University Service-Learning in Physical Education and Sport Sciences: A systematic review

Abstract

Higher education requires a pedagogical transformation to guide teaching practice toward true educational competences. Service-Learning (SL) has become a teaching methodology that promotes social and personal skills. This systematic review of the literature reports SL experiences and research of university subjects related to physical education and sport sciences. All of them are based on different descriptive axes such as the type of publication: description of educational experiences, research articles or theoretical works. Similarly, this review has considered the geographical location, the methodological approaches used, the type of service provided and the different profiles of service recipient groups. Following an exhaustive search, 18 peer-reviewed publications were organized according to the methodology used, characteristics of the sample, duration and intensity of intervention programmes, instruments used, geographic distribution, profile of the group receiving the service and effects on students’ academic learning. The results indicate that the methodologies used tended to be qualitative, while the variety of samples and duration of interventions was very broad. The instruments used were mainly interviews and questionnaires. Most of the groups receiving SL included people with functional diversity or disabilities, children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, children with special educational needs, people at a disadvantage or social exclusion and curricular lag. The publications in the present review highlight the impact of SL in university subjects related to physical education and sport sciences.

Service-Learning with College Students toward Health-Care of Older Adults: A Systematic Review

“…The programs described may vary widely depending on features such as study methodology, duration and intensity of the SL program, location, service learners or service receivers, and scope of action. There is great diversity in terms of program length, but the most repeated ones were programs lasting one semester and providing 20 hours of service, which is a result consistent with the reviews made by Chiva-Bartoll et al [56] or Copaci and Rusu [57]. This might reinforce future volunteering because Antonio et al’s study [58] associates the high attendance of college students in SL programs with future repetitions as volunteers.…”

Learning with Older Adults through Intergenerational Service Learning in Physical Education Teacher Education

“…Previous studies have offered a panoramic overview of SL impact in terms of academic, professional, and social effects [22,23]. These results are also endorsed by many studies in the field of physical activity and sports sciences [15,16,24,25]. Therefore, SL may be useful for enabling students to understand and learn about aging and older adults.…”

Perspectivas y retos de la intervención e investigación en aprendizaje-servicio universitario en actividades físico-deportivas para la inclusión social

“…En los últimos años se han llevado a cabo diversos los estudios que contemplan la necesidad de abordar el ApS en escenarios de actividad física con perfiles diferentes, tanto de estudiantes como de colectivos receptores (Carson & Raguse, 2014;Chiva-Bartoll et al, 2019;Richards, Eberline, Padaruth & Templin, 2015;Santos-Pastor, Martínez & Cañadas, 2018). En todos los casos, una puesta en práctica del ApS en el campo de la actividad física y el deporte debe considerar una serie de criterios para garantizar una correcta intervención, evaluación y repercusión sobre los agentes implicados (Chiva-Bartoll, Capella-Peris & Pallarès-Piquer, 2018; Ruiz-Montero, Chiva-Bartoll & Rivera-García, 2016).…”

“…Respecto a los efectos relativos al carácter académico, personal y prosocial del alumnado referidos en el ApS a través de la actividad física, puede decirse que coincide con el detectado en otras disciplinas (Eyler, Giles, Stenson & Gray, 2001). Entre las conclusiones más frecuentes de los estudios de ApS y actividad física, destaca la idoneidad de la actividad física como herramienta para el desarrollo de competencias fundamentales en la formación de futuros docentes (Capella-Peris, Gil-Gómez & Chiva- Bartoll, 2019;Santos-Pastor, Martínez-Muñoz & Arribas-Cubero, 2017), así como otras competencias de carácter transversal como la social y ciudadana (Gil-Gómez, Moliner-García, Chiva-Bartoll & García-López, 2016), y el crecimiento emocional, académico y personal (Corbatón, Moliner, Martí-Puig, Gil-Gómez & Chiva-Bartoll, 2015;. Asimismo, los resultados de estudios relacionados con el ApS y la actividad física coinciden en la gran oportunidad que se presenta para adquirir habilidades de liderazgo, resolución de problemas y pensamiento crítico en futuros docentes (Chiva-Bartoll, Pallarés-Piquer & Gil-Gómez, 2018;Mumford & Kane, 2006), sin olvidar el favorecimiento de la formación de estos a la hora de afrontar las realidades y desafíos de un mundo cambiante (Wilkinson et al, 2013).…”