Abstract:

This paper describes ongoing efforts to advance global citizenship and environmental literacy in a general education course at a four year degree-granting higher education institution. We present the outcomes associated with the process of establishing a multi-discipline, international project with a focus on cultural exchange, social justice, and the development of a hydroponics project for food sustainability at an orphanage in Ecuador. With human subject protocols in place, we share results of a pilot test on global citizenship, cultural competence, leadership skills, and a variety of performance dimensions with a unique grading rubric that assesses and supports the service learning student experience from a variety of academic disciplines. We share the pilot results of an empirically validated global citizenship scale (Morais and Ogden 2010) with pre-test/post-test results for these students who spent three weeks in Ecuador working with at-risk children at this orphanage/school.

Keywords:

International service learning, hydroponics, STEAM, environmental studies, social justice, cultural competence.