Notes
Slide Show
Outline
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Presenter
  • Curt DeBerg, Business Professor, CSU, Chico College of Business
  • Faculty Adviser, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)
  • Member, California State University Community Service-Learning Committee
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Why am we here?
  • To understand the climate for “service-learning” at US
  • To define “trim-tab”
  • To define “experiential” learning
  • To show where service-learning “fits”
  • To link S-L to business education via SIFE
  • To describe the role of faculty/students/adm/bus
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Service Learning at UWC
  • Drawing on its proud experience in the struggle to end apartheid, UWC has been lauded for its role in preparing for sustained change in South Africa.


  • It continues to actively pursue community-oriented projects and programmes which make change happen. Firmly rooted in community, the university places increasing emphasis on exposing students and staff to the needs and demands of the community it serves through a variety of outreach projects and programmes.


  • Two of the longest-running and most successful of these are in the fields of primary health care and sciences and mathematics education.


  • Through SIFE, UWC can add business to your successful models!
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Trim-tab
  • Barr and Tagg (1995) described a shift from an “Instruction Paradigm” (traditional, passive lecture-discussion format) to a “Learning Paradigm” (interactive, experiential, and “holistic” format) as the trim-tab of the “huge ship” of higher education.
  • A trim-tab is a little rudder attached to the end of a larger rudder. Applying a very small force to turn the trim-tab left moves the larger rudder to the right. The force applied to the larger rudder turns the ship left.
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Our Trim-Tab Paper
  • Co-authors: Dr. Edward Zlotkowski, Senior Associate, Campus Compact, and Dr. Lynn Pringle, University of Iowa
  • “In order to change the direction in which the ship of business education is headed, we need to move the rudder that is faculty acceptance of a broader range of competencies for business students.”
    • Professional service for faculty (internal and external)
    • Service-learning opportunities for students (internal and external)
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Where does Service-Learning “Fit”?
  • Experiential education encompasses a wide range of teaching and learning methods which engage the learner actively in whatever is being learned.
  • http://www.nsee.org/


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Examples of experiential learning include:
  • internships
  • school-to-work
  •  career development
  •  cooperative education
  • action research
  • adventure and outdoor education
  • cross-cultural education
  • leadership development
  • active learning in the classroom
  • service-learning
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Service-Learning
  • CSU’s Strategic Plan for Community Service-Learning states: “Community service-learning is academic study linked to community service through structured reflection so that each reinforces the other. The academic study may be in any discipline or combination of fields.
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The community service may be direct service to people in need, community outreach and education, or policy analysis. Community service-learning enhances academic learning by enabling students to apply knowledge and skills gained through academic study to real-world problem solving and to appreciate the connections between their academic work and real-world activities.”
(http://www.calstate.edu/CSL/)
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http://csf.colorado.edu/sl/what-is-sl.html
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Proponents of S-L
  • Alexander Astin, UCLA
  • Thomas Ehrlich, CSU Distinguished Professor of Service-Learning
  • Wingspread Group
  • Ernest Boyer (Scholarship Reconsidered)
  • Alan Guskin (Restructuring the Role of Faculty)
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 Astin (1993)
  • “the single most important environmental influence on student development is the peer group; by judicious and imaginative use of peer groups, any college or university can substantially strengthen its impact on student learning and personal development.”
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Astin also found students in similar circumstances, and with common needs and interests, have a greater likelihood of interacting and learning together.
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Ehrlich (1996)
  • The role of service-learning fits well within the larger picture of current changes in undergraduate education. An expanded use of internships, an enhanced focus on problems that cut across disciplines, and an increased emphasis on collaborative learning are all examples of shifts in higher education that complement service-learning. As educators, learning is our mission. Involvement in community service can be key to achieving that mission.


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Wingspread Group on Higher Education (1993)
  • There is no substitute for experience. Academic work should be complemented by the kinds of knowledge derived from first-hand experience, such as contributing to the well-being of others, participating in political campaigns, and working with the enterprises that create wealth in our society.
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Boyer (1992)
  • Professional schools--from architecture, to medicine, to journalism, to education and accounting--increasingly are linking scholarship to real life. They are demonstrating that not only can knowledge be applied but that theory can in fact emerge from practice and that scholarship can occur in hospitals, gyms, and in the schools, as well.


