By Christine
Darby, Pharm.D., PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, VA Maryland Healthcare System
Community service has always played an integral role in my
life. I have found meaning, fulfillment,
and even my husband by donating my
time and resources to helping those in need.
My belief in voluntary work is so great that, when relevant and
appropriate, I think that every educator should consider integrating it into
his or her course.
So, how do you create a great service-learning
experience? Whether service-learning is intended
to supplement a course or its the entire goal of course, there are a series of
steps that you can take to make it most successful. A great service-learning experience can lead
to positive outcomes, leaving students feeling that they positively and
directly influenced people.
What is service-learning?
Service-learning is a “form of experiential education in
which students engage in activities that address human and community needs
together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student
learning and development.”1 The hyphen between “service” and
“learning” indicates the importance of reflection
and assures that learning is integrated with the service activities.2 Service-learning is not equivalent to volunteering, in which the recipient of the
service is the primary beneficiary.
Service-learning benefits both the server and the served.3
In pharmacy education, the Accreditation Council for
Pharmacy Education (ACPE) defines specific criteria that service-learning must
meet. Many criteria are listed,
including the opportunities for inter-professional interaction and the extension
of student learning into the community.4
Steps to designing a
service-learning course
Keeping in mind the definition of service-learning, you
first need to decide whether service-learning is right for your course. There are a series of steps that Barbara
Jacoby, Ph.D. recommends you do:
1. Consider how it will help your students achieve your learning outcomes.
2. If service-learning is a good fit,
determine what service and educational content will enable your students to
achieve your outcomes.
3. Form community partnerships.
4. Establish standards to assess and evaluate students.
5. Create the syllabus.
6. Prepare to manage the course.
Outcomes of service-learning
By thoughtfully and systematically planning your
service-learning experience you will greatly enhance the likelihood that
students will have a positive learning outcomes. There are many examples in the literature of
positive outcomes from service-learning.
In a study assessing first-year pharmacy student, service-learning was
shown to positively impact knowledge.
Knowledge regarding cultural differences and their impact on health
improved was significant higher among student who participated in a
service-learning course when compared to a control group of students who did
not participate in service learning activities.8
In another study, a majority of students who participated
in a service-learning course felt a high level of personal responsibility
toward their community and a greater interest in participating in local
community organizations after course completion. The service-learning activities helped
students to see the connections between class discussions and real world, which
enhanced learning in both settings.9
Service-learning helps students develop caring attitudes toward people, rather
than relying strictly on clinical skills during their interactions with
patients.10 John W. Gardner describes the development of values and
citizenship skills that are fostered through service-learning as follows:
Young people do not assimilate the values
of their group by learning the words (truth, justice, etc.) and their definitions...they
learn these through intensely personal interactions with their immediate family
or associates...they do not learn ethical principles; they emulate ethical (or
unethical) people. They do not analyze or list the attributes they wish to
develop; they identify with people who seem to have these attributes. That is
why young people need models, both in their imaginative life and in their
environment, models of what—at their best—they can be.11
In this way, by being true champions of patients and
active members of the community, not only do students thrive, but so too
society. Service-learning goes beyond “merely”
service and beyond “just” learning.
References
1. Jacoby B and Associates.
Service-learning in today’s higher education. 1st ed. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass Publishers; 1996. 416 p.
2. Eyler J and Giles DE.
Where’s the learning in service-learning?. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers; 1999. 352 p.
3. Stanton TK, Giles DE and
Cruz NI. Service-Learning: a movement’s pioneers reflect on its origins,
practice, and future. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 1999. 304 p.
4. Accreditation Council for
Pharmacy Education. Accreditation
standards and guidelines for the professional program in pharmacy leading to
the Doctor of Pharmacy degree [Internet]. Chicago: Accreditation Council
for Pharmacy Education; 2011 Jan 23 [cited 2013 Nov 3].
5. Bart M. Six
steps to designing effective service-learning courses [Internet]. Madison
(WI): Magna Publications, Inc.; 21 April 2010 [cited 2013 Nov 2].
6. Howard J, editor. Michigan
journal of community service learning. Ann Arbor (MI): OSCL PRESS; 2001. 82 p.
7. Kelly R. Service-learning
course development [Internet]. Madison (WI): Magna Publications, Inc.; 12
June 2012 [cited 2013 Nov 3].
8. Kearney KR. Impact of a
service-learning course on first-year pharmacy students’ learning outcomes.
Am J Pharm Educ. 2013; 77: Article 34.
9. Nickman N. (Re-)learning to
care: use of service-learning as an early professionalization experience. Am J
Pharm Educ. 1998;62:380-387.
10. AACP
Commission to Implement Change in Pharmaceutical Education. Maintaining our
commitment to change [Internet]. Alexandria (VA): American Association of
Colleges of Pharmacy; 1996 [cited 2013 Nov 3].
11. Gardner JW. Self-renewal: the individual and the innovative
society. New York: Norton & Company; 1981. 176 pp.
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