This session will focus on library instruction to help students increase complexity in their thinking about social problems. As part of a Family Services service-learning course, students select a local non-profit organization and complete 30 volunteer hours. To address common assumptions and stereotypes, they participate in a librarian-led class session and find factual data from credible sources related to their organization’s target population. Student writing assessed with the Problem-Solving Analysis Protocol (P-SAP) indicates increases in critical thinking about social issues. More complex thinking as measured by the P-SAP rubric reflects movement from perceptions of social issues as within individual responsibility to awareness of systemic factors and, ideally, integration of both individual and systemic factors in problem development and resolution.

 

Learning outcomes: