Abstract:

Student engagement, or lack thereof, is not a new concern among students and educators. At times, students’ academic success is limited by ineffective teaching methods and/or a disengagement with their studies and the world around them. These issues prompted a re-assessment of learning objectives, outcomes and the necessity to adopt effective student-centered learning strategies to enhance the quality of engagement (Dunleavy & Milton, 2008). Research indicates that successful student engagement stems in part from scholarly contexts that promote deep cognitive engagement. Active learning enables students to reflect on and integrate knowledge as they are exposed to new ideas and experiences (Ueckert & Ges-Newsome, 2008). Greater engagement in learning encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning, a skill that will serve them well throughout their life-long learning pursuits.

It is widely accepted that collaboration and partnership with community organizations through service learning opportunities allows for greater student engagement. Reinforcing a connectedness between knowledge, experiences, application and reflection is increasingly common-place in most undergraduate curricula across the campus. Kaser and Halbert (2008) observed that as elementary and secondary schools provided more innovative and responsive learning environments through developing and utilizing new forms and applications of technology and by implementing creative forms of learning-oriented structures, learner engagement increased (Kaser & Halbert, 2008). Tech-savvy, socially-engaged university students require sufficient experiential learning opportunities that build on their earlier experiences.

This paper describes the results of a pilot study aimed at improving undergraduate student engagement and active learning during community partner service learning placements. Specifically, I will discuss the potential of implementing an assessment pre-community service learning survey and reflective e-portfolios to enhance student learning and engagement.

Keywords:

Experiential learning, eportfolios, student engagement.