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org/jchemeduc Article

Implementation of Service Learning in the Chemistry Classroom: A

Colombian Experience
Adriana María Chaurra*
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ABSTRACT: Service-learning methodology makes a connection between student classroom learning and the application of
Downloaded via UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES ANDES on June 28, 2021 at 20:36:31 (UTC).

knowledge to solve community needs. The present study was carried out with the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente (Colombia)
community by environmental engineering students enrolled in a Chemistry 2 course. The students helped the Universidad
Autonoma de Occidente community reinforce criteria for separating solid waste generated in the cafeteria. To carry out this project,
the students had to appropriate concepts from the chemistry course such as functional groups, types of polymers, and the
biodegradation process of materials and its relation to the principles of solid waste separation. Once the concepts were learned,
students developed strategies to guide the community in the correct separation of solid waste using a simple vocabulary so that
people unfamiliar with chemistry could understand and apply the concepts. The project positively impacted student learning and
promoted personal satisfaction as a result of performing useful service and using their knowledge to solve a real worldwide problem.
KEYWORDS: General Public, Public Understanding/Outreach, Collaborative/Cooperative Learning, Applications of Chemistry

T he role of university education should not be limited to the

transmission of knowledge from different fields of study
but should also include a series of skills in the world of work that
help students to adapt to work environments and contribute to
the solution of real-world problems.1,2 In this way, diverse
pedagogical methodologies have been used in science to
improve student learning while demonstrating the application
of concepts to real-life situations and combining individual
research with the ability to work in collaboration with others
(service learning, case studies, problem based learning).3−7
Usually, throughout a course, students have few chances to
participate in community service even though one university
goal is to produce human beings committed to the development
of society. For this reason, it is necessary to apply educational
methodologies that link efficient university education to the
solution of real problems.
Service-learning methodology makes a connection between
the knowledge a student acquires in the classroom and the
application of that knowledge to solve specific community needs
(service) by providing a mechanism to bridge gaps among
science, universities, and communities. During the application of
service-learning methodology, students analyze how concepts
can help solve a community need, give the community feedback
with solutions, and reflect on how this knowledge relates to the
problem in question, as well as the importance of the acquired
skills for their future professional life.8 The connection between
classroom learning and service establishes the difference
between service learning and other volunteer activities.9
Through hands-on experience and guidance, research, and
analysis of real problems, the student obtains scientific
knowledge as well as an understanding of concepts related to
the curriculum (learning) which will enhance his/her critical-
thinking skills and increase social commitment.10,11 This service
should reinforce the concepts that have been taught in the
© XXXX American Chemical Society and
Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
A J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
classroom and provide a deeper understanding of their content
and usefulness. Additionally, service-learning methodology
enables students to learn scientific course content in a
cooperative, interactive manner that involves extensive team-
work and where, at the same time, the community receives
quality service.9
Despite the benefits of the service-learning methodology,
there are many impediments that make the implementation of
this methodology in the classroom difficult; some of these are
the difficulty of finding a community with needs related to
chemistry, the trouble for the travel of the students to the site
where the project will be developed, and the large amount of
material that must be covered during a semester that prevents
teachers from including a project without sacrificing coverage of
the entire curriculum. The flexibility of the teacher and the
curriculum and development of a short project as a service-
learning component of a course help to overcome some of these
impediments; some information to deal with these difficulties
has been reported in the literature.12−14
Service learning is applied to a wide variety of areas from
different fields of study, but few cases have been reported for
chemistry in Colombia, maybe due to it being considered an area
indifferent to the problems of society.15 The potential benefits of
service learning have motivated some professors at the
Universidad Autonoma de Occidente in Colombia to begin
Received: June 8, 2020
Revised: May 26, 2021
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00594
Journal of Chemical Education
integrating service learning into their courses, chemistry
included.
In the service-learning project described in this paper,
concepts from the Chemistry 2 (organic) curriculum in
environmental engineering were used to reinforce proper
separation of the solid waste generated in the Universidad
Autonoma de Occidente cafeteria in Cali, Colombia, South
America. Proper solid waste disposal leads to solve a university
environmental problem under a mutual learning environment
for the community and students.
■ METHODOLOGY
Participants
Chemistry 2 students were chosen because this was the only
course offered in the environmental engineering career at the
Universidad Autónoma de Occidente that included the
foundations of polymers and the biodegradation cycles of
matter in its curriculum. Therefore, this was an opportunity to
make the connection between these concepts and the
classification of solid waste and, at the same time, solve a
community problem identified by the students who are also part
of the community. Chemistry 2 course contents (fourth
semester of environmental engineering) focus on organic
chemistry. The implementation of service-learning method-
ology was developed during the August−December 2018
semester. After evaluating different possible projects, the
Universidad Autónoma de Occidente community was chosen
for the development of the service-learning project.
