Through a piloted model of curriculum designed for ENC 1101 this teacher-research study investigated how service-learning can shape the experiences of both teachers and students in the first-year composition classroom. The research aimed to determine the ways in which enhancement occurred for students and teachers through evaluation of student coursework, a post-semester student focus group and a faculty interview. Focusing on the impacts of this curriculum on a part-time teacher, this study also aimed to bring to light some of the challenges inherent in service-learning within FYC, while offering ways to mediate those challenges in both course design and departmental implementation. As a result of this project, recommendations were made for modification of this curriculum to be used as an option for instructors alongside appropriate professional development, which is essential to the success of service-learning in FYC. Continued research dealing with various approaches to using service-learning in FYC was also recommended.

Cross-cultural knowledge and intercultural competence are highly valued qualities for 21st-century American college and university graduates, as these institutions endeavor to prepare students to live and work in an increasingly multicultural society. This task offers both a challenge and an opportunity for educators to design mechanisms to increase the global awareness and intercultural development of their student participants. The challenge is to create intentional learning experiences that avoid the pitfalls of perpetuating stereotypes and reproducing inequitable social relations. Faculty-led international travel courses provide an opportunity for program leaders to develop intercultural development curricula that are ethical, engaging, economically and environmentally sustainable, and pedagogically sound. This study examined how participants in a faculty-led short-term global service-learning course to Belize experienced and perceived cultural difference and how that professor attended to and sought to address cultural difference and issues of power, positionality, and privilege during that program. This study followed a convergent parallel mixed method design in which I collected and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data concurrently. This combination of methods yielded a more complete understanding of the learning process and intercultural learning outcomes of the student participants, as well as the pedagogical and programmatic features that encouraged the growth of intercultural competencies in each. The quantitative findings of this study indicated little change in the competency levels of the program's participants, whereas the qualitative data suggested that the Belize travel course students had experienced notable gains in cultural self-awareness and were better able to identify relevant cultural differences. Participants singled-out the immersive quality of the experience, the variety and multiple points of intercultural contact the program offered, relationships with the faculty leader, peers, and host community members, and the compassionate leadership of the faculty leader as critical factors in their intercultural growth. I found that emotions, cognitive dissonance, and critical reflection play key roles in the intercultural learning process. / Doctor of Philosophy / American society is becoming more diverse and ever more integrated with nations across the world. College graduates need to have the knowledge and skills to live and work with people from different backgrounds. Universities can prepare students better for this reality by helping them learn how to communicate and behave appropriately with people who are culturally different. One way to encourage this capacity, called intercultural competence, is for students to participate in courses that occur outside of the United States. To secure the possibility for personal and intellectual growth, it is important that professors who take students abroad carefully plan their courses. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether a group of students who went to Belize with a professor for a short service-oriented course returned with more knowledge about that country's culture and improved intercultural competence. I tested program participants before they left and after they returned to see if their intercultural competence improved. I also interviewed the students about what their experience was like and how their professor had prepared them and helped them to learn. I also talked with the program's faculty leader to determine why she had designed the course in the way that she did and whether she perceived that participating students had improved their intercultural competence. I learned several things from this research. First, the tests that students completed showed that there was not much difference in their before and after intercultural competence scores. Second, however, when I talked with participants, they did seem to have changed from going on this travel course even if the test did not show that they had experienced much growth. The students indicated they had learned a lot about themselves and about the people of the town in Belize they visited. Participants suggested that they spent a lot of time with local residents and that doing so had helped them to understand them better. Third, those experiences helped them to think about their own culture and what it means to be an American. Fourth, students bonded with each other and with their professor. As individuals and as a group, they reported experiencing a variety of emotions in reaction to the things they observed and experienced. All of these, difficult or not, helped participants to grow personally and to develop a more robust awareness of how residents of another culture view and navigate their everyday lives.

This dissertation studies the impact of two courses, “Rise Up” and “Leadership in Community Service,” at a Level 4 high school in Massachusetts. The school, which had a higher than average level of student dropout, implemented the two courses developed by the researcher to address student retention, academic performance, and connection to school. Students in grades 9-12 took one or both of the semester-long classes, which used community building activities, group discussions, democratic teaching principals, community service–learning, and goal setting to address the needs of marginalized students. Students who participated in the classes showed increased connections to peers, teachers and community members, an improvement in indicators for school retention including grades, behavior, and attendance, and also an increase in their perceptions about their ability to persist in challenging situations.

