 |
Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 13, Issue 2, Article15 (Dec., 2012) |
Service learning is an experiential yet authentic teaching strategy to deliver learning and service to the community (Soslau & Yost, 2007). Service learning projects are more evident in States as the National Service-Learning Partnership provides extensive research pertinent to the benefits of service learning (Billig & Brown, 2004).
Service learning is considered as a powerful instructional tool that may impart impactful benefits to the participants and it also synonymously linked to community service. It is “an authentic instructional method and service to the community” such that students learn and develop through active participation in the context of community events (Soslau & Yost, 2007). Such learning enables students to make connection between the contents learnt in the classroom and their service learning experiences.
Besides enhancing real-life connections to subject matter learnt in classroom, service learning is viewed as a transformative educational experience in the context of authentic community learning (Elwell, 2001; Brown et al., 2007; Parker, Myers, Higgins et al., 2009). Community service learning (CSL) thereby integrates science knowledge into the real-world situations within a community context. This is an active learning-cum-teaching strategy that aims to foster better understanding of course content and broader appreciation of the discipline.
This research describes the theoretical framework and methodology involved in the overseas community service learning in a village of Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand. The study aimed to evaluate students’ perceptions of the value of CSL project in advancing the learning outcomes. Findings from this preliminary study suggest that CSL is beneficial to the students’ learning and development, as well as a well-defined research on CSL for future agenda may be conducted.