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Guskin (1994)
  • The new role of faculty:
  • to create learning environments focused directly on activities that enhance student learning, ones that:
    • maximize essential faculty-student interaction,
    • integrate new technologies fully into the student learning process, and
    • enhance student learning through peer interaction.
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Guskin predicted that, for faculty who subscribe to this, the time students spend with faculty in the classroom will go down, but it will increase in creativity, intensity, and focus.
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Linking service-learning to the business discipline
  • Service-learning in teams
  • Students working together on real-world problems brings the classroom to life
  • Brings students together from other disciplines
  • One vehicle: SIFE
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Why not do S-L?
  • Too much material to cover; not enough room
  • Faculty don’t have “expertise”
  • Too difficult to “match” skill levels to projects
  • Assessment is difficult
  • Too many other demands outside of class
  • Cross-disciplinary collaboration is difficult
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What is SIFE?
  • Non-profit organization
  • Over 1,000 teams worldwide (25 countries: http://www.sife.org)
  • Mission: To provide college students the best opportunity to make a difference and to develop leadership, teamwork, and communication skills
  • Strategy: To learn, practice, and teach the principles of free enterprise in the community
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Assessment
  • College students:
    • Reflective essays
    • Attitudinal surveys
    • Log of hours
    • Persistence (from one semester to another)
    • External judges ratings at competitions
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“Knowledge” Judging Criteria
  • How creative, innovative and effective were the students in teaching:
  • How free markets work in a global economy? 15 pts
  • How entrepreneurs succeed by identifying a market need and then profitably producing and marketing a product or service to fill that need? 15 pts
  • The personal entrepreneurial, communications, technology and financial management skills needed to successfully compete? 15 pts
  • The importance of practicing business in an ethical and socially responsible manner that supports the principles of a market economy? 15 pts


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“Skills” Judging Criteria
  • In their educational programs, how  effective were the students at:
  • Measuring the results of our projects? 10 pts
  • Utilizing mass media and the Internet? 10 pts
  • Involving non-business majors and utilizing a Business Advisory Board? 10 pts
  • Communicating our program through our written annual report and verbal presentation? 10 pts
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WIIFM: Faculty
(What’s In It For Me?)
  • Publishing opportunities (monograph, nat’l conferences, jrnls)
  • Consulting opportunities
  • Grant opportunities (Coleman, FIPSE, USAID)
  • Travel opportunities (LOTS)
  • Better connections to the community (on-campus and off-campus)


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Role of Faculty Adviser
  • Doesn’t “play” in the game, but makes final decisions as to scheduling, roster, etc.
  • Not the same as a typical faculty “adviser”; must be viewed as a head coach/manager
  • Serves as a “fullback” in garnering resources within the university
  • Primary person responsible for raising awareness inside and outside CSU, Chico
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WIIFM: Administrators)
  • Closer partnerships with K-12 and the civic community
  • Closer partnerships with business
  • Public relations
  • Gifts
  • Grants and contracts
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WIIFM: Students
  • Thrill of competition (e.g., SIFE)
  • Excitement in serving the community
  • Thrill of direct connections to industry leaders
  • A change to apply leadership skills
  • Oral presentation skills
  • Time management
  • Teamwork skills
  • Accountability
  • Public relations
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WIIFM: Business
  • Thrill of competition
  • Joy in serving the community
  • Direct connections to student leaders who are potential recruits
  • Networking with other business leaders
  • Closer connections to the university
  • Good public relations for your company or business
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An idea: “SAGE Fellows”
  • Secondary school SAGE “fellows”
  • Competition among secondary schools, under the mentorship of college students
  • Judges: Chancellors, Regents, Legislators, Business Leaders (also sponsors)
  • Best projects are showcased
  • Other teams can adapt these projects
  • Key: Competition (First Annual International SAGE Competition in May 2003)
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Teamwork...
Leaving Our Mark On The World
  • College students are an underutilized resource in K-12 reform efforts
  • Service-learning projects help forge partnerships
  • http://www.csuchico.edu/sage