Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

By using the Service-Learning methodology in professional education as part of the teaching and learning process, the aim is to integrate knowledge and social commitment for the benefit of university students. However, when this effort is made through interdisciplinary integration, the orientation required by the student within his or her own discipline is broadened to include other areas or specialties that contribute to a common benefit. This integration also fosters the widening of the spectrum of tangible results both in the service community and in the different disciplines that make use of this methodology. Integrated planning, execution and observation in two distinct areas with points of articulation according to the learning goals and service objectives, guided the intervention described in this paper, which was aimed at producing a service-learning management model in an interdisciplinary manner in the areas of business and health. The model proposes two operational levels within an integral macro-process: a curricular systemic level, which identifies points of articulation and interdisciplinary integration for the benefit of a vulnerable population; and an instrumental level of Service-Learning that contemplates the execution of the different stages of the methodology. The model also considers the different challenges identified in the experience or project as part of the management macro-process, which vary according to the context in which the project takes place and the disciplines involved. The interdisciplinary methodology benefitted students in each discipline by empowering them, promoting joint work, as well as raising social awareness and prompting resolution of related problems, stimulating critical thinking, in addition to applying knowledge acquired in class. A more participative response was also obtained from the service population, as this was an intervention with an integral approach directed from different perspectives.

Teachers’own experiences allows them to select appropriate strategies and learning methodologies to design activities that would allow students to stay motivated and achieve the learning objectives of the course. This represents a challenge with the new generation of students that are easily distracted, have little tolerance and patience, and are used to solving problems quickly by simply looking up the information required through an internet search. Before starting the academic year, teachers have to take into account the necessary technological resources to use, in addition to having redesigned a course according to the institutional pedagogical model, without ignoring their experience in the subject matter. Incorporating the paradigm of learning through teaching, linking it with the service-learning methodology and various challenging activities, has an impact not only on technical training but also on the all-around education of the students. Better results are achieved in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and quality, as well as boosting students’ commitment and well-being, thus establishing a good correlation between the student's interests and what we expect them to learn. The main protagonists are the students who teach and learn during the semester, gradually growing in knowledge, managing to construct knowledge themselves thanks to the activities carried out in class, at home and those associated with the service, whilst also benefitting a community with certain needs.

This study was conducted through the implementation of the service-learning methodology with a group of students of community medicine at the University of Monterrey. A total of 60 students and 290 informal caregivers participated. The students carried out training sessions at elderly people’s homes, educating informal caregivers about geriatric syndromes and conditions. At the end of the study, a caregiver's manual was delivered to each of the participating caregiver. The analysis of the feedback gathered after the training sessions showed 43% of achievement and overall improvement of the caregiver's knowledge. 98% of participants (older adults and their caregivers) reported satisfaction with the sessions. This project demonstrates the significant learning students achieve through a service-learning methodology, whilst also promoting commitment and a socially responsible and sensitive protagonism in meeting the community’s real needs. These practices develop medical students’ ability to reflect, improve their empathy and boost their capacity to take the initiative towards improving their community, through significant experience in community work.

In addition to focusing on transmitting specialised knowledge relevant to professional practice and on providing students with the skills and competences required by the labour market, current teaching practices in Law seek to transcend conventional methods through service provision. With this perspective in mind, we designed a course under the service-learning methodology as part of the Trade Law Seminar taught in the ninth semester of the Bachelor of Law programme, aiming to develop in the students the skills and competencies required in their professional practice whilst providing a solidary service. We linked the competencies, attitudes and values of the course to the service-learning methodology and involved the students in three social projects originating from the Social Transformation Laboratory at the university itself. These projects involve social entrepreneurship and are also linked to the topics in the course syllabus, which are specifically aimed at the creation and operation of trading companies. Through this experience, the students not only acquired and reinforced relevant legal knowledge, but to a great extent they also developed the intended competences, attitudes and values. In addition to solving the legal problems they faced in each of the projects, students also collaborated in the foundation of several trading companies, which besides contributing to solving a current social problem, will also take active part in the country's economy, by generating jobs and competing in the market as socially-responsible companies.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the effects and results of following a participatory design methodology in the development of a project devised as a crime prevention and community engagement strategy for a marginalized neighborhood located in Nuevo León, México. Starting as a digital platform, the participatory design approach led to a series of improvements, including, but not limited to, the transformation of a public space.

This service-learning experience for students in the course Education and Community Development is based on the methodology of socio-cultural animation, which is aimed at the transformation of society, the integral formation of people, promoting folklore and achieving social self-management of communities. The article will describe what socio-cultural animation consists of, will detail the methodology followed for the application of the experience, will discuss the results obtained, and will provide a conclusion that will help improve teaching-learning processes through the application of this methodology.

Abstracts Jornadas de Investigadores en Aprendizaje-Servicio (JIAS) 2019

This paper describes the implementation and results analysis of a service-learning experience in the rural areas of Zárate, in the province of Buenos Aires, understanding the proposal as transversal to the university’s main missions: teaching, research and outreach. Grounded on a social responsibility perspective, the project combined service-learning criteria and theoretical foundations with the key issue of developing community tourism, thus responding to the specific needs of the participating families. Students, teachers and local agents valued the experience in particular, evidencing personal development, a positive change in the relationship with their peers and with others, and a qualitative and quantitative improvement in their personal and group projects. For Escuela Argentina de Negocios (EAN), the experience led to better working links with other institutions, allowing the school to demonstrate a necessary and innovative opening in its relationship with society and with its educational spaces, and reaching the goal of enabling its young students to develop professional competences such as cooperation, self-management and problem-solving , all linked to sustainable social development.

This article deals with the possibility of using the Virtual Service Learning (vSL) to promote the intercultural competence and intercultural approach. Through the vSL project “Español en Vivo” —created by the School of Education of the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia in collaboration between Spanish and African universities and whose objective is the improvement of linguistic skills and the development of a civic component—, we explain how useful it is to allow students to reflect not only on linguistic or ethical aspects, but also to prompt introspection about how this experience helps them to appreciate diversity as an advantage in their learning environments and how it has allowed them to get to know and recognize themselves alongside their peers.

Higher education as the medium for maximum level of training for citizens and professionals seeking social transformation merits a rethinking of pedagogical proposals, particularly if we take into account that learning today is not exclusive to classrooms. There are many stimuli that students have access to when they need to develop a skill or acquire knowledge. Our proposal regarding university social responsibility seeks not only to work towards the transformation of the students and the community involved but also to provide a space for pedagogical design that adapts to new modalities for the acquisition of knowledge for adult students. In this article we describe a service-learning case study: La Huella (“The footprint”), which was carried out by 4 teachers and a total of 67 students from 6 modules from different degree programs in Business Administration. Their main achievements were to collaborate in the development of a brand with deep links to creative channeling as insertion therapy;  the manual creation of valuable objects as an expression of a state of human fulfillment, and the development of a Volunteer Program that would  support the commercial arm and the promotional strategy of dissemination through social networks.