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 “I signed up for service-learning because it was an opportunity to do something good. I never thought I would end up a published author,” said junior Missouri State student, Sarah Hinkson. Last spring, Sarah took part in the National Literacy Project in its mission to provide reading and writing resources to children and families. Being a theater major and a Spanish minor, Sarah developed the perfect idea to combine her educational background and desire to support literacy. I signed up for service-learning because it was an opportunity to do something good. I never thought I would end up a published author These factors lead to Príncipe Alejandro; an original children’s book featuring both English and Spanish translations of the story. Príncipe Alejandro is about a little boy that faces adversity in his attempts to socialize with the other kids in his school. Sarah wrote this book to show children that they are not alone in their challenges with social identity. Alejandro is inspired by a real person: the child of Sarah’s high school theater teacher. … [Read more...] about Service-learning to self-publishing: student works to improve child literacy and cultural competence
By Kathy Nordyke The College of Business (COB) is the first college on Missouri State University’s campus to require all COB majors to complete service-learning through the ITC 200 course. The outcomes of this requirement have provided a valuable service to the community and high-impact educational practice for students. Let’s look at the numbers: During the 2021 - 2022 academic year, 1,536 students completed 23,121 hours of service to the community. The total number of students include several high-school dual-credit students. Based on the industry-standard service rate calculator from IndependentSector.org, COB students have generated an estimated value of $629,122.41 in the community. The College of Business and service-learning office are encouraged by these results and hope to see them improve over time. COB students have generated an estimated value of $629,122.41 in the community. Other 1-credit or integrated service-learning courses in the COB include MGT 300, MGT 440, MGT 770, MKT 354, MKT 456 and HID 241. Below is the 2021 – 2022 participation and … [Read more...] about College of Business embraces service-learning methods in 2021-2022