Projektet ”Världen finns här” är ett försök att skapa ömsesidigt utvecklande möten mellan studerande på SFI (Svenska för invandrare) och elever i grund- och gymnasieskolan, genom att ordna utbytesträffar där båda grupperna lär av varandra. I den här kvalitativa studien har jag undersökt hur projektet upplevs ur SFI-elevernas perspektiv, genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem invandrare som deltog i utbyten med gymnasieklasser under hösten 2022. I analysen identifierade jag teman i informanternas upplevelser av projektet och hur de tyckte att det påverkade deras språkinlärning. Dessa teman analyserades sedan utifrån sociokulturell teori, samt ett kritiskt perspektiv med fokus på hur maktrelationer påverkar invandrares möjligheter att lära sig språk genom interaktion med målspråkstalare.  Resultatet visade att SFI-eleverna upplevde positiva effekter som ökad språkförmåga, motivation och språkligt självförtroende av att delta i ”Världen finns här”, vilket stämmer med forskning om liknande projekt (t.ex. Baker 2019; Leek 2021). Projektet gav också positiva upplevelser av ömsesidigt lärande, där informanterna bidrog med kunskaper från sina hemländer. SFI-eleverna i studien investerade i utbytesträffarna, genom att kommunicera med ungdomarna trots nervositet och språksvårigheter. En orsak kan ha varit att de upplevde empowerment eftersom deras kunskaper värderades i samtalen. Flera informanter tyckte samtidigt att gymnasieeleverna dominerade interaktionen, vilket kan ha speglat ojämlika maktförhållanden mellan invandrare och infödda svenskar. Dessa positioner kunde dock utmanas av SFI-eleverna, vilket även det kan ha berott på träffarnas identitetsstärkande effekt. Studien visar att projekt som ”Världen finns här” kan ge invandrare positiva upplevelser av lärande och empowerment genom möten med målspråkstalare, men att det är en utmaning att få dessa möten att upplevas som helt jämlika och ömsesidiga.

The medical profession is in a state of social transformation. Medical education must follow suit to continue to produce physicians who can meet the demands of the ever-changing field of medicine and of the public it serves. In this study, an institutional logic framework is used in examining how the implementation of transformative pedagogy in medical education may be impeded by competing institutional logics, thereby disrupting the change process. This study proposed three questions aimed at examining and understanding the perceptions of social actors as it relates to transformational change in medical education: 1) What is the impact of institutional logics on the implementation of transformative pedagogy in medical education? 2) What are the institutional logics in medical education that may impact change, and are there any conflicts between them? 3) Is there any evidence that these conflicts, if they exist, act as a barrier or disincentive to pedagogical reform when diversity, equity, and inclusion measures are introduced? A mixed method approach involving a two-step method of data collection and analysis was used in this study. Information from websites were used to create interview guidelines for interviews with faculty, administrators, and students at two US-based urban medical schools. By analyzing data from the websites of two US-based urban medical schools and comparing those findings to that of the perceived notions retrieved from interviews of the impact logics have on service learning, this research has shown that understanding institutional logics aid in the implementation of transformative pedagogy by better understanding the role of competing logics. This researcher provides three recommendations for medical schools to consider when using an institutional logics framework to enact transformational pedagogy. The first recommendation is change on the micro level (i.e., on the program level). The second recommendation relates to change on the macro level (i.e., relationship with governing bodies). And the third recommendation is related to the influence on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices on the change process. I end with providing reasons for how examining the perceptions of the role of transformative pedagogy as a change agent in medical education can advance the field of medical sociology. / Sociology

This qualitative case study examines the service-learning program at a charter high school (Austin Charter Academy [ACA]). The two-fold purpose of the study was to: (a) describe and explore the service-learning experience at ACA with attention to the structures of power shaping the program and (b) to examine the role of a White, female administrator in the service-learning program. The research questions for the study were: How does one high school charter community describe their experiences in service-learning programs? Who is being centered and what logics are being reinforced in service-learning projects? The study employed a decolonizing, critical community-based service-learning framework (Santiago-Ortiz, 2018) as its theoretical framework, adding an examination of decision-making processes, structural designs, and power dynamics, and highlighting where ACA’s program perpetuates colonizing notions often found in traditional, mainstream approaches to service-learning. By exploring the experiences of multiple stakeholders, this case study presented a holistic understanding of ACA’s service-learning program. Data for the study were collected through in-depth interviews with ACA staff and community partners, alumni focus groups, document analysis, and autoethnographic data. Using an inductive approach to data analysis, emergent themes were identified across data sources. Findings indicated although ACA’s approach to service-learning has good intentions, when examined with a decolonizing framework one can see misalignment between vision and outcomes for students, staff, and community partners. Without a clear vision and approach, staff have diverse interpretations of service-learning, resulting in confusion for students and families. Additional findings highlighted access to programs have not been equitable, leading to disproportionate outcomes and the need for supports to be put in place. Examining the program from a decolonizing lens presented the ways the current program has upheld colonial notions and centered the academic setting and student need over the community. The findings supported the need for ACA to build in reflective practices to shift their service-learning program from performative to providing authentic, meaningful learning experiences for all parties, in line with a decolonizing framework. Recommendations for policymakers and administrations include revisiting policies and program documentation with a decolonizing framework.

