Communications assistant professor Phillip Motley was selected as the 2012-13 Service-Learning Faculty Research Scholar.
In his application, Motley proposed a three-prong approach to studying the impact and reach of Elon University’s study abroad and service abroad opportunities. First, he wishes to examine the “pedagogies of international service-learning” to ascertain how service learning abroad differs from service learning closer to the university.
Second, Motley plans to investigate Elon faculty who are currently engaging in international service learning work with students. He’ll create a record of faculty who have a history of teaching these international experiences and then interview them to determine the benefits and drawbacks of service learning abroad.
Finally, he will form a strategy for integrating study abroad and service learning at Elon. His application states, “The end product of my efforts will be a defined plan for promoting international service learning to Elon faculty and staff.” Ultimately, his research will also be used to “build a structure that can be easily communicated and distributed to Elon faculty and staff.”
Motley is no stranger to international service learning, as he has taken groups of Interactive Media master’s students abroad during Winter Term to oversee their work for local non-governmental organizations. In the fall, he also partnered his Web Publishing course with the Multimedia Journalism course to work on a service-learning project for the Center for New North Carolinians in Greensboro, N.C.