Civic Efficacy: Developing Engaged Scholars through Service-Learning Science Curriculum

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

This study examined the effects of a service-learning program, Connect Science (CS), on 4th grade students’ civic efficacy, the cognitive belief that one can make a difference (Mitra & Serriere, 2012). This fourth-grade curriculum introduces new science concepts, engenders care and concern about energy use, teaches social and emotional skills needed to work with others, and supports teachers in engaging students in collective action to address a community problem.

Fourth grade teachers were assigned randomly to intervention and control conditions, resulting in 41 classrooms with 847 students. 438 students self-identified as boys and 409 self-identified as girls. On average across groups, 32.0% were “proficient” in science, 50.2% of students were economically disadvantaged (identified by the district as members of households receiving federal assistance [e.g., SNAP, TANF]) and 19.4% were EL. The sample was ethnically diverse; 34.4% Caucasian, 36.5% African American, 23.5% Latinx, 6% Asian, 0.6% American Indian, and 0.3% Pacific Islander. Data were collected in 2018, before, during, and after the intervention. Analysis will be conducted on student survey responses.

Our research questions and hypotheses are as follows: (1) Does Connect Science produce higher civic efficacy in fourth grade students? We expect to see significantly higher civic efficacy in Connect Science classrooms. (2) Are these impacts different for girls and boys? We will expect to see a small but significant difference in civic efficacy for boys and girls due to where they are in their development (late-childhood). (3) Is the impact of Connect Science on civic efficacy contingent on student engagement? We expect students who feel socially-efficacious to use that as a mastery experience through which they will build their civic efficacy.

To answer these questions, the analysis plan is as follows: (1) Conduct exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on the construct civic efficacy. (2) Run descriptive and comparative statistics on intervention and control groups and gender, elucidating any statistically significant differences in self-reporting civic efficacy. (3) Develop a multilevel model that will account for nesting within schools and classrooms and will include covariates. (4) Finally, test mediation models to examine the extent to which civic efficacy is mediated by social engagement. All of the data are collected and fall enrollment in a multi-level model class means that these analyses will be complete by December.

We anticipate findings from this work will shed light on the development of civic efficacy, a concept that is often sidelined in developmental work (Mitra & Serriere, 2012; Serriere, 2014; Sherrod, 2015). We hope to add to the literature an understanding of how service-learning, social emotional learning, and engagement contribute in unique ways to the development of this important skill in late childhood. Further, we expect it will be important to understand how these processes are different by gender. It is the author’s belief that the more we know about the development of civic efficacy in younger students, the better we can support youth to have a positive impact on the world around them.

Authors

• Theresa Pfister, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Ashley Hunt, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sara Rimm-Kaufman, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author