Journal Entry 4 - Final Project Topic

I've been tossing this idea around in my head, but I'm still unable to turn it into something concrete. Maybe someone here will be able to help me. I would like to look at student involvement in community work and it's impact on the whole student. How does participating in a food pantry or community garden, help this student become a better person in the classroom and beyond? Or does it. Can teachers use community involvement to better in engage with students in the classroom? I'm a firm supporter of community service and giving back to the community. I'm interested to see how this affects students. As I played around with this idea, these are some of the articles that I came across.

Annotated Bibliography

Sims, C. (2010). "Service-Learning mentoring: for high school transition and student

 leadership." Techniques. 85(4), 24+. Retrieved from Gale Student Resources in Context. Web.  

This article looks at service-learning as a method of freshman retention, particularly mentoring. Through this program school leadership hopes to find a way to begin engaging students in school, from the 9th grade, and encourage them to complete their high school career. The article specified in this study takes place in Illinois, but is expected to be transferable across the United States. This article is helpful is knowing why schools choose to to engage in service-learning.

Kackar-Cam, H., & Schmidt, J.A. (2014). Community-based service-learning as a

 context for youth autonomy, competence, and relatedness. High School Journal, 98(1), 83+. Retrieved from Gale Student Resources in Context. Web.

This article looks at the difference between students who participate in community service for pleasure and those who do it as a requirement. Although community service may be entered in for different reasons, essentially students on both sides receive the same outcome - increased grades, social and political awareness and consideration towards people of varying backgrounds. This article will help me in determining the different reasons students do community service and their accomplishments.

Astin, A. W., Vogelgesang, L. J., Ikeda, E. K., & Yee, J. A. (2000). How Service

 Learning Affects Students. Higher Education, paper 144. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/slcehighered/144

This article was based on a case student of college students who did and did not participate in service learning, during their time in a post-secondary institution. Researchers looked at 11 different measures including academic progress, self-efficacy and career plans. Comparisons were drawn between students who participated in activities and those who did not participate. Though similar to the prior article listed, this one looks at college students, allowing me to draw on comparisons and differences between the two groups, while looking at the same topic. 

Morgan, W. and Streb, M. (2001), Building Citizenship: How Student Voice in

 Service-Learning Develops Civic Values. Social Science Quarterly, 82: 154–169. doi: 10.1111/0038-4941.00014

This article looks specifically at student service-learning and their voice in the process. Students who participate in projects and have an active voice, are more likely to be engaged in the politics when they get older. With there being a decline in political engagement, service-learning is one way to ensure the younger generation participates when they get older. This article will help me see that service-learning builds and supports better citizens.

Abes, E. S., Jackson, G., & Jones, S. R., (2002). Factors that motivate and deter

faculty use of Service-Learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service, p. 5-17. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3239521.0009.101

This article looks at teacher motivation to use community projects and service-learning. Although the survey in this article doesn't answer all the questions, it does provide basic information. This article will assist my research, by providing me with reasons at to why teachers use service-learning and how their use benefits students and enhance their classes.