowerment. This is outcome is facilitated in large part by the student-lead approach to the service initiatives. Students are required to take active roles in each of the projects; this ensures their leadership, their sense of ownership, and guarantees that these projects are entirely based on student voice and opinion. Once the students identify the areas of focus such as teen pregnancy or healthier living, the service-learning initiatives around those issues are then developed and planned in their class time. From the discussions and planning that occurs within the individual classroom, the school then integrates the projects into other academic content areas.
My role in this program is to aid Dr. Webster with the assessment process. We will travel to the sites and conduct focus groups as well as individual interviews. In addition to the assessment process, I am currently working on developing a publication about the initiative that will be utilized to garner financial interest and hopefully solidify additional sponsors for this program. With increased sponsors and results of the assessments, the hope is to increase the program from a pilot to integration and extend the reach of this initiative. Being able to see the research conducted around an area that I am so passionate about has been insightful and I am hoping that this research experience serves as a bridge to be able to conduct my own research in the future.