Faculty and students from the School of Communications and Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences presented original research at the annual conference of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Sept. 23-25 in Baltimore.
Alexa Darby, associate professor of psychology, presented her work, “Meeting Clients’ Needs in Academic Service-Learning: Motivation for Collaboration,” which was co-authored by Frances Ward-Johnson, associate department chair in the School of Communications, and Tammy Cobb, assistant director for community partnerships.
Darby also presented two projects completed as part of Elon’s undergraduate research program. “Motivation to Collaborate: Community Organizations and Universities Working Together” was co-authored by Ward-Johnson and Cobb, as well as undergraduate students Gabriella Newman, Janna Chenault and Margot Haglund.
Undergraduate honors student Elise Noyes was the co-author with Darby on “The Impact of Emotions on Learning in Academic Service-Learning.”
Communications associate professor Amanda Sturgill and Communications assistant professor Phillip Motley also presented work, including “Preparation for International Service-Learning: Evaluating Pre-Trip Cultural Training,” which is based on experiences in Elon’s Interactive Media master’s program. Motley and Sturgill were joined by colleague Ananda Mitra from Wake Forest University in a symposium session titled “International Service-Learning: The Need for Cultural Preparation.”
Support for Sturgill and Motley’s work was provided by the Fund for Excellence in the Arts and Sciences.