By Charlie Whitaker and Taylor Ware It's not the first time Lori Rogers has explored ways to innovate in her courses. Doesn't take long in a conversation with her to know that she cares deeply about her students and wants them to succeed, so she generally likes to try new things. That said, she has a refreshingly realistic view of the strengths and challenges of teaching English courses to modern students. One of the more recurring challenges is passive engagement. In many writing courses, one can almost see yet another lesson whoosh over a student's head like a gust of wind as they ponder how it all applies to them in real life. Through service-learning, Rogers appears to have found an answer for actively engaging her students more consistently: “agentic service-learning.” "It’s added another level of cognition that encourages students to really take agency in their scholarship.” Rogers smiles and is quick to explain what that means. “The biggest difference I see in terms of student learning is that much of their past service-learning work has been reflective, and that’s … [Read more...] about Lori Rogers explains her smart method for getting students to “really take agency in their scholarship.”
By Taylor Ware Service-learning relies on community partnerships. James River Basin Partnership (JRBP) is one of many valued not-for-profits that we collaborate with. Their Executive Director, Brent Stock, believes that service-learning fosters crucial learning experiences that students will carry throughout their lives. Brent Stock is a Missouri State graduate from the wildlife conservation and management program. He has an extensive background in not-for-profits and a passion for the outdoors. At James River Basin Partnership, Brent oversees a small staff and facilitates ongoing projects. Much of his work revolves around grant management and fundraising. These financing efforts support a variety of projects. This includes their work to remedy nonpoint source pollution and their efforts to provide environmental education to the community. They also host many events including river, lake and stream clean ups. Brent and his staff work hard to manage these responsibilities. The integration of service-learning students helps to lighten their load. “Service-learning students allow … [Read more...] about Brent Stock and the James River Basin Partnership help students find their way in local conservation
By Taylor Ware Left to right: Molly Reeves, Kaitlyn Galaydick, Miranda Dougherty, Kathryn Wagner, Alexis Scroggins Integrated Service-Learning is a crucial piece of Missouri State’s public affairs mission. Many faculty have taken it upon themselves to weave service-learning into their courses to further enrich their students’ academic experience. Professor Jennifer Lowenthal-Hershey is a prime example of an instructor using community engagement to fortify their student’s education. Professor Lowenthal-Hershey teaches Critical and Creative Thinking Using Information Technology. In this course, students are encouraged to examine individual and public policy problems via the lens of information technology. Excel, Microsoft, and a variety of research databases are among their utilized tools. The integration of service-learning into ITC 200 has been an incredible shift in creating a more dynamic and engaging course. Students in Professor Lowenthal-Hershey’s class are tasked with a semester-long, group project that constitutes the service-learning aspect of the course. Randomly … [Read more...] about Service-learning students team up to addresses childhood trauma in ITC 200 course