Pacific Islanders in Higher Education: Exploring Heritage Language, Culture and Constructs within a Hybrid Service Learning Program

2016 ◽  
pp. 454-473
Author(s):  
Denise Uehara ◽  
Vidalino Raatior
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
American University ◽  
Language Identity ◽  
The Impact

This article describes how service learning experiences reflected multiple purposes within a larger framework where heritage and English languages intersect. We share results of an inquiry-based program evaluation focused on language, identity formation and experiences related to academic, social and professional interactions. Through the UH Hilo service-learning experience, students enhanced their cultural, linguistic and interpersonal skills while also providing needed services to placement organizations. Pacific Islander heritage language speakers attending an American university provide a critical lens into the complexities of language, culture, and identity when navigating higher education in a “foreign” setting. The concept of “other” applied to the increasing numbers of ESL speakers across the nation serves as a reminder for institutions of higher education to offer students helpful and supportive spaces. We share the benefits of a paid internship for both employer and intern; the challenges of heritage language influences in an English language setting; and the impact of service learning.

scholarly journals Stepping out of the shadows: Allied health student and academic perceptions of the impact of a service-learning experience on student's work-readiness and employability.

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Jones ◽  
Lindy McAllister ◽  
David Lyle
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Work Readiness ◽  
Healthcare Outcomes ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Academic Perceptions ◽  
The Impact

Universities, health services and health students have a vested interest in the development of work-ready graduates to improve employment prospects, standards of practice and healthcare outcomes. Work integrated learning supports the transition of theoretical knowledge into professional practice, thus preparing students for their work following graduation. The positive impact of practice experiences on work-readiness and employability is largely assumed. This paper describes the impact of participation in a rural Australian service-learning program on student and academic perceptions of work-readiness and future employability. Qualitative data was gathered from allied health students who participated in inter-professional focus groups and allied health academics who participated in individual interviews. The findings indicate that students were challenged in transitioning from being observational or highly directed learners, described as [being in the] 'shadows' or 'shadowing', to semi-autonomous healthcare providers. Participants reported enhanced perceptions of future employability through 'real work' experiences and identified broader program implications for universities and students. Based on participant experiences, service-learning, a relatively new educational pedagogy in rural health education in Australia, may provide universities, health services, and students with an alternative to acute hospital placements in the development of work-ready attributes for new graduate allied health practitioners.

The Impact of Community Service Learning on the Social Skills of Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Azmina Afzal ◽  
Nasreen Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Community Service Learning ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

<p><em>Nowadays many high schools and universities are promoting community service-learning program by making it a part of the admission process; therefore, students participate in community service learning program to get admission in an institution of their choice. However, after completing the community service program, they see themselves as more socially responsible citizens. This qualitative study aimed to explore the impact of community service learning on the social skills of students. The study employed a qualitative method by randomly selecting twenty-five students for the focused group interviews from five different O- level schools situated in middle socio-economic locality. The results revealed that a community service-learning program has a positive impact on the social skills of O-level students.  Besides, students had also a positive learning experience. Findings of the study indicated that </em><em>the awareness to encourage community service in schools is grounded on the acceptance that it does not only give students extra credit points but serving others or one’s community also makes them better citizens. Based</em><em> on the advantages and positive experiences of students, the study recommends to include a more inclusive model of service-learning to a school curriculum.  </em></p>

scholarly journals The Multicultural Café: Enhancing Authentic Interaction for Adult English Language Learners Through Service Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Riley ◽  
Scott Roy Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
The Impact

While service learning platforms hold great potential for adult learners of English as an additional language (EAL), there has been little research to date related to the impact of these programs on adult newcomers’ linguistic and social development. The Multicultural Café was a food service learning platform for adult EAL learners operated over a 7-month period at a regional college in the British Columbia interior. The café was developed to provide adult immigrant learners of EAL with an opportunity to authentically engage in using English to provide a valued service to the local community. The current study was conducted to explore the impact of the service learning experience from the perspective of the participants. Using a qualitative case study research design, data were gathered from participants (n = 10) through a questionnaire, semistructured interviews, and a focus group. Data were transcribed, coded, and collected into emerging themes. Opportunities for authentic interactions with customers and with other volunteer coworkers emerged as two of the primary outcomes of the service learning experience. Incorporating the service learning opportunity of the Multicultural Café into the participants’ English language learning experiences appeared to enhance their interactions within the college community. Les cadres d’apprentissage par le service communautaire sont très prome eurs pour les apprenants adultes d’anglais langue additionnel (ALA); pourtant, peu de recherche a porté sur l’impact de ces programmes sur le développement linguistique et social des nouveaux arrivants d’âge adulte. Le Café Multiculturel a constitué, pendant une période de 7 mois, un milieu d’apprentissage par le service pour des apprenants adultes d’ALA dans un collège régional de l’intérieur de la Colombie-Britannique. Le café a été développé pour fournir aux immigrants adultes apprenant l’ALA l’occasion de communiquer authentiquement en anglais tout en offrant un service important à la communauté locale. La présente étude a porté sur l’impact de l’expérience d’apprentissage par le service selon la perspective des participants. Employant un plan de recherche qualitative visant une étude de cas, nous avons recueilli des données de participants (n = 10) par le biais d’un questionnaire, d’entrevues semi-structurées et d’un groupe de discussion. Les données ont été transcrites, codées et rassemblées selon des thèmes qui s’y dégageaient. Deux des résultats principaux de l’expérience de l’apprentissage par le service consistaient en les occasions d’interactions authentiques avec les clients et avec les autres collègues bénévoles. L’intégration, dans le parcours pédagogique des apprenants d’anglais, de l’expérience de l’apprentissage par le service au Café Multiculturel semble avoir mis en valeur leurs interactions au sein de la communauté du collège. 

