Abstract:

Service-learning (SL) is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured training to promote student learning and development. Reflection and reciprocity are key concepts of SL. SL combines academic learning with real-world experiences in the Community. This is accomplished by combining service tasks with structured opportunities that link the task to self-reflection, self-discovery, and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and knowledge content. Our SL project entitled "Stop Hypertension with SL/UCM“ is designed to contribute to the fight against hypertension, an important public health problem and the most important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death. Health sciences students from several degrees (Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Odontology, Nutrition and Dietetics) have a chance to apply the blood pressure (BP) and hypertension curricular contents and collaborate to educate, train, and support the learning of self-measured BP monitoring at home (SMBP) to the population, through the coordinated actions between Community organizations and the Complutense University (UCM). Stop Hypertension SL Project is an effective way to improve the uncontrolled BP control and to prevent hypertension. In this way, students acquire curricular skills and serve the Community, promoting health and well-being to achieve the 2030 agenda sustainable development goals. The activities derived from the project will be carried out in four phases: 1) student recruitment, 2) students’ training and acquisition of knowledge, 3) implementing the service in the Community, and 4) reflection and conclusions. To provide feedback on the methods of assessing students’ experiential service and learning, we have developed a checklist or rubric. This rubric has been designed as a tool which permits: a) students to know the specific criteria on which their work will be evaluated, so that they and the instructors have a common understanding of expectations for the assignment, b) an awareness of the students’ self- or peer-assessed work prior to submitting it, potentially resulting in higher quality submissions, c) the offering of a systematic approach for providing feedback, d) students to see their strengths and possible areas for improvement, e) instructors to measure teaching, and f) instructors to devise a continuum of a single SL activity that may grow and develop over subsequent years to maintain a tradition of sustainability that expands outside of the classroom and engages the various audiences of the SL system. In addition to the academic achievements, our rubric evaluates student progress during community service. For each assignment, the assessment criteria will ensure that data collection and identification and implementation of interventions designed to comply with the Community needs as well as guaranteed an improvement of the student learning process This rubric in turn can explain, stimulate, and assess student learning and development in the transdisciplinary and sustainable Stop Hypertension SL Project.
This work is supported by ApS UCM projects 2022-2023, Faculty of Pharmacy, Occupational Medicine Service UCM, SEH-LELHA, SECF, SEAPEC, Madrid City Councils of Coslada, Alcorcón and Alcobendas, COFM, CODEM. Thank you to M. J. Fernández-García, M. Perales Calvo, F.J. Puente, and R. Flores for their technical support.

Keywords:

Rubric, Service-learning project, real-world teaching methodology, hypertension, community service.