Location
Smyth 146
Event Website
http://www.cpe.vt.edu/cuenr/index.html
Start Date
3-27-2010 2:00 PM
End Date
3-27-2010 2:30 PM
Description
In 2001, the University of Georgia Foundation made a significant commitment to expanding the opportunity for study abroad at UGA when it purchased a 155‐acre farm and built a new education and research center in San Luis de Monteverde, Costa Rica. UGA Costa Rica collaborates with departments and schools across the University to offer study abroad programs that offer courses directly related to major areas of study and that also integrate service‐learning as a central component of the overall study abroad experience. “Global service‐learning is a course‐based form of experiential education wherein students, faculty, staff and institutions a) collaborate with diverse community stakeholders on an organized service activity to address real social problems and issues in the community, b) integrate classroom theory with active learning in the world, c) gain knowledge and skills related to the course content and advance civic, personal and social development, and d) immerse themselves in another culture, experience daily reality in the host culture and engage in dual exchange of ideas with people from other countries” (Kiely, 2007:2). UGA Costa Rica and the UGA Office of Service Learning have developed an international service‐learning protocol and training workshops which provide guidance and tools for faculty to effectively incorporate service‐learning into their courses taught on UGA Costa Rica study abroad programs. As Kiley and Nelson (2002) note, effective service learning programs require established community partnerships and participation in the field activities students and faculty undertake. The UGA Costa Rica campus staff work closely with community organizations to maintain a database of projects and local contacts, and help facilitate these “participatory education in the living classroom” experiences, and community members actively participate in projects alongside students and faculty. In addition to the service‐learning emphasis, UGA Costa Rica has also worked with the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Education, the Odum School of Ecology, the College of Environment and Design, and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute to build semester‐ long programs which offer multiple courses required for their majors. Such initiatives are helping these UGA academic units to integrate study abroad into their degree programs and attract students to these majors. This presentation will describe global service learning as presented by Kiley (2007) and how UGA Costa Rica has adapted this theoretical framework to develop meaningful service learning opportunities and train faculty to lead them as part of study abroad programs. Examples of service learning activities will be further described, as will the service learning protocol. The presentation will also review how UGA Costa Rica has worked to shift the perception of study abroad from an add‐on experience to an integrated part of degree programs at UGA.
Included in
Integrating Service Learning and International Study into the Traditional Degree Programs
Smyth 146
In 2001, the University of Georgia Foundation made a significant commitment to expanding the opportunity for study abroad at UGA when it purchased a 155‐acre farm and built a new education and research center in San Luis de Monteverde, Costa Rica. UGA Costa Rica collaborates with departments and schools across the University to offer study abroad programs that offer courses directly related to major areas of study and that also integrate service‐learning as a central component of the overall study abroad experience. “Global service‐learning is a course‐based form of experiential education wherein students, faculty, staff and institutions a) collaborate with diverse community stakeholders on an organized service activity to address real social problems and issues in the community, b) integrate classroom theory with active learning in the world, c) gain knowledge and skills related to the course content and advance civic, personal and social development, and d) immerse themselves in another culture, experience daily reality in the host culture and engage in dual exchange of ideas with people from other countries” (Kiely, 2007:2). UGA Costa Rica and the UGA Office of Service Learning have developed an international service‐learning protocol and training workshops which provide guidance and tools for faculty to effectively incorporate service‐learning into their courses taught on UGA Costa Rica study abroad programs. As Kiley and Nelson (2002) note, effective service learning programs require established community partnerships and participation in the field activities students and faculty undertake. The UGA Costa Rica campus staff work closely with community organizations to maintain a database of projects and local contacts, and help facilitate these “participatory education in the living classroom” experiences, and community members actively participate in projects alongside students and faculty. In addition to the service‐learning emphasis, UGA Costa Rica has also worked with the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Education, the Odum School of Ecology, the College of Environment and Design, and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute to build semester‐ long programs which offer multiple courses required for their majors. Such initiatives are helping these UGA academic units to integrate study abroad into their degree programs and attract students to these majors. This presentation will describe global service learning as presented by Kiley (2007) and how UGA Costa Rica has adapted this theoretical framework to develop meaningful service learning opportunities and train faculty to lead them as part of study abroad programs. Examples of service learning activities will be further described, as will the service learning protocol. The presentation will also review how UGA Costa Rica has worked to shift the perception of study abroad from an add‐on experience to an integrated part of degree programs at UGA.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/Sessions/Abroad/2
Comments
Citation: Newcomer, Q. 2010. Integrating service learning and international study into the traditional degree programs. UENR Biennial Conference, Session Study Abroad, Paper Number 2. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/Sessions/Abroad/2/.