1 The term "students" refers to the student cohort that participated in the 2005 service-learning pilot project. As the plot of the service learning experience begins to unfold, the characters in my story come to life. My research was designed to address the process and impact of service learning as experienced by the participants.
How do students see that service-learning can be improved in the interior design course? Mouton & Wildschut (2005) further suggested that there was a gap between management support for service-learning and the academics (often junior) who are passionate and committed to service-learning. I placed the starting point of students' learning at the abstract conceptualization stage because this stage was the beginning of their service learning experience.
Furco (1996) explains that service learning is considered one of the many forms of community service. Research has consistently shown that structured reflection by students increased the impact of the student service-learning experience (Eyler, 2000).
In the discipline-based service-learning model, the course typically lasts one semester. In the problem-based service-learning model, students connect with the community in the same way a consultant would with a client. In addition, my research covers how students perceive service learning can be improved in the interior design program.
Establish deliberate criteria for the selection of the service-learning site, corresponding to the course requirements. Learning assignments that promote critical reflection and analysis of the service-learning experience are necessary. Efforts must be made during the service learning experience to align the student's learning role with their role in the community to achieve greater learning potential.
One of the goals of a service learning course is to foster a student's sense of community. A gradually accumulating body of evidence shows that service learning in the South African context reports similar findings. As mentioned in the first chapter, the main focus of my research was to understand service learning from the participants' points of view.
As a requirement of the service-learning project, reflection reports were completed one year prior to the interviews. During the one-week implementation of the service-learning project, students were asked to complete daily reflection logs. I was a participant and observer in the community environment in which the service-learning experience took place.
In my report of this research, I describe and interpret service-learning from the participants' point of view (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2005).
Academic learning
When asked if they believed they were academically prepared, the bee colony generally felt prepared, but noted in class that they often "brushed off" the lectures. They articulated that, after completing the service learning project, they could make more sense of the theory covered in lectures. By linking the theory of the coursework to the service learning experience, they expressed a greater learning curve.
For example, one cannot use water-based paint over an enamel-based paint or vice versa. The participants expressed that when they made mistakes like this, they learned from the experience. The honeybees reflected that building items themselves made them realize that construction details are important.
Overall, the Honeybees felt that although it was a physical experience that they would not normally do as a practicing professional interior designer, it was a learning experience that equipped them with valuable life skills. It was a glimpse of the future, as you might say, and it's not so pretty, it's hard work and stressful” (Worker Bee).
Personal development
The bee colony experience seemed to further improve personal qualities such as patience. Bees believed that learning patience increases their ability to listen, thereby improving the skills of their humans. Many of the honeybees experienced a sense of pride in what they had accomplished.
At this point, all the honeybees felt a sense of accomplishment, and the handover was the turning point in realizing that their small parts played a role in achieving the final celebrated result. It has built my self-esteem, working together as a class was a self-building project” (Worker Bee). The Honeybees felt they had found a place for community service in their chosen discipline of interior design.
They realized from the service learning experience that interior design could be applied to many different communities. I was grateful to have been presented with this opportunity and to have had some form of practical work experience in the world of design as a student” (Queen Bee). Different feelings emerged among members of the bee colony about their contributions.
The deputy queen expressed that her most meaningful experience was one of "giving", but tempered with that she feels that the responsibility of management and sponsorship is "overwhelming". The drones, on the other hand, felt they had a bit more input than the worker bees and expressed that the experience was "life-changing". The worker bees initially saw their contribution as minor, but generally, as the project neared completion, they saw the greater contribution in the team effort.
I am proud to say that I was part of the group that transformed a disastrous half-empty shed into a fantastically sophisticated educational facility” (Worker Bee).
Social responsibility
The queen bee experienced her role in the team quite differently from the other honey bees. Some believed that if they were delegated more of the sponsorship role, they would have had an opportunity to share in the responsibilities that come with leadership. In the case of this research, I made the connection between the domain of academic and social responsibility because all of the honeybees clearly articulated that their service experiences made them more aware of communities in need.
The honeybees expressed that the connection they made between the academic coursework and service gave them a sense of social responsibility and commitment to future service in the field of interior design. In the future, as a professional I would like to participate and be involved in the implementation of community projects like this” (Worker Bee). Despite considering that the field experience was not one that the honeybees would have in the course of their profession, they unanimously agreed that the service learning experience, including the implementation week, should remain in the program, with some improvements.
I actually think it's an incredible program and I think if you continue with this, there's so much growth in the program, I really think it's brilliant (Queen Bee). Within these criteria, the participants' experiences, without pre-determination in the data analysis, fell quite naturally into the three learning domains. Integrating service with the academic coursework of the interior design degree and my subsequent research has revealed valuable insights into participants' learning.
The findings gave clarity to those vague feelings of "success" mentioned in the first chapter. In addition, I reported on the impact of the participants' service learning experience under the three domains of learning, which I covered in the Literature Review. To explain the participants' learning processes within Kolb's (1984) cycle, I followed the sequence of The Plot.
The second phase was the time the participants spent in the studio preparing their concepts.
Abstract conceptualization
For this reason, I added to the cycle to create a spiral that the participants' continued learning of the C.R.O.W. The research evidence also showed that the participants placed very little emphasis on their learning as they moved from orientation to active experimentation in the studio.
Active experimentation
Concrete experience
It is evident from the findings that the participants had different concrete experiences, as not all of them shared sponsoring and leadership roles. However, the findings are consistent with the literature in that all participants who learned improved during the concrete experience phase of the cycle (Bringle & Hatcher, 1999; Whitfield, 1999; Billig & Welch, 2004).
Reflective observation
In the domain of academic learning, the participants reported that the service learning experience had a more positive impact in terms of their subsequent learning rather than their immediate learning. However, the academic link was not made immediately; rather, the participants' perceptions of their improved ability to apply theory to practice developed in the year since the service-learning experience. The most prominent outcome of the service learning experience was in the learning domain of social responsibility.
From the findings of this study, I concluded that there were some shortcomings in “The Plot” of the service learning experience. With new insights from the findings of this study and the intentional setting of clear learning objectives for each phase of the service-learning course, students will have greater opportunities to synthesize theory and practice throughout the course. There was very little mention by participants of the role of academics in the service-learning project.
One of the outcomes of a community service learning course is the cultivation of a sense of community in the student (Howard, 1993). Based on the findings of this study, I have presented strategies to maximize student learning for future service-learning projects within the Department of Interior Design. I have arranged the strategies according to the critical stages of the service-learning program.
Role play, as one of the participants suggested, could potentially be a way to introduce the service learning project. The overriding impact of the service learning project was the commitment of many of the participants to future service. Their evaluation showed that student reflection constituted an important part of the service learning courses, but that joint reflection between the partners rarely took place.
Mouton & Wildschut (2005) suggested that despite the large amount of narrative evidence obtained from their research, there is a lack of primary evidence showing a sense of ongoing systematic (self)reflection by the various partners involved in service learning courses . . What we most need to know about the impact of service learning on student learning. An opportunity to interview you for 30 minutes regarding your C.R.O.W service learning experience in 2005.
