The application of community service learning in science education

CSL is not a compulsory unit or module for the tertiary students. Rather, it is voluntary and students get to go to an Asian community in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand. This CSL is usually delivered during term vacations.

The context of CSL is similar to a PBL classroom. The students are divided into groups and they engage with the problem among their peers within their individual group. The role of a staff leader is to assist the students in recognising the cognitive processes they have used in problem-identification as well as problem-solving. They go through enactment and embodiment in social situated learning.

3 main objectives for this project were: students would contribute to the local community for this SL project through (a) exploration of the availability and suitability of local animal wastes by generating biogas and producing high-quality organic fertilizer as a by-product; (b) setup of bioreactors (see Figures 1 & 2) for these animal wastes and producing sufficient biogas for daily cooking (see Figure 3) and, thus, reducing the amount of wood fuel used by household; as well as (c) monitoring and troubleshooting (if any) the performance for the bioreactors.

Participants were required to understand the principle of bioreactor and its sustainability. Another term for such bioreactor is an anaerobic digester. Anaerobic digestion of organic matter and its technology has been widely used not just because it has shown effectively treating the organic wastes, but simultaneously producing a renewable energy source, i.e., biogas. Anaerobic digestion uses microorganisms in the animal or plant waste (see Figure 4), which is in the absence of oxygen, to produce a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide and other gasses. Animal wastes, such as cow, elephant and pig dung, are easily found but are often just put aside near the farm and neglected in many South-East-Asian countries, including Thailand. By putting these wastes away in the bioreactor, besides treating the wastes to prevent pollution, it also produces clean energy which is biogas. Biogas can be used for direct combustion, e.g. cooking, lighting, etc. This has also created economic values to benefit the poorer villagers living at the rural areas.

The Mirror Foundation is a non-governmental organization that works with over 30,000 hill tribe people (primarily Akha, Kaen, Thai and Lahu), empowering them to improve their lives and deal with the many problems they face, including poverty, trafficking of persons, drugs, and the lack of Thai citizenship (www.mirrorartgroup.org). Participants and The Mirror Foundation worked together to design the bioreactor and to identify suitable sources of animal wastes for the biogas project. Through discussion and physical work to collect the animal wastes and set up the bioreactors, the participants not only learnt culture from one another, but also put in “practical” use for what they had learnt in class. The Mirror Foundation will continue to monitor the project after participants have left the site. The experiences and outcomes gained from the project will help to improve the design of the bioreactor and set up more biogas projects in the future to benefit the needy.

In the local education system and institutional setting, there is no assessment and no grade given to these participants of service learning. However, in this study, they were assessed based on their commitments during the process of pre-trip preparation as well as during the trip. In addition, evaluation and reflection assessments were completed by these students (see Tables 1 & 2).

This CSL study focuses on the community service project and the individual’s critical reflection. CSL provides a real-life working environment that leads to excellent learning outcomes for the students as well as strengthens their individual social responsibility. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) used service learning not only as the pedagogy to provide their graduates with excellent learning goals and critical reflection, but also to focus on their civic responsibility (QUT, 2011).