Academic Service Learning to Navigate Uncertain Times

Presenter: Jaynne Rivas, Ph.D. 

Abstract 

This presentation  is focused on two area: the design of a course based on the academic service-learning approach (Howard, 1998; and Bringle and Clayton, 2012) and how this design is flexible enough to navigate uncertain times.  Academic service-learning (ASL), a high-impact educational practice that encourages social responsibility, integrates academic and experiential learning, accommodates the high and low structure of courses, and welcomes subjective and objective knowledge. However, this approach is inherently related to six challenging conflicts about control, goals, valuable learning, active learning, contributions from students, and objectivity.   

Rivas will begin by contrasting the traditional pedagogy with ASL. The next step consists of presenting a model of planning versus emerging course design based on Mintzberg and Water (1985). Following those authors, she will develop the concept of “intended” and “emergent” course design. In the third step, she will present a brief explanation of the course Business and Society, which is the subject of the design. Then, she will develop how she overcomes  the six challenges of moving from a course design on the traditional pedagogy to course design on the ASL principles. Finally, she will close the presentation with a section of a lesson learned.  

The effort of overcoming the challenges associated with ASL is vastly compensated by the outcomes. High-impact practices develop dimensions of social and sociological well-being that are particularly relevant to success in college (Low, 2010). ASL motivates students to invest more time and effort, actively participate, experience diversity, and learn from feedback and reflection (Kuh, 2008).  

Biographical Statement 

Jaynne Rivas is an assistant professor of management at the School of Business and Economics at Indiana University East. She completed her Ph.D. at Tulane University, New Orleans, and her undergraduate studies at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas.  She currently teaches two courses: strategic management and business ethics. Her teaching is based on evidence, and she combines it with academic service-learning experiences. Rivas is enthusiastic about using technology to promote student learning and engagement.   

Rivas’s research interests lie in the field of strategic management. She is especially interested in the effect of the institutional environment in businesses, and the characteristics of the board of directors that make a business successful.  Besides her academic work, she currently is a board member of two non-profit organizations, Amigos Latino Center and Well Care Community Health, in Richmond, IN. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and cycling.