Alex Johnson
Director, Community-Engaged Learning, Center for Community Engagement

To see more funded grants, check out our Internal Assessment Grant page.

Assessment Participants

Student Trip Leaders and Faculty Trip Advisors met in March 2018 to discuss trip outcomes. 30 people participated in the post-trip event and discussed trip goals and learning objectives. Trip Leaders have spent the 2017-18 year learning about servant leadership and reflection practices, while Faculty Advisors accompanied student groups on trips. The group used pre and post-trip surveys containing questions from the Public Affairs Scale, in additional to focused journals from student participants.

Public Affairs Outcomes

Learning Goals and Specific Learning Outcomes for the program are derived from Missouri State’s General Education Goals 12-14 (Public Affairs). Students submitted reflections via blog posts and communicated their understanding of social issues and how to address them through service and advocacy. The group of evaluators discussed how students met the General Education goals, noting that student responses became stronger as the week of service progressed, and students relied heavily on group reflections to understand themes.

Follow-up Plans

After speaking with faculty and students about the immersion experiences and artifacts, the goal is to increase students’ understanding of goals and social issues before trips occur. Pre-trip education will extend to participants earlier in the semester to give them more time to engage with service initiatives in Springfield, MO before departing. This should strengthen on-trip reflections and post-trip activities.