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Community-based learning (CBL), also known as service learning (SL), provides students with an active and meaningful learning environment and has been studied in STEM courses for several decades. Chemistry for the Community is a novel chemistry curriculum that weaves service-learning projects throughout multiple courses, including gateway courses, and allows students to build self-efficacy and transferable skills. Over a three-year period, students experienced multiple projects while enrolled in two-semester general and organic chemistry courses, and one-semester organic survey, environmental, and analytical chemistry courses. Student experiences, gathered by surveys, reflections, and interviews were compared to those of students conducting equivalent non-SL projects, as well as projects conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Public communication and community partner interaction emerged as major themes from the data and were explored through the lens of self-determination theory. Results indicate that students were anxious about their role, but were motivated by community partner interaction. Project completion corresponded to an increase in self-efficacy regarding similar future tasks, with students perceiving benefits of multiple experiences.
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Why Should Computer and Information Science Programs Require Service Learning?
Service learning—an educational experience in which students provide service to a community partner while learning content knowledge, professional skills, and critical thinking—can provide significant benefits to students and the community. We present survey results from 227 postsecondary students in computing to provide insights into their attitudes toward service learning, and how these relate to course-taking motivations and sense of civic duty. Based on the survey results, we argue that service learning should be required in an undergraduate computing major. However, we problematize this provocation based on three types of pitfalls: courses that do not prepare students to understand social contexts in which technical solutions are promoted, lack of resources for faculty teaching the courses, and the potential to harm both community partners and students.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1920851
- PAR ID:
- 10336608
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of 2022 ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Successfully implementing service learning presents many challenges. This is particularly true when working with community partners which are frequently small, understaffed non-profits, lacking in technical expertise. Participating faculty not only manage the student end of the partnership, but often need to manage/educate the community partner as well. Despite its challenges, community-based service learning is worthwhile for the profound impact it has for students. Many computing graduates only see the utilitarian aspect of computing as a tool to solve technical problems. By presenting and teaching CS as a discipline possessing key insights towards making headway on pressing social, environmental, and economic problems, students can be exposed to the impact of computing solutions on the betterment of their communities and improving the human condition. One step toward accomplishing this is by utilizing community-based service learning projects for non-profits and community organizations. In particular, since the community-based service learning partners are local, the impact of students' efforts is not abstract, but can be directly seen. It is hoped this may lead to a culture shift regarding CS, potentially also broadening participation. Clearly forming a community of practice for those undertaking or hoping to undertake service learning is an important step towards both greater adoption and approach success rates. It is hoped that this BoF can aid both current practitioners as well as provide a helping hand to potential new adopters. Our goal is to provide an opportunity to share best practices as well as the hard-learned lessons from previous attempts.more » « less
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When faculty behaviors foster students’ sense of belonging in class, students report better learning experiences and are more likely to remain in the major. Sense of belonging is the feeling of being a valued and legitimate member of a community. Understanding teacher immediacy behaviors that cultivate belonging in postsecondary synchronous remote classrooms is important for retaining students in computing, where remote coursework is increasingly used to address increases in enrollment. This paper reports on an exploratory, survey-based study on the relationship between instructor immediacy behaviors and use of conferencing software features (e.g., chat, breakout rooms) with student sense of belonging in synchronous remote learning environments. Responses from 125 computing students from approximately 53 courses across the US show that students feel a moderate sense of belonging in their courses, with no differences found across demographic groups. Belonging was found to have a strong relationship with students' overall opinions of their courses and their likelihood of completing the major. Students’ camera preferences and instructor camera requirements had no effect on belonging. A regression analysis showed that no tool use variables predicted student sense of belonging. However, two teacher immediacy behaviors, setting aside class time to talk about upcoming course content and use of humor, were significantly associated with an increase in sense of belonging.more » « less
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The benefits of service learning in computer and information science (CIS) are believed to be significant, ranging from providing students with real-world experiences to retaining students to positively impacting community partners. Although there are many benefits of service learning, the CIS domain does impose unique costs for integrating service learning into the curriculum. Yet there is little systematic research to help the CIS community understand best practices for maximizing benefits while minimizing costs. Experience reports about service learning courses in CIS have appeared in the literature annually since 2000, and thus we address this gap in knowledge by conducting a systematic review and content analysis of 84 experience reports from theThe ACM Guide to Computing Literature. We synthesize the current state of service learning in CIS as well as derive recommendations for best practices and future research directions.more » « less
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Service learning has many documented benefits for students. The benefits to the communities are less clear. This study examines the unfolding of an environmental service-learning partnership from the perspective of one participating community liaison. We examine a new model of university-community engagement, where undergraduate students are paired with a local community to address environmental issues in courses that focus on adaptation and mitigation. We use actor-network theory (ANT) to explore the experiences of one community liaison, focusing specifically on factors that helped build and maintain the partnership and produced benefits for the community. Findings highlight the community liaison’s agency in negotiating partnership goals and determining the definition and treatment of environmental concerns. We conclude by identifying the insights an ANT perspective holds for service-learning and community-engagement research and practice.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3478431.3499390
