School of Education faculty present at service-learning conference

Heidi Hollingsworth, associate professor of education, and Mary Knight-McKenna, associate professor of education presented at the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement 2017 Conference in Galway, Ireland.

Heidi Hollingsworth, associate professor of education, and Mary Knight-McKenna, associate professor of education recently presented at the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement 2017 Conference in Galway, Ireland.

Hollingsworth and Knight-McKenna presented their research on the growth of university students during a service-learning project where they worked with young children and their families in the Little Village, the pre-K component of Elon’s “It Takes a Village” Project. 

In particular, the research focused on the shift that students experienced from initially expressing math anxiety to gradually increasing their confidence for teaching emergent math skills to preschool children. The students came to value the importance of teaching emergent math, and they gained opportunities to communicate helpful information to families about fostering their young children’s growth in math.

Presentation citation — Hollingsworth, H., & Knight-McKenna, M. (2017, Sept. 15). “’I am now confident:’ Academic service-learning (AS-L) and early childhood teacher math anxiety.” International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) 2017 Conference, Galway, Ireland, Sept. 14-16.