Making Meaning from Experiential Education: Reflection and ServiceLearning

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Making Meaning from Experiential
EducationReflection and Service-Learning

• Jan Shoemaker, Director LSU Service-Learning
  Program
• Jean Rohloff, Coordinator
• Deborah Normand, Coordinator

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What is your experience with the community?

• Your interaction with community?
• What issues surfaced during that experience?
• Hint You just did some reflection.

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Key Question

• How can we design reflective activities that most
  effectively accomplish the learning goals of our
  course?

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Goals

• To learn what reflection is and is not 
• To understand its importance to Service-Learning 
• To examine the principles of effective reflection
• To learn some effective reflection activities and
  strategies
• To understand how reflection and assessment
  overlap

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Reflection Is Not

• Not just sitting on a log and meditating
• Not just something done privately
• Not just at end of project or course
• Not just for students

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What is Reflection?

• Examination and interpretation of experience
• Process by which students think critically about
  experience
• Analyzing concepts, evaluating experience,
  postulating theory
• Putting facts, ideas, experiences together to
  derive new meaning and understanding.
• Its where the meaning is! (page 12, faculty
  manual)

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Reflection Essential Part of Service-Learning
Definition

• A course-based credit bearing educational
• experience in which students .
• participate in an organized service activity that
  meets identified community needs and
• reflect on the service activity in such a way as
  to gain further understanding of course content,
  a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an
  enhanced sense of civic responsibility.
• Bringle and Hatcher 99

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Reflection Connects Civic and Academic Goals

• SERVICE-LEARNING

Pure Service
Pure Learning
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Reflection Can Accomplish Civic and Academic
Goals

• Course-specific skills and knowledge
• Critical thinking skills
• Problem Solving skills
• Learning how to learn
• ( active learning, application,
  collaboration,etc.)
• Howard 01

• Citizenship and social responsibility
• Respect for diversity
• Leadership skills
• Understanding root causes of social problems
• Ethical issues connected with discipline

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Effective reflection willBringle and Hatcher 99
1. Clearly link the service experiences to the
course content and learning objectives.
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Effective reflection will

• 2.  Be structured in terms of description,
  expectations, and the criteria for assessing the
  activity.
•  

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Effective reflection will

• 3. Occur regularly during the semester so that
  students can practice reflection and develop the
  capacity to engage in deeper and broader
  reflection.

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Effective reflection will

• 4. Provide feedback from the instructor about at
  least some of the reflection activities so that
  students learn how to improve their critical
  analysis and develop from reflective practice.
•  

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Effective reflection will

•  
•    5. Include the opportunity for students to
  explore, clarify, and alter their values. 
•    

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Reflection Activities and StrategiesEyler,
et.al. 96

• Written Exercises
• Literature and Reading Assignments
• Projects and Activities
• Oral and Electronic Exercises and Discussions
  See page 14 faculty manual

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Written Exercises LSU Example

• Drama class journal entry What does your
  experience say about the role of drama in
  community? Does the play you wrote and produced
  for the school children shape the audience or
  does audience shape the play? Explain.

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Literature and Reading Assignments LSU Example

• Biological Engineering Students read Barbara
  Kingsolver essays on human effects on environment
  and related them to similar issues connected with
  playgrounds they designed and built.

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Oral Exercises and Discussions LSU Example
Technical Writing Students presented their grant
proposal to representatives of their agency and a
potential funding foundation. The proposal won a
50, 000 grant to build a playground for the
Childrens Development Center.
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Student Reflections

• I selected the grant proposal as the text I am
  most proud of. This text shows how I have learned
  to write while following specifications set forth
  by the grant-awarding organization.
  Additionally, it shows my development from an
  uninvolved, emotionally detached writer to a
  socially responsible one.
• Tamela Pierce

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Student Reflections

• writing for a cause I believe in causes me to
  put a greater effort into my work This class
  will have a lasting impression on my professional
  career path. It has enabled me to see writing
  through another window.
• Sara David

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Projects and Activities LSU ExampleArchitecture
students get feedback from community members
after creating a development plan and a web site
for community organizations to facilitate
community development and communication.
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Tips for Using Reflection as Assessment

• Establish benchmarks.
• Provide for formative not just summative
  assessment.
• Provide credit for evidence of learning not just
  for service itself, description of service, or
  statement of learning.
• Link reflection to learning goals in syllabus.
• Clearly articulate criteria (rubrics).
• Provide students opportunities to assess their
  own personal goals.
• Assess the project (community needs and
  partnership).
• Assess the course (learning goals).
• Assess collaborative learning.
• Include all the stakeholders.

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Other Important Issues for Reflection

• Preparation for service
• Confidentiality
• Diversity and Culture
• (See page 16 faculty manual)
• Risk management
• (See page 18 faculty manual)
• Closure
• (See Jean Rohloff for ideas)

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Closure Strategies for the Community Partner

• Finalize or deliver project
• Have students write thank-you notes to clients
• Compile a booklet of sample journal entries,
  essays or assignments for agency
• Conduct informal and/or formal evaluations of the
  placement or project
• Conduct final site visits
• Encourage students to plan and/or participate in
  a culminating event at the site (parties, field
  trips)
• Invite partner to culminating event on campus

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Closure Strategies for the Student Partners

• Assign a group or class project (collage, group
  writing project, video, PowerPoint)
• Plan (or encourage students to attend) a
  culminating event
• Assign culminating written reflection exercises
  (journal entries, essays)
• Conduct a comprehensive oral reflection session
  (alternative final exam)
• Present letters of commendation, certificates
  and/or awards

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How can I learn more?

• Bringle, Robert G. and Julie A. Hatcher.
  Reflection in Service-Learning Making Meaning
  of Experience. Educational Horizons. Summer
  1999. 179-185.
• Campus Compact. www.compact.org Click Resources
• Eyler, Janet et.al. A Practitioners Guide to
  Reflection in Service-Learning. Nashville
  Vanderbilt, 1996.
• Howard, Jeffery. Ed. Service-learning Course
  Design Workbook. U. of Michigan OCSL Press,
  2001.
• LSU Service-Learning Program. www.cas.lsu.edu
  Click Service-Learning and Faculty Resources
  for Faculty Manual and links.

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Lets Reflect/Assess Now

• What is most significant thing you have
  learned/realized during this process? (What?)
• How/why is this significant? (So what?)
• What reflective processes do you plan to use?
  (Now what?)
• What was most helpful?
• What was least helpful?
• What would you like to know more about? (contact
  jshoema_at_lsu.edu)