Serving an International Higher Education Partner Using a Problem-Based Learning Format

2016 ◽  
pp. 375-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Marangoni ◽  
Rhonda Haley
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Physical Therapy ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Physical Therapists ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Community Partner ◽  
University Professors ◽  
Doctor Of Physical Therapy

Merida, Mexico, a community partner for service learning with Wheeling Jesuit University's (WJU) Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, is a city with a population of 800,000 people. This city lacked rehabilitation services to treat cardiopulmonary conditions, and the school of rehabilitation at the Universidad Autonoma de Yucatán (UADY) had no established educational programs addressing these conditions. In 2013 two English-speaking faculty members from the WJU DPT program provided the service of knowledge-sharing to this higher education partner through an extensive cardiopulmonary rehabilitation workshop in Merida. The workshop participants included physical therapists, occupational therapists, a physician, and rehabilitation students, all with Spanish as their primary language. Written and spoken language was identified as the primary barrier to providing the necessary education to the international students. The WJU Basic Science and Physical Therapy Skills courses, written in the English language, follow a problem-based format where students are asked to use resources to answer questions regarding patients with cardiopulmonary problems. These courses became the foundation for the solution to the language barrier problem. The information and students' answers from WJU courses were translated by UADY university professors over a several month period of time. During the workshop, the participants were separated into groups, each researching a topic using the provided translated materials to educate the others on their assigned topics. The participants used various methods to convey their new knowledge. There were interpreters available at all times during the workshop. Surveys at the conclusion of the workshop indicated that the learning experience was effective and enjoyable.

The Impact of Web 2.0 Technologies on the Learning Experience of Students in Higher Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afaf Mubarak Bugawa ◽  
Andri Mirzal
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Traditional Classrooms ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
The Impact

This article describes how the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the field of learning is on the rise. By their nature, Web 2.0 technologies increase the interactivity between users where interactivity is considered to be a key to success in traditional classrooms. This article reviews recent studies in the field of Web 2.0 technologies for learning and their impacts on the learning experiences and investigates relationship between Web 2.0 technologies and pedagogy in higher education on student learning. Key findings about the impacts of using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis on learning experiences are also discussed. Web 2.0 technologies' characteristics and the rationale of Web 2.0 technologies in learning will also be explored.

scholarly journals The Impact of Faculty Experience with Emergency Remote Teaching: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Maha Al-Freih
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this phenomenological study is to provide a deeper understanding of the impact of remote teaching on instructors’ perceptions of online learning and future teaching practices amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze open-ended semi-structured interviews conducted with five higher education faculty in Saudi Arabia. Three major themes were identified: enhancing student engagement; increased awareness of technology affordances and constraints; and moving from emergency remote teaching to technology-enhanced and blended learning. Participants of this study were mainly concerned about finding ways to support active student engagement in this new learning environment, which in turn increased their awareness of the educational affordances and constraints of online learning and technologies. Participants’ deeper understanding of the potential of online technologies in supporting student learning, as well as their own and students’ increased familiarity and comfort with online learning and technologies, served as the main drivers for potential future implementation of blended learning and technology-enhanced teaching practices. With that said, participants were still apprehensive about engaging in fully online teaching, arguing that blended strategies and enhanced-technology integration are more likely to overcome some of the limitations of face-to-face teaching and improve the overall learning experience for their students. Discussion of these findings in relation to the extant literature and their implications for higher education institutions moving forward are provided.

scholarly journals Using interactive technologies and distance learning in sustainable education

2021 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. 07003
Author(s):  
Anna Rybakova ◽  
Aleksandra Shcheglova ◽  
Denis Bogatov ◽  
Liudmila Alieva
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
Interactive Technologies ◽  
Sustainable Education ◽  
The Impact

This paper focuses on the use of interactive technologies and distance learning in sustainable education. It discusses how remote learning technologies can positively influence students’ learning and entry in sustainable education. The paper looks at the use of distance learning in higher education as a means to help students in the built environment and its use within the education system. It studies and expands the theoretical research on the benefits of distance learning, where the study is remote and there is no personal contact with staff or students, and examines the impact of distance learning on the student’s learning experience. It also proposes and evaluates potential solutions to overcome the barriers to learning in the built environment and create successful virtual learning communities, recognising that such improvements must be reconciled with the primary benefits identified. The paper provides an overview of sustainable distance learning within higher education and discusses the differences between learning outside the structural environment of a profession, what it means for the student’s learning experience and the potential to overcome barriers to distance learning. This is a very timely topic in the times of COVID-10 pandemic. Lockdowns of the economy and social life impacted all spheres of education with schools and universities closed for long periods of time and all teaching moved to online and distance mode. However, coronavirus pandemic also brought the digital surge in the system of education, including the sustainable education. All these innovations might stay after the pandemic and help the education to evolve and to embrace more novel trends and technologies.

Exploring the Impact of Service-Learning on Literacy Teachers' Self-Reported Empathy

2018 ◽  
pp. 393-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Katherine Saal
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Literacy Teachers ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Literacy Teacher Education ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Post Condition

Although (1) literacy teacher education research and professional practice standards highlight the significance of empathy as a central tenant of teachers' professional dispositions, and (2) developing deeper and more empathetic understanding of others is a frequently cited rationale for utilizing service-learning as a critical pedagogy for in-service and pre-service teacher preparation, little quantitative research exists measuring in-service teachers' empathy or empathy development. The purpose of this chapter is to explore how a course-embedded, self-selected, and community-based service-learning experience effected participating literacy teachers' self-reported empathy. While participants scores increased in the pre-post condition, results of a paired sample t-test indicated no significant difference in teachers' self-reported empathy across the pre-post condition. Implications for practice and program administration as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.

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