Northcutt Katharine V
Biology Department, Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207.
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2016 Mar 1;17(1):90-2. doi: 10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1067. eCollection 2016 Mar.
One of the challenges in teaching a service-learning course is obtaining student buy-in from all students in the course. To circumvent this problem, I have let students in my undergraduate Neurobiology course design their own service-learning projects at the beginning of the semester. Although this can be chaotic because it requires last-minute planning, I have made it successful through facilitating student communication in the classroom, requiring thorough project proposals, meeting with students regularly, and monitoring group progress through written reflection papers. Most of my students have strong opinions about the types of projects that they want to carry out, and many students have used connections that they have already made with local organizations. Almost all projects that students have designed to this point involve teaching basic concepts of neurobiology to children of various ages while simultaneously sparking their interest in science. Through taking ownership of the project and designing it such that it works well with their strengths, interests, and weekly schedule, students have become more engaged in service learning and view it as a valuable experience. Despite some class time being shifted away from more traditional assignments, students have performed equally well in the course, and they are more eager to talk with others about course concepts. Furthermore, the feedback that I have received from community partners has been excellent, and some students have maintained their work with the organizations.
教授服务学习课程面临的挑战之一是要让课程中的所有学生都认可这一教学方式。为了规避这个问题，在本科神经生物学课程中，我让学生在学期初自行设计他们自己的服务学习项目。尽管这可能会很混乱，因为这需要在最后时刻进行规划，但我通过在课堂上促进学生交流、要求提交详尽的项目提案、定期与学生见面以及通过书面反思报告监测小组进展，成功地完成了这一教学任务。我的大多数学生对他们想要开展的项目类型都有强烈的想法，而且许多学生利用了他们与当地组织已有的联系。到目前为止，学生们设计的几乎所有项目都涉及向不同年龄段的儿童教授神经生物学的基本概念，同时激发他们对科学的兴趣。通过自主负责项目并将其设计得与自身优势、兴趣和每周日程安排相契合，学生们更积极地参与到服务学习中，并将其视为一次宝贵的经历。尽管一些课堂时间从更传统的作业上转移开了，但学生们在课程中的表现同样出色，而且他们更渴望与他人谈论课程概念。此外，我从社区合作伙伴那里收到的反馈非常好，一些学生还继续与这些组织合作。
