Abstract
I am pleased to share with you the six articles which comprise this issue of the Journal of Experiential Education. Together, these articles examine service learning, University–community partnerships, equine-facilitated psychotherapy, and educational resources to explore climate change.
The first two of these articles address service learning in different contexts. In “Bridges to Civic Health: Enhancing Shared Service-Learning Collaboration in Nursing and History,” Sundberg and Koehler explore a collaboration between a nursing undergraduate course and a history undergraduate course. Both courses had service-learning components and focused on the history or health consequences of lead pollution and exposure. The nursing course presented the social determinants of health through practical training (focused on lead exposure), while the history course introduced students to structural inequities in public health by focusing on the history of lead exposures. The initial, ad hoc collaboration between the two faculty members led to changes in the courses to encourage peer-to-peer learning and engagement between students in both courses. The authors present their qualitative analysis of student reflections, emphasizing the importance of exploring convergences between disciplines and developing transdisciplinary partnerships within higher education settings like theirs.
The second of the service-learning-focused articles is “‘Real Students Helping Others’: Student Reflections on a Research-based Service Learning Project in a Gender and Victimization Course.” In this article, Boppre, Reed, and Belisle investigate student outcomes from a research-based service-learning project within a campus community. Utilizing a feminist and trauma-informed pedagogical lens, the authors qualitatively examine how one group of students experienced the creation and dissemination of a campus survey to explore the broader campus students’ experiences of victimization, perceptions of campus safety, and knowledge of campus resources. The authors conclude, “This project highlights the potential for research-based service-learning to be used as a survivor-centered format that can empower students, provide hands-on skills, and build critical thinking.”
Two other articles investigate University–community partnerships. In “Intergenerational, Community-based Learning and Exercise Science Student Perceptions of Classroom Community,” Crawley and Crawley use a mixed methods approach to compare undergraduate exercise science students’ perceptions of an intergenerational, community-based learning environment to a traditional learning environment. In the community-based learning environment, each student was partnered with an older adult in the community to whom the student delivered a strength-training program. In the traditional learning environment, all learning took place within the classroom, using lectures, group presentations, and papers as learning activities. Based on analysis of data collected from students, the authors conclude that the community-based approach represents a best practice in higher education pedagogy, noting that this approach grew students’ confidence in their ability to innovate as well as assimilate new information.
The second article exploring University–community partnerships is “Pandemic Partnerships: Community/University Experiences with Community-based Learning in the COVID-19 Era.” In this article, Couillou, McGee, Carr, and Lamberth discuss the results of their survey of community partners and institutions of higher education during the pandemic. Their qualitative investigation of the pandemic-specific challenges to community-based partnerships highlights challenges specific to each stakeholder group, as well as partnership disruptions and warranted communication changes. The authors describe the need for University–community partnerships to adapt to resource and pandemic-related challenges and improve communication within partnerships.
Our fifth article in this issue investigates a new model for equine-assisted psychotherapy. In “Integrating Horses in Psychotherapy for Transition-aged Students: A Theory-driven Logic Model,” Kelly, Wood, Stallones, Schmid, and Peters describe a qualitative study that used interviews with stakeholders and a review of one program's documents to understand the critical elements and theoretical foundations of an equine-assisted psychotherapy program for young adults receiving transition services. Their study identified socioemotional learning as key to program outcomes and highlighted barriers and facilitators for program outcomes.
Our sixth article in this issue of the Journal of Experiential Education explores specific educational resources available from the National Park system. In “Climate Change Educational Resources from National Parks in the United States,” Beaver and Navy present results from their survey of national park employees regarding the availability of climate change-related educational resources in each U.S. national park. Their survey finds that a wide range of climate change-focused, active-learning educational resources are offered at many parks, including field trips, workshops for students and educators, and educational materials. Highlighting the importance of place-based education, the author explains that the national parks can be used effectively to help students learn about climate change and its local impacts, driving them toward needed action on climate change.
Collectively, these articles present new perspectives, novel educational approaches, and creative partnerships, utilizing experiential education in both higher education and community settings.