Preparing Vulnerable Populations for Science Literacy and Young Adults for Global Citizenship through Service Learning
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- check the impact of the service-learning project on the target community’s science literacy.
- assess soft skills developed by undergraduate students participating in the project.
- identify motivational factors in university students to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) with the service-learning project.
- compare the impact of service-learning in both face-to-face and online modes.
2. Literature Review
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Focus Groups
3.2. Procedure
3.3. Quantitative Data
3.4. Qualitative Data
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. Formative Assessment of Teams’ Performances
4.2. Students with SNES’ Assessment
4.3. Final Survey (Close Questions)
4.3.1. Teamwork
4.3.2. Communication
4.3.3. Sharing Learning with Others
4.3.4. Learning through Teaching
4.3.5. Creativity
4.4. Situational Motivation Scale Questionnaire
4.5. Final Survey (Open Question)
4.6. Students’ Final Essay
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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2018–2019 | 2019–2020 | 2020–2021 | |
---|---|---|---|
n Engineering students | 12 | 17 | 7 |
n Education students | - | 2 | 14 |
Total n participating students | 12 | 19 | 21 |
n teams | 4 | 8 | 8 |
Assessment Components | Max. |
---|---|
Team’s participation in the session preparation | 10 |
Team’s participation in the presentation | 10 |
Digital resources used | 10 |
Structure and sequencing of activities | 10 |
Materials selected for SNES students | 10 |
Adaptation to SNES students’ level and pace during the class | 10 |
Interaction with SNES students | 10 |
Ability to motivate SNES students | 10 |
Gestures, facial expression | 10 |
Time control | 10 |
Total score | 100 |
Close Questions | 2018–2019 | 2019–2020 | 2020–2021 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Would you repeat this SL experience? | Yes | 100% | Yes | 100% | Yes | 100% |
No | - | No | - | No | - | |
Would you recommend it to other students? | Yes | 100% | Yes | 100% | Yes | 100% |
No | - | No | - | No | - | |
Would you repeat it even if it did not count for your final grade? | Yes | 92% | Yes | 90% | Yes | 100% |
No | 8% | No | 10% | No | - |
Factors | Activity Motivation | Total Range: 12–84 | Mean | Median (Me) | Mode (M) | (SD) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intrinsic | It is interesting | 69 | 9.85 | 6 | 6 | 1.58 |
It is pleasant | 73 | 6.08 | 6 | 6 | 0.86 | |
It is fun | 68 | 5.67 | 6 | 6 | 0.94 | |
It makes one feel good | 72 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1.35 | |
Identified Regulation | It is for one’s own good | 56 | 4.66 | 4.5 | 4 | 1.54 |
It is good for oneself | 75 | 6.25 | 6 | 6 | 0.82 | |
By personal decision | 78 | 6.5 | 7 | 7 | 0.65 | |
It is important for oneself | 72 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0.82 | |
External Regulation | One is supposed to do it | 31 | 2.58 | 2 | 1 | 1.89 |
It is one’s obligation | 20 | 1.67 | 1 | 1 | 1.37 | |
There is no choice | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
One feels that has to do it | 66 | 5.5 | 6 | 6 | 0.96 | |
Amotivation | One cannot see any reason | 17 | 1.41 | 1 | 1 | 0.86 |
Not sure it is worth it | 16 | 1.33 | 1 | 1 | 0.85 | |
One cannot see any utility | 15 | 1.25 | 1 | 1 | 0.82 | |
Not sure if it is a good thing | 14 | 1.17 | 1 | 1 | 0.55 |
Factors | Activity Motivation | Total Score Range: 19–33 | Mean | Median (Me) | Mode (M) | (SD) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intrinsic | It is interesting | 113 | 5.94 | 6 | 6 | 0.94 |
It is pleasant | 113 | 5.94 | 6 | 6 | 0.88 | |
It is fun | 102 | 5.36 | 6 | 6 | 1.49 | |
It makes one feel good | 121 | 6.36 | 6 | 7 | 0.66 | |
Identified Regulation | It is for one’s own good | 93 | 4.89 | 5 | 6 | 1.33 |
It is good for oneself | 111 | 5.84 | 6 | 6 | 0.87 | |
By personal decision | 117 | 6.15 | 7 | 7 | 1.08 | |
It is important for oneself | 104 | 5.47 | 6 | 6 | 1.5 | |
External Regulation | One is supposed to do it | 47 | 2.47 | 1 | 1 | 1.95 |
It is one’s obligation | 46 | 2.42 | 1 | 1 | 1.87 | |
There is no choice | 27 | 1.42 | 1 | 1 | 0.81 | |
One feels that has to do it | 85 | 4.4 | 5 | 7 | 2.20 | |
Amotivation | One cannot see any reason | 37 | 1.94 | 1 | 1 | 1.76 |
Not sure it is worth it | 32 | 1.68 | 1 | 1 | 1.29 | |
One cannot see any utility | 21 | 1.10 | 1 | 1 | 0.30 | |
Not sure if it is a good thing | 21 | 1.10 | 1 | 1 | 0.30 |
Factors | Activity Motivation | Total Score Range: 21–147 | Mean | Median (Me) | Mode (M) | (SD) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intrinsic | It is interesting | 135 | 12.2 | 7 | 7 | 0.7 |
It is pleasant | 131 | 11.9 | 7 | 7 | 1 | |
It is fun | 103 | 9.3 | 5 | 5 | 1.7 | |