At the beginning of the semester, the idea of applying this
learning option to a part of the course was proposed, and the
students were asked to think about whether they wanted to
participate or not since their participation was not mandatory.
All the students were pleased and agreed with the idea of
applying this hands-on learning methodology.
Identification of Community Needs
At the beginning of the semester, the professor suggested that
the students develop some topics in the curriculum following the
service-learning methodology. In order to find a community
problem in the city of Cali (Colombia) where they could apply
Chemistry 2 concepts, a brainstorming session was carried out
with the students. The following ideas were proposed:
i. Evaluate the presence of heavy metals in the water used by
the university for some activities because the university
uses groundwater.
ii. Design and produce didactic material to support the
process of teaching chemistry in public schools in rural
areas of the city.
iii. Reinforce solid waste management criteria in the campus
community.
The first idea was not carried out because the subject of
metals, although included in the chemistry 1 curriculum, is not
part of Chemistry 2, and because the university had no atomic
absorption spectrometer. The second idea was not developed
because it required continuous travel to rural areas before and
during project development.
The third was the most feasible project to carry out because it
did not require off-campus travel; the concepts needed to
develop the project were part of the Chemistry 2 program and
would be very useful in the Solid Waste Management course of
the following semester.
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Once the problem to be worked on was identified, the
students moved on to the phase where they investigated the
campus community’s perception (administrative staff, cleaning
staff, professors, students) of solid waste disposal in the
university cafeteria.
For this phase, 50 randomly selected members of the campus
community were asked two questions during lunchtime in the
cafeteria. The survey included professors (5), administrative
staff (12), cleaning staff (3), and students (30). The questions
were as follows:
• Do you know the rules for solid waste disposal into the
different colored waste bins? Yes (24/50) 48%.
• Bearing in mind that if we separate the solid waste
properly, we can recycle a part of it. Would you like to
participate in an awareness campaign on solid waste
management? Yes (49/50) 98%. Maybe (1/50) 2%.
The results of the survey showed two things, a real need for
solid waste disposal practice reinforcement in the community
and the community’s willingness to participate in the project.
Preservice Reflection
Once it was decided that Chemistry 2 students were going to
work on solid waste criteria reinforcement, the professor made
student folders which described service-learning methodology,
project stages, and advantages. Videos of experiences in the
application of the methodology in chemistry courses were
shown and discussed in class. One video described service-
learning methodology, explained the different stages in the
development of a service-learning project, and briefly described
a project developed by a university chemistry professor in which
chemistry students planned didactic activities to explain to
elementary school students the role of the ozone layer in global
warming and climate change.16 In the other video, high school
chemistry students developed a project where wastewater was
recovered from a rural home to be used to irrigate a family
crop.17 The purpose of the videos was to motivate the students
and show them that their knowledge of chemistry has a value for
others. Additionally, the videos showed them that even high
school students can plan service-learning projects which help to
build up their self-confidence, mitigate their fears, and clarify the
role of each actor in the project.
During the discussion of the videos, the students were
motivated by the possibility of contributing, as a part of the
community, to reinforcing adequate solid waste disposal
practices on campus by applying the chemical concepts learned
during the semester. On the other hand, students were
concerned about the amount of time they should devote to
the development of the project, how grading the activities
involved in the project would be carried out, and how to ensure
that all the members of the group would contribute to the
development of the project.
As a part of the reflective activity, students were asked to
evaluate the role of chemistry in environmental engineering and
their previous knowledge of solid waste classification criteria, as
well as the connection between solid waste selection criteria and
the chemical nature of solid waste. All students agreed that, since
one of the goals of their profession is to determine environ-
mental pollution, which in many cases is of chemical origin,
chemistry is necessary for their professional performance.
Regarding knowledge of solid waste classification, students
confessed to having problems when deciding where to dispose of
some materials and to have no knowledge of the relationship
between solid chemical properties and solid waste disposal.
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education
■
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
LEARNING TOPICS INCLUDED IN THE PROJECT
During the project, students achieved the following learning
goals:
• To recognize functional groups present in polymers and
their relationship with the degradability of materials.
• To understand the difference between natural vs synthetic
polymers.
• To use fundamental polymer chemistry to explain
polymer classification.
• To understand the difference between biodegradable and
nonbiodegradable materials, and recyclable and non-
recyclable materials.
• To identify biodegradation cycles of compounds and their
relationship with solid waste degradation.
• To understand classification rules for solid waste
according to properties such as biodegradation, potential
for reuse, and type of polymer.
• To solve problems using initiative, decision making,
creativity, and critical reasoning.
• To have an ethical, responsible, and respectful attitude
toward people and the environment.
