Student Perceptions of Open Pedagogy and Community-Engaged Service Learning

Abstract

Open pedagogy is an approach to instruction that places the student as a partner in the learning environment moving beyond traditional methods of instructional delivery that center the instructor as the expert. Open pedagogy allows for student contributions to the classroom that move beyond traditional instructional methods such as disposable assignments and educator led classroom discussions that are created by faculty to provide students with a learning experience. Instead, open pedagogy facilitates a student-centered learning environment that engages students as co-creators of learning and allows them to play a role in the facilitation of the learning environment. This paper focuses on the role of open pedagogy in community engaged service learning and is based on a quasi-experimental research study that explored student perceptions of community engaged service learning with and without an open pedagogical approach. The results report student satisfaction with the experience, perceived value, and the likelihood that they would take a course that combines these pedagogies in the future.