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From PSYC4P07 Winter 2013: Group 06

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Effective Programs Available at Brock University

Brock University offers a large amount of serving learning experiences, specifically co-op programs, that are available for students. There are co-op programs that serve the Psychology students directly, and service learning experiences for the rest of Brock's population through other programs, courses, etc.

Service Learning at Brock

Brock University is a strong supporter for the need of Service Learning experiences through Co-op and placement opportunities for their student population. Brock University follows a set of guidelines by the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) in which service learning/co-op programs must abide to:

• Each work situation is developed and approved by the educational institution
• The student is engaged in productive work rather than merely observing
• The student received compensation for the work performed
• The student’s progress is monitored by the institution
• The student’s performance on the job is supervised and evaluated ^[1]

Brock University also implies their “Brock Co-op Advantage” which states that:

• There is nearly a 100% placement rate for students across all programs
• Brock screens all postings to ensure relevant and valuable work terms
• Brock is the third largest co-op school in the province ^[1]

Declared Benefits of Brock's Service Learning Opportunities

Brock University states that their service learning/co-op experiences provide students will clear advantages that will support them in their future. These advantages, take directly from the Brock website, are as follows:

• Students are available year round and can begin work in January, May or September. The typical work term length is four months in duration, but extended placements are easily enabled.
• Students are selected from a broad pool of candidates and accepted on the basis of academic performance
• Participation in weekly employment readiness workshops, delivered by corporate executives and partners, prepares students for transition to the business world. ^[2]

Service Learning Opportunities in Psychology

Brock University’s Psychology Co-op program focuses on “employable skills,” not just academic conduct ^[3] . The Psychology Department emphasizes statistics, data analysis, research and training ^[3] . Students generally complete two years of academic curriculum at Brock University, followed by 2 work terms in year three, and a final work term in fourth year, followed by two consecutive terms of academic curriculum ^[3].

The only example of a possible co-op opportunity available in the Psychology Department of Brock University that is presented on the Borock website is that of a Research Assistant ^[3]. Research Assistants are generally responsible for assisting a researcher in their research ^[4].^[5] Service learning programs at Brock University also involve a critical thinking section in which students must reflect on their community involvement ^[5]. According to Levesque-Bristol et al. (2010)^[6] and McKinnon & Fealy ^[7] the best service learning programs align academic goals with the community goals. These service learning programs are also designed to allow students to develop some social responsibility, become educated citizens about their own world, enhance motivation to learn, and to become more actively involved in political and social domains. Currently Brock University offers the following service learning programs:

• Foundations for Community Engagement (SOCI 2F60)
• Experiential Education in Recreation and Leisure (RECL 4Q96)
• International Perspectives on Development through Sport, Health and Physical Education (PEKN 4F32)
• Project-Based Teaching-Learning in the Faculty of Business

Service Learning in the Psychology Department

There is no specific course for psychology students to be able to engage in service learning at Brock. However, any student enrolled at Brock can register for the foundations for community engagement course, so psychology students are able to take this course if they are informed about it ^[8]. Gaining access to the service learning course is not convenient for psychology majors, unless students are explicitly told about this course or go looking on their own for service learning courses they are not going to find the course since the course is located in the sociology section of the course calendar. Also, this course is officially a sociology course and in turn the community involvement becomes more sociologically based than psychological. This course limits psychology students by not allowing them to engage in community issues that are related to psychology that may be important to them, which is an important factor for service learning programs. If the student does not relate to the community activities or feel as if they have a choice then they are not going to be motivated to be involved in such a course and in turn their motivation to reflect on creative solutions to community issues may become limited ^[6].

Notes and References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Brock University. Considering Co-op? Retrieved from http://www.brocku.ca/co-op/future-students-2/what-is-co-op
2. ↑ Brock University. Benefits of Brock Co-op Retrieved from http://www.brocku.ca/co-op/employers/benefits-of-brock-co-op
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Brock University. Brock University: Co-op, Going Places. Retrieved from https://experience.brocku.ca/UserFiles/File/Forms/BrockCo-Op-GoingPlaces.pdf
4. ↑ Wikipedia. Research Assitants Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_assistant. These assistants are not independent and not completely and directly responsible for the outcome of the research. The opportunity for a student to partake in this type of co-op program would definitely strengthen a student’s researching, data collecting, and communication skills. In all, the Brock University website focuses a great deal of attention on the general aspects of the co-op service learning opportunities offered at Brock University, but shares little about the specifics of said programs, particularly Psychology Co-op Programs.

   Ineffective Programs at Brock University

   Brock University offers many service learning and co-op programs to its students. However, access to these programs has become limited to students in the psychology department. Also, the programs that are available to psychology students are greatly lacking in their ability to enhance students’ ability to foster and promote creativity.

   Service Learning

   

   Service learning programs are designed to allow students to engage in both an academic and community setting <ref>Levesque-Bristol, C.,Knapp, T.D., & Fisher, B.J. (2010). The effectiveness of service-learning: It's not always what you think. ''Journal of Experiential Education'', 33(3) 208-224.</li> <li id="_note-Brock12">↑ ^{[[#_ref-Brock12_0|5.0]]} ^{[[#_ref-Brock12_1|5.1]]} Raddon, M. Student community outreach: What is service learning? Retrieved from http://http://www.brocku.ca/service-learning</li> <li id="_note-Levesque">[[#_ref-Levesque_1|↑]] <strong class="error">Cite error 8; No text given.</strong></li> <li id="_note-McKinnon">[[#_ref-McKinnon_0|↑]] Mckinnon, T.H., & Fealy, G. (March/April). Core principles for developing global service-learning programs in nursing.''Nursing Education Perspectives'', 32(2), 95-101. </li> <li id="_note-Brock13">[[#_ref-Brock13_0|↑]] Raddon, M. Service learning at Brock: A sample of service learning courses. Retrieved from http://http://www.brocku.ca/service-learning/service-learning-courses </li></ol></ref>+

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