Layering Instructional Strategies: Applications of Small-Group Dynamics in the Service-Learning Classroom

• In Event: Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Postsecondary Experiences to Promote Social Agency

Abstract

Service-learning literature regularly recommends small group activities as a learning tool, but there is very little in the literature that examines the application of a broader approach of layering an integrated overarching framework of small group dynamics within a service-learning course. This study attempts to apply theoretical understandings of small group dynamics to an already-established service-learning course in order to enhance the learning of students. This re-visioning emphasizes the idea of layering one effective process (small group dynamics) on top of another (service-learning) in order to reinvigorate research and practice in the areas of curriculum design, theory, and pedagogy.

Authors

• Leigh Zimmerman Gilchrist, Vanderbilt University

• Suzanne Pratt, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Tamar Alexanian, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College