To provide a framework for the project, students received the
student folder, and the following message was transmitted by the
professor during the introductory class: “During the semester,
we will carry out a project using service-learning methodology
which will help reinforce solid waste selection criteria in the
university community. In the development of this project:
• It is important that you learn chemistry concepts related
to the criteria governing solid waste separation.
• Each group must conduct an independent study and
deliver an oral presentation of a maximum of 20 min to
the class.
• Once the concepts are clear, you will have to transmit
them to the campus community in simple words that will
be easy to remember when deciding where to dispose
waste.
This project, as other course activities, will be evaluated.”
■ SERVICE-LEARNING GOALS
Poor classification of solid waste due to little or no knowledge of
separation rules reduces the amount of material that can be
recycled compared to a proper separation. Therefore, helping
the community to clarify errors in the disposal of waste
contributes to solving an environmental problem for the
university community and has a great value due to the durability
of the project outcome.
During the development of the service-learning project, the
following goals had to be met:
• Enhancement of science communication.
• Design of creative solutions for real-life problems
associated with solid waste classification in the primary
source.
• Enlargement of the sense of social responsibility.
• Development of empathy for working in as a team.
■
IMPLEMENTING THE SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT
Action Plan
The professor met with the group to discuss the service-learning
strategy to be used in the project during the second half of 2018.
The class was divided into groups of 4 students. During the first
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session, they were asked to read the student folder in their
groups, and doubts about the project were clarified. The project
name was decided on with the participation of all the students.
The final name was defined as “Applying Chemistry to Solid
Waste Collection at the UAO”. Table 1 in the Supporting
Information shows the schedule agreed upon which included
meeting time between the professor and each group to track
project progress. The students’ main fear at the start of the
project was the time they had to invest in developing the
activities. So, meticulous planning of the activities gave the
students peace of mind.
Quantification of Solid Waste Disposition
The university cafeteria has 4 solid waste stations which consist
of five bins: blue, green, beige, gray, and white according to the
color code accepted by the Colombian Ministry of Environment
and Sustainable Development before December 2019. Color
code waste classification in bins was as follows.
• Blue: plastic waste such as bottles, clean bags, clean
disposable cups, etc.
• Gray: reusable waste made of clean, dry paper and
cardboard.
• Green: ordinary waste such as dirty napkins, plasticized
paper packaging, rubbish from sweeping, and Tetra Pak
packaging.
• Beige: compostable organic waste such as vegetable and
fruit waste.
• White: glass material such as clean bottles, carafes, and
containers.
In order to quantify the amount of material that was
misclassified by cafeteria users at the time of disposal, groups
visited a different solid waste cafeteria disposal station during the
lunch hour.
The contents of the green, gray, and blue bins were weighed,
and the misclassified waste was then separated and weighed.
These bins were selected because they are the ones that handle
the largest amount of waste.
Quite a large amount of the material found in the three
garbage bins was misclassified: 30−35% in the green bin, 60−
70% in the blue bin, and 70−80% in the gray bin. These results
confirmed the need to educate the university community on the
proper disposal of their solid waste. With this information, the
students, in their groups, discussed the results of the experience
and planned the activities for the Community Awareness Day
that they were organizing.
From this activity and from the survey, the students realized
that, despite the fact that the university had received several
national and international awards for good practices in
environmental management, a reinforcement in the solid
waste separation practices and training of the community in
the separation criteria was needed, and the students considered
that the maintenance of a sustainable campus was everybody’s
responsibility.
Learning Chemical Concepts and Linking to Recycling
The chemistry course 2 offered at the Universidad Autónoma de
Occidente is focused on organic chemistry, and the curriculum
includes the following: functional groups, chemical properties of
organic compounds, and the environmental problems caused by
them. As is common in many basic organic chemistry courses at
various universities around the world, the course begins with
organic compounds with a lower degree of oxidation such as
alkanes until it reaches more oxidized organic compounds such
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education
Figure 1. English language brochure explaining the steps for disposing of each waste product into an appropriate bin after lunch. Designed by students
of Chemistry 2 class with the help of Sara Gomez, reproduced with permission.
as carboxylic acids. Additionally, the course covers concepts
such as the chemical structure of biomolecules and some
metabolic cycles. For the development of the service-learning
project, the students had to learn the concepts related to the
functional groups present in polymers and the biochemical
reactions associated with biodegradation processes. The
following concepts were involved in the development of the
project, which corresponds to 10% of the Chemistry 2
curriculum:
• Functional groups.
• Polymer formation reactions.
• Polymer characteristics and classification.
• Biodegradable materials and their characteristics.
• Material biodegradation cycles.
• Connection between biodegradation cycles and solid
waste.
The students in the Chemistry 2 course were organized into
groups that had to give an oral presentation of these concepts.
