GOING BEYOND “IT’S ALL ACADEMIC”: ENGAGING STUDENTS IN COMPLEX AND REAL WORLD PROJECTS THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING

Service learning, a student-centered pedagogical technique, can be incorporated in various forms and to different extents within geoscience and environmental studies/science courses. Careful project selection and design can allow instructors to integrate the needs of the external project partner with the learning goals of the class. This type of undertaking can also allow for student skills development beyond the classroom and their main discipline as students work through challenges such as group work coordination and the delivery of a final professional product.

One service learning partnership was created between an upper-level environmental studies climate change class at Ursinus College (UC) and the UC Science In Motion (SIM) program, a state-funded initiative to make a selection of lab activities, equipment, and expertise available for free to teachers at secondary schools. The college students worked in small groups throughout the semester to construct, test, adapt, and pilot an appropriate lab activity that would foster scientific knowledge and abilities in high school students, particularly in relation to basic climate change science. The college students learned content and skills and the lab continues to be utilized in area high schools.

Students in a project-based capstone course about waste management collaborated with the UC Office of Sustainability to design and enact a quantitative assessment of the volume and type of waste (trash, recyclable, or compostable) disposed of by customers in the a la cart dining center. Based on the study and other observations, the class made recommendations about the design, number, and locations of a new bin system intended to meet stakeholder requirements and minimize trash generation. The class also partnered with Facilities Services to investigate whether UC should send its trash to a landfill or a waste-to-energy facility. This assignment was similar to a typical research paper and debate, yet the students were aware that their findings have the potential to influence the decision of the college about its waste disposal method.

Challenges exist in the planning and enacting of service learning projects. However, the potential benefits gained by the students from involving them in experiential learning projects of this type often outweigh these difficulties.