Moral development in preschool is a component of social and emotional development, which also includes self-regulation, interpersonal skills, and school readiness. While service-learning has demonstrated significant benefits to the social-emotional development of older students, very little research has examined the effects of service-learning with young children. The purpose of this study was to create an academic curriculum that would provide preschool children (3 to 5 years old) with a developmentally-appropriate approach to service-learning, and determine if such a curriculum had a measurable effect on naturalistic empathy. Children in two classrooms received a preliminary empathy score based on number of empathetic behaviors relative to time observed. Children in the experimental classroom engaged in a series of lesson plans designed to guide their self-selected service-learning project. Participants in the experimental classroom created an intergenerational project that directly served the residents of a nursing home across the street from their school. A subsequent assessment of empathy measured moral development as a result of the service-learning in comparison to the normal growth and development observed in the control classroom. Results indicate if participation in service-learning increases the number of observed empathetic behaviors. Implications and recommendations for further research are also discussed.

There are more than 2.4 million American public school students identified with learning disabilities who are served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). General education preservice teachers are expected to effectively teach all students, including those with disabilities. However, most teacher preparation programs only require a single course in teaching students with disabilities. Research shows that that teachers’ attitudes regarding inclusion are the greatest predictor of a successful inclusion classroom. This study explored the attitudes of preservice elementary and preservice secondary teachers regarding integrating students with disabilities into general education classrooms. A quantitative research design with a survey method was used in this study. The survey method included a questionnaire via Qualtrics, an online survey system used at the University of Central Florida. Findings of this study revealed that 40% of preservice teachers indicated that integrating students with disabilities in the general education class was a burden. However, due to information limitations the results for preservice elementary and preservice secondary teachers’ attitudes regarding the integration of students with disabilities in the general education classroom and the number of hours of service learning completed was inconclusive.

Higher education institutions are facing a major challenge in retaining 1st-year college students and engaging them in meaningful activities and programs to promote their sense of belonging (Strayhorn, 2012; Astin, 1993). Though a few belonging intervention practices have been studied (Perrell, 2018; Peck, 2011), there is a lack of understanding on the dynamic mechanisms of developing belongingness through a combination of belonging enhancement practices (Yob, 2014). Moreover, there is an urgent need to examine which belonging enhancement practice has the most impact on students' academic performance (Slaten, Elison, Hughes, Youg, & Shemwell, 2015). This study used convergent, parallel mixed-methods design to make meanings from both qualitative and quantitative data on the effect of the service-learning leadership program (SLLP) for 1st-year students at a large, public university on perceived sense of belonging and related academic performance, and the mechanism of the dynamic process. Quantitative data contained 2 parts: the 1st part is university student record data from 2007 to 2018 with total of 2,762 students, and the 2nd part of the data were collected through pre-and post-surveys from total of 262 students in treatment and control groups. Qualitative data were collected from 9 participants through individual interviews, focus group and weekly journals. Quantitative datasets were analyzed through mixed-design MANOVA, mixed-design ANOVA and hierarchical (logistic) multiple regressions, and qualitative data was analyzed through spiral approach. The findings demonstrated that the studied program protected against the decline of sense of belonging in the 1st semester of college year, and it brought more benefits to male and racial minority students as compared to female and racial majority students. Moreover, the findings indicated mentorship and living-learning community practices had the most impact on students' sense of belonging and academic performance, and suggested further improvement for performance feedback, social media and service-learning practice. The results of the study have implications for future institutional interventions and provide comprehensive practical guidelines for belonging enhancement programs for 1st-year students. The conclusions provide recommendations for designing and implementing belonging intervention programs that bring maximum outcomes on students' sense of belonging, retention and academic performance.

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