Each group exposition topic was assigned by lottery on the day
of the presentation. Therefore, all groups had to know about all
the concepts.
Knowledge appropriation and oral skills were evaluated and
demonstrated by the student’s ability to explain the chemical
concepts involved in the classification of solid waste in simple
words so that, during Awareness Day, they could be understood
by people with no chemistry background. Oral presentations
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were worth 30% of the project grade: evaluation criteria are
shown in Table 2 in the Supporting Information as Concepts
Oral presentation 30%.
At the end of the oral presentations, every group was asked to
present a conclusion regarding solid waste classification. As a
main conclusion, the students established the importance of first
carrying out appropriate separation in order to take advantage of
recyclable solid waste, thereby contributing to the circular
economy of the region. Additionally, students felt that the
relation between chemistry and solid waste sorting was not easy
to determine, but the study of polymer concepts and
biodegradation cycles helped them make the connection.
■ PROJECT OUTCOMES
Final Products
Groups explored and discussed different tools that could be used
to explain to the university community the correct way to classify
solid waste during Awareness Day. The choice of the type of
material that would be used on Awareness Day was the result of a
process of discussion and internal agreements in each group
taking into account the skills they had to create the product.
Finally, one group decided to make a short video about solid
waste disposal practices, and two groups made a brochure
(pamphlet). The design of the tools to be used during the
Awareness Day helped the students to develop intellectual,
communication, and problem solving skills.
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education
Figure 2. Spanish language brochure designed by Chemistry 2 students during the development of the service-learning project. Original pamphlet in
Spanish, used on Awareness Day. Designed by students of the Chemistry 2 class with the help of Sara Gomez, reproduced with permission.
The pamphlet designed by one of the groups is shown in
Figure 1 (also found in the Supporting Information). It explains,
in simple terms, the correct way to dispose of solid waste, the
classification of plastics, and how to dispose of the waste that
remains on the tray after lunch. Figure 2 (also found in the
Supporting Information) shows the original pamphlet in
Spanish in case some chemistry teacher wants to use it in his/
her class. The pamphlet and video were used during the
awareness campaign directed at the university community.
Project Evaluation
The project grade had a value of 30% of the final grade for the
course and its evaluation included the following points:
• Oral presentation of chemical concepts involved in the
solid waste classification.
• Design and elaboration of teaching material (video and
pamphlet) to be used during Community Awareness Day.
The teacher reviewed the PowerPoint presentation, the video,
and the pamphlet before they were shown to the class.
The final version of the video and the pamphlet were
presented during Community Awareness Day. Evaluation of the
whole project was carried out following the Evaluation Rubric
shown in Table 2, Supporting Information.
Awareness Day
Awareness Day was held in the university cafeteria with the
participation of teachers, students, and administrative and
cleaning staff. Students set up two stands at different points in
the cafeteria: one next to a cafeteria solid waste station and the
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other at the entrance to the cafeteria. Students at each stand
invited groups of 5−6 people from the community to participate
in the awareness activities they were proposing.
The students located at the stand at the entrance to the
cafeteria asked the group if they knew the rules for solid waste
disposition, and whether they applied them every day. Once the
students obtained answers, they asked where different solid
waste items such as a dirty napkin, food wrappers, or a bottle that
still contained liquid should be discarded. In all the groups that
participated in the activity, there was at least one person who was
not clear on how to properly dispose of all solid waste.
Therefore, the students proceeded to show their video
explaining in simple words the rules for solid waste disposal,
the existence of different classes of polymers, and information
about how the type of polymer determines the degradability of
bottles. Finally, the students explained the function of each bin
to the group of people and asked them to reflect on the
importance of adequate solid waste disposal in order to reduce
their environmental impact and permit the recycling of some
materials.
Meanwhile, the group located next to the solid waste station in
the cafeteria proceeded to invite cafeteria users to show them
where lunch tray waste should be dumped. Each person was
asked about the main difficulties faced when making the decision
of where to dispose waste left on their lunch tray. Some people
said that their confusion when making their decision was due to
not having enough knowledge of the full picture for the
classification rules. To help people to overcome this lack of
knowledge, the students used the pamphlet (Figure 1) to explain
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education
the proper way to classify solid waste according to material
biodegradability and the potential for recycling.
The activities described above required the application of
communication skills, learning, and application of concepts
included in the curriculum of Chemistry 2.
Therefore, the activities carried out on Awareness Day offered
a mutual learning environment for both the community and the
students. On the other hand, an inadequate classification of solid
waste due to little or no knowledge of the separation rules makes
the amount of material that can be recycled less than if the waste
were properly separated, creating an environmental problem for
the university community, which can be solved through
activities designed to teach the community proper waste
separation practices