It makes one feel good | 126 | 11.4 | 6 | 7 | 1.1 | |
Identified Regulation | It is for one’s own good | 100 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1.7 |
It is good for oneself | 126 | 11.4 | 6 | 6 | 0.9 | |
By personal decision | 134 | 12.1 | 7 | 7 | 0.8 | |
It is important for oneself | 127 | 11.5 | 6 | 7 | 0.9 | |
External Regulation | One is supposed to do it | 57 | 5.1 | 1 | 1 | 2.2 |
It is one’s obligation | 62 | 5.6 | 2 | 1 | 2.3 | |
There is no choice | 41 | 3.7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
One feels that has to do it | 106 | 9.6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | |
Amotivation | One cannot see any reason | 41 | 3.7 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Not sure it is worth it | 46 | 4.1 | 1 | 1 | 2.3 | |
One cannot see any utility | 40 | 3.6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Not sure if it is a good thing | 42 | 3.8 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Topic | Comments |
---|---|
Personal satisfaction | It was highly rewarding both personally and professionally. Everyone should have the opportunity to experience it. Time flew. I wished it had last longer. You feel really good. A wonderful experience I strongly recommend. An amazing experience that I would love to repeat and I undoubtedly recommend. Teaching and helping students with disabilities made me feel good. A highly satisfying experience. We received more than we gave. A great personal experience. The best experience I have had in this semester. It has been a highly satisfying experience. I have been able to experience the value of a well done job, a job put at the service of others without seeking individual recognition. |
Interpersonal relationships | You can approach and interact with these people. I would have loved to live this experience face-to-face, but technology worked fine. It was the first time I could interact with people like these and I loved helping them. It has been a plasure to help them. They are great people. It is a shame that we could not interact face-to-face, but even so I would love to repeat it. I have loved participating in this project, I have been very comfortable with my classmates and interacting with people with disabilities. Getting closer to them has been a mutual learning. I totally recommend the experience. |
Target community’s response | To see how they learn and have fun is very satisfying. I have learnt a lot from the people that wanted to learn a bit of English from my classmates and me. It is great to see how these students enjoy the activities we prepare for them. It was incredible to see the effort they make and the desire they have to continue learning despite their difficulties. I have learnt that if you make people happy, you will be happier. |
Expectations | It far surpassed all my expectations. It is a great project. It was worth spending time on this activity. I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity to work on this service-learning project. |
Teamwork | Working collaboratively with my classmates was great. We helped one another. We learnt how to work together as a team. |
Students’ Recurrent Ideas in Final Essay | 2018–2019 | 2019–2020 | 2020–2021 |
---|---|---|---|
Impact of the target community’s attitude towards servers | 55.5% | 46% | 4.7% |
Impact of the target community’s gratefulness | 11% | 7.6% | - |
Impact of the target community’s attitude towards learning | 66.6% | 77% | 9.5% |
Empathy | 66.6% | 46% | 71.4% |
Development of soft skills | 55.5% | 61.5% | 33.3% |
Development of human values | 44.4% | 38.4% | 100% 1 |
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Muñoz-Alcón, A.I.; Tejedor-Hernández, V.; Lafuente-Nafría, M.B. Preparing Vulnerable Populations for Science Literacy and Young Adults for Global Citizenship through Service Learning. Sustainability 2022, 14, 6775. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116775
Muñoz-Alcón AI, Tejedor-Hernández V, Lafuente-Nafría MB. Preparing Vulnerable Populations for Science Literacy and Young Adults for Global Citizenship through Service Learning. Sustainability. 2022; 14(11):6775. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116775
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuñoz-Alcón, Ana Isabel, Víctor Tejedor-Hernández, and María Begoña Lafuente-Nafría. 2022. "Preparing Vulnerable Populations for Science Literacy and Young Adults for Global Citizenship through Service Learning" Sustainability 14, no. 11: 6775. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116775
APA StyleMuñoz-Alcón, A. I., Tejedor-Hernández, V., & Lafuente-Nafría, M. B. (2022). Preparing Vulnerable Populations for Science Literacy and Young Adults for Global Citizenship through Service Learning. Sustainability, 14(11), 6775. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116775