With the heavy focus institutions place on the content mastery of undergraduate STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) students, qualitative skillsets equally important to the future success of STEM students, namely perspective-taking (PT), are being left at the wayside. In response, this essay will highlight reasons PT should be included…

Course based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) enable students to connect theoretical coursework to the real-world application of scientific research, broadly increasing the accessibility of research to students. Similarly, service-learning courses connect undergraduate students to their surrounding communities by anchoring a component of…

The Hungry Heartland project integrates service learning, media literacy, and multidisciplinary collaboration. It engages students from three disciplines to produce multimedia communication and raise public awareness about the lack of healthy food access in Kansas. Interviews and surveys were used to gather student feedback. Overall, students…

We describe the design and manufacture of a classroom set of devices that simultaneously measures and records the resistivity of four conductive elements (superconductor, semiconductor, metal alloy, and pure metal) as a function of temperature. The unique nature of this multi-semester project was that these devices would be designed, machined and…

Background: Although past studies of service-learning focus on assessing student growth, few studies address how to support students in applying theory to their service-learning experiences. Yet, the task of applying theory is a central component of critical reflections within the social sciences in higher education and often causes anxiety among…

Courses: This semester-long project is suited for courses on persuasion, diversity, social media, communication and technology, social advocacy, service-learning, or social justice. Objective: This assignment challenges students to research, design, launch, maintain, and assess an anti-hate social media campaign.

Since its inception in 2009, the Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Program (in the Department of Focused Inquiry at Virginia Commonwealth University) has evolved and expanded into an amalgamation of three distinct but overlapping elements: (i) teaching practicum, (ii) leadership seminar, and (iii) service learning experience. But only recently have…

The majority of students who took this general education undergraduate course in developing cross-cultural understanding at a state college in the northeastern United States reported that their level of cross-cultural competence and global awareness increased by the end of the course. The primary course objective was to help students better…

In recent years, more university programs have been encompassing service learning components to augment their academic studies. Service learning engages students in activities that meet community needs. The students acquire a deeper understanding of course content, requirements within the discipline, and civic responsibilities. This paper will…

Cultural competence and CQ involve awareness of cultural similarities and differences, knowledge of differences in cultural values, and intercultural encounters. To assess college students' cultural competence and cultural intelligence gains, this experimental study evaluated the impact of two globalization projects on these two constructs. The…

This article includes a review of the literature on personal epistemology and the reflective judgment model and applies these theoretical concepts to undergraduate students who engage in service-learning projects. The application will provide instructors with greater understanding of students' abilities and limitations in their…

Given that teachers need to present information in a concise, understandable way, to reflect on their practices to inform future actions, and to know how to create and use a teaching artifact, this article reports the findings from a study conducted to examine the impacts from a class-based poster session in teacher education. First, a review of…

Business and professional writing courses offer ideal contexts for incorporating service learning into the academic classroom. The focus of such courses on rhetorical analysis and language as social action provide a sound theoretical and practical ground for the application of writing and speaking skills to solve problems and effect change. In…