Abstract:

Higher Education systems in Europe are undergoing a process of deep reforms, to meet the challenges posed by the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This alignment process affecting their structure, learning objectives, teaching methodologies and learning results measured in terms of competencies and employability intends to make Europe one of the most advance societies and economies based on knowledge. This paper describes the research done at the University of Granada, aimed at identifying and measuring examples of good practices related to Service-Learning. This instructional Methodology has been selected because of the possibility that brings to face the educational challenges that students, professors and administrators have to face in the following years. To do it, a 25 professor’s sample was chosen by using the Snowball sampling technique. Next an ad hoc Service-Learning survey (α = .89) was administered. The results point, on one hand, to the existence of academic and institutional barriers undermining the diffusion and adoption of this type of instructional methodologies at the University. On the other hand, there is a group of professors that are already using within their courses certain components of S-L like a more active role of students on their own learning process and the inclusion of real community problems and needs as co-curricular activities.

Keywords:

Service-Learning, Instructional methodologies, active learning, teacher professional development.