Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Linking Traditional And Service-Learning Courses: Outcome Evaluations Utilizing Two Pedagogically Distinct Models, Jerry Miller

Higher Education

University students in two advanced introductory classroom-based courses in psychology were offered the opportunity for simultaneous enrollment in a content-related section of a large community service learning course. Students selecting the option did not substantially differ from students who did not select it. Participating students rated the experience as being significantly more valuable than did non-participating students. Students did not differ either in their reports concerning gains in personal development or general mastery of course concepts, or in final course grades received, but participants did report an enhanced ability to apply concepts outside of the classroom. Differences in reports between …

Promoting Family Literacy: An Opportunity For Suburban University-Inner City Agency Resource Exchange, Judith Primavera, June Gellis Malone, Anne K. O'Donnell, Kathleen R. Mcguigan

Higher Education

The Family Literacy Project is a preventive program designed to increase lower income children's language readiness for school. The project's approach to literacy enhancement involves both tutoring the children and training the parents to be more effective "first teachers" of the types of emergent reading skills that are prerequisites to formal elementary school reading instruction. Forty-five undergraduates were trained as literacy facilitators and met on a weekly basis with ninety preschoolers enrolled in Head start or with participating parents (N=20) . The specific tutoring of the children varied according to the child's specific areas of language strengths and weaknesses. The …

Service Learning: A New Approach In Higher Education, Barbara W. Carpenter, Jacqulin S. Jacobs

Higher Education

Southern University is rare, if not unique, among public institutions in requiring undergraduates to complete sixty-clock hours of community service before graduation. The purpose of this initiative was to heighten the sensitivity of graduates to the indispensable role that volunteerism must play in our society. We also envisioned collectively addressing some of the ills of the State of Louisiana by having a pool of 16,000 students in the Southern University System contributing to the alleviation of human suffering and social decay. In this paper, we describe some of the noteworthy accomplishments that the program has made over the past three …

Teaching Empowerment, Helen Fox

Higher Education

The contradiction inherent in "teaching empowerment" is that students need to learn specific, empowering ways to understand and interact with community people while at the same time feeling empowered, themselves, by the way the service-learning course is designed and taught. This requires a delicate balance between "starting with students where they are" and insisting they confront issues that make them uncomfortable. The author describes her attempt to do this in a new community service learning seminar for freshmen focusing on empowerment education.

Social Conditions Of Nebraska's Elderly, F. C. Powell, James A. Thorsen

Publications

In 1991, the authors conducted a study of 500 older Nebraskans, comparing 300 people in Omaha and its surrounding counties with a sample of 200 who lived in the very rural Sandhills counties. The purpose of that study was to compare health and health care experience and satisfaction between urban and rural-dwelling elders. Random samples of older people were identified and interviewed by trained telephone operators; each interview took about a half hour. People were asked about their experiences with health and illness, the distance to their primary source of medical care and the distance to the hospital they use, …

Critical Reflection, Richard Battistoni, Beverly Roberts

Evaluation/Reflection

In this workshop, we wanted to convey the importance of tying critical reflection activities to the learning objectives of the service experience and/or course. We started by asking participants to define critical reflection and then to list some common learning objectives associated with service-learning courses and co-curricular service. Finally, participants described many of the activities they use with their participants and students. The result is a thorough list of activities that service-learning practitioners find effective in achieving their course objectives.

Community Service In Arizona Schools: "A State-Of-The-State" Report, Linda Sadler, Judith A. Vandegrift

School K-12

Volunteerism is not new, but the idea of volunteerism as part of one's formal education is receiving increased attention as a result of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. Under the auspices of these acts, a number of community service and service learning projects are being implemented in Arizona communities. To date, the Serve-America program has provided limited funding for community service/service learning programs intended for students in grades K-12. Administered by the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona's Serve-America projects capture only a small portion of what students are …

Demanding Good Deeds Breeds Performance Anxiety: Students And Families Who Are Challenging Requirements To Perform Voluntary Community Services, Eric Felton

Special Topics, General

Students are beginning to challenge in court school districts that force children to work in community projects as part of the requirements for graduation. They object on grounds of involuntary servitude stipulated in the 13th amendment and on moral principles of mandatory giving.

Samaritan Leadership, Terrance M.I. Egan

Service Learning, General

Whatever one's code of ethical or religious belief, the notion of service to others is an ideal common to all cultures and civilizations. For this reason, the story of the Good Samaritan is one of the most poignant, and universally-appealing parables of the New Testament.

Asked, "Who is my neighbor?", Jesus replied with the parable of a Samaritan who took pity on the half-dead victim of brigands. A priest and a Levite passed by, but it was the socially inferior Samaritan who proved to 'be the epitome of neighborly service. The Good Samaritan displayed qualities of leadership that the designated …

Community Service-Learning At Augsburg College: A Handbook For Instructors (Version 1.0), Victoria Littlefield

Guides

In August of 1994, the Office of Community Service-Learning at Augsburg College offered a weeklong institute on service-learning for faculty members from Augsburg College. The institute was funded by a grant from the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board under the Youth Works Higher Education Program of the Minnesota Youth Works Act of 1993. During the first part of the week, faculty members who had previously used service-learning in their classes met to discuss the philosophical and practical aspects of service-learning and to design the remainder of the workshop for others who were developing course-related service components. The institute participants spent …

Community Service And The Hospitality Curriculum, Florence Berger, Marc Ackerman

Higher Education

Voluntary community service and human-relations courses should be an integral part of hotel administration courses. Such courses allow students to see how their actions can affect other people, appreciate service, dismantle stereotypes, become aware of social issues and develop other skills which they can apply as members the hospitality industry. To become effective, however, these courses should first instill in students the value of initiative, self-motivation and commitment.

Nebraska Pact Action Plan To Prevent Youth Violence, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

Nebraska is one of four jurisdictions selected to participate in Project PACT (Pulling America's Communities Together). Nebraska PACT is a state- federal initiative to empower communities to reduce crime and violence. Through this program, the state and federal governments will assist communities as they build coalitions to develop broad-based, fully-coordinated initiatives to reduce violence by and against youth.

Midlands Institute For Non-Profit Management - Building A Solid Foundation, 1994, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

No abstract provided.

Broadcast Manager Concern About Newsroom Career Preparation, Michael L. Hilt, Jeremy Harris Lipschultz

Communication Faculty Publications

There is a continuing need to better understand the needs and wants of broadcast general managers and news directors when they hire newsroom employees (Basow & Byrne, 1993; Parcells, 1985). In the Winter 1993 issue of Feedback, a two-state survey found that "higher percentages of broadcast general managers saw dedication of newsroom employees as very important, while higher percentages of news directors responded that writing skills and news judgment were very important" (Hilt & Lipschultz, p. 18).

The Reliability Of Self-Reported Drug Use Measured Through The Drug Use Forecasting Program: A Multi-Trait Assessment, Charles M. Katz

Student Work

The majority of drug use data obtained by researchers thus far has been generated through the use of self-reports and urinalyses. In fact, such methods are often the only way to accurately identify individuals who use drugs. There has only been a minimal amount of research concerning the reliability of the self-reported drug use among arrestees in the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program. The purpose of this paper is to present initial evidence on the reliability of self-reported interview data when compared to urinalysis, and to give a detailed description of the variables associated with the accuracy of self-reports. The …

Procedural Justice And Voice: Do Individual Differences Moderate The Voice Effect?, Mark N. Van Osdel

Student Work

Previous researchers (see Lind & Tyler, 1988) have reported that persons allowed an opportunity to express their opinions (voice) typically report a heightened level of perceived fairness-labeled as the voice effect. Instrumental and group-value theories have been proposed as explanations for this effect. The present study examined the voice effect in the context of personality theory to explore individual differences in relation to instrumental and group value theories of voice. This study was designed to test the effect of two individual difference components, Locus of Control and Need for Affiliation, across three conditions of voice (predecision, postdecision, and no-voice). Predecision …

Black Children, White Bias, Victoria J. Porter

Student Work

Empirical studies of young children’s racial attitudes and identity extend over more than five decades. The pioneering work of Clark and Clark in the 1930’s involved the use of brown and white dolls to study racial preferences, awareness, and identity o f African American children. On items that were designed to measure racial preferences and attitudes, most African American children attributed the positive characteristics to the white doll and the negative characteristics to the darker skinned doll. The current study investigated the racial identity and attitudes of African American and Caucasian children. The effects of socio-economic status (SES), as well …

Minnesota Plan For National And Community Service (1994-1997), Minnesota Commission On National And Community Services

Service Learning, General

Minnesota has a legacy of national leadership in fostering volunteerism and community service. The oldest surviving volunteer center in the United States was established in Minnesota in 1919. The state has generated service organizations such as the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC), the Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) and the National Retiree Volunteer Coalition (NRVC), now providing leadership as part of the national service movement. Minnesota's bipartisan ethic of civic commitment has stimulated governors and legislators to break new ground in state community service legislation .from the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s to the first commitment …

Epidemiology Of Gambling And Depression In A Random Adult Sample, James A. Thorson, F. C. Powell, Michael L. Hilt

Communication Faculty Publications

Presents a study of the relationship between gambling and depression in a sample of adults in the United States. Absence of relationship.

A Marriage Made In Heaven: Community Colleges And Service Learning, Judith S. Berson

Higher Education

Today's college student is changing. As America's social problems continue to grow exponentially, more and more students are seeking solutions to those problems through community service. A graduate journalism class examining the rise of student community service referred to it as "a quiet phenomenon taking place on campuses across the country--a surge in volunteerism among a generation of Americans dismissed for their self-interest, apathy, and nihilism" (Shapiro, 1994, p. 85). President Bill Clinton's inaugural address called upon Americans to demonstrate concern for one another when he said, "By fate, the fortunate and the unfortunate could have been each other." With …

Occasional Paper No. 094-1: Improving Nebraska's Job Statistics: Learning From The Annual Revision To Nebraska's 1991 Employment Figures, E. David Fifer

Publications

Nebraska looked to be one of the leading states in the nation, if not the leading state, in job growth during much of 1991. Each month, reports of Nebraska's continued job growth made it appear that the state had somehow managed to escape the national recession.

Nebraska's apparent economic vitality caught the attention of the national media. The Wall Street Journal, citing Arizona State University, noted that "Nebraska increased non-farm employment at a faster pace than any state during March and April. ... From January through April, the state added 34,000 non-farm jobs-a 4.8 percent increase over the same period …

Psychosocial Development Through Service-Learning Enhanced Spiritual Consciousness In Workcamp Experience, Timothy W. Kidd

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The problem examined in this research was the identification and description of the distinctive components associated with the Christian youth workcamp experience found to promote the psychosocial development of church youth participants and the linkages to enhanced spiritual consciousness.

The unit of analysis for this multi-case study was the Christian youth workcamp. The criteria used for selection of the three cases examined were: (1) location within the Appalachian region; (2) philosophy and practice consistent with service-learning principles; (3) emphasis upon facilitating spiritual development; and (4) logistical concerns. Thirty-four subjects were selected from three church youth groups, each attending one of …

Youth Program Targets Crime, Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now, Inc.

Partnerships/Community

A NEON proposal will become reality this summer for 100 youth ages 10 to 15. A demonstration program called Summer of Safety will guide youth to use crime prevention strategies and to undertake projects to increase safety in their neighborhoods. NEON's innovative proposal won highly competitive funding by the Corporation for National Service, an initiative of the Clinton Administration. The activities will take place at South Norwalk community Center, Roodner Court Neighborhood Center, and G. W. Carver Foundation from June 21 through August 20, 1994.

The Situational Interview As A Measure Of Intelligence, Deborah F. Goodman

Student Work

The employment interview has traditionally been regarded as having low reliability and validity for predicting job performance. This assumption has been challenged recently by research findings which indicate improved reliability and validity for structured interview formats (Arvey & Campion, 1982). The situational interview in particular is associated with strong predictive accuracy; this fact has sparked debate regarding the source of this enhanced validity. This study tested Hunter and Hirsh's (1987) notion that situational interview validity is derived from its measurement of cognitive ability. In addition, their theory that the situational interview operates as an orally administered intelligence test for new …

The Influence Of Valence Of Additional Information And Affective State On Regret And Subsequent Decision Making Behavior, Rhonda A. Stutzman

Student Work

To date, there is little research on the phenomena of decisional regret. Most of the literature contains speculation about the antecedents, moderators, processes and consequences of regret rather than offering empirical evidence. This study looked at temporary affective states and the moderating effect of the valence of additional information in terms of the amount of post-decisional regret experienced, confidence levels, ratings of decision alternatives and subsequent choice. A 2 X 2 factorial design was used to examine the influence of affective state (positive vs neutral) and the valence of additional information (neutral vs negative) on regret and the evaluation of …

Seventh Annual Governor's Youth Service Recognition Day, Governor Arne Carlson, The National Youth Leadership Council, Lutheran Brotherhood

Conference Proceedings

Materials for the 7th Annual Governor's Youth Service Recognition/National Youth Service Day.

The Transformative Power Of Education, Johnetta B. Cole

Higher Education

It's a joy to be here today as your partner in learning and your partner in change. Continuing education has been, and will always be, a vital element in the life of our citizens, communities, and society. The National University continuing Education Association has demonstrated once again its foresight and leadership in choosing the theme of powerful partnerships for change. Education is the key to seeing, understanding, and confronting the major challenges we face today, and we need to enlist each and every one of us, from all sectors of society, in the essential work strengthening our communities.

Task Experience, Assigned Goals, And Performance Norms As Determinants Of Goal Choice And Performance, Jon Shanahan

Student Work

A cognitive mediation model of goal setting (Garland, 1985; Meyer & Gellatly, 1988) is explored from a perspective that combines the social information processing, expectancy-valence, and control systems literatures. Assigned goals, performance norms, and task experience are viewed as information sources that influence goal choice, and therefore effort and performance, through performance expectancy (expectancy of success) and performance valence (anticipated satisfaction with any given performance level). Subjects were 100 introductory psychology and sociology students who participated in exchange for extra credit. Subjects performed a card sorting task and were assigned to one of five treatment conditions. Each experimental subject was …

Report Of The Evaluation Task Force, Corporation For National And Community Service

Evaluation/Reflection

The mission of the Corporation for National Service is:

To engage Americans of all ages and backgrounds in community-based service. This service will address the nation's educational, public safety, human and environmental needs in order to achieve direct and demonstrable results. In fulfilling its mission, the Corporation will foster civic responsibility, strengthen the ties that bind us together as a people and provide educational opportunity for those who make a substantial commitment to service.

Creating The New American College, Ernest L. Boyer

Higher Education

How can American higher education successfully contribute to national renewal? ls it possible for the work of the academy to relate more effectively to our most pressing social, economic, and civic problems? These questions, while always appropriate, seem especially relevant today because, for the first time in years, our colleges and universities are not collectively caught up in some urgent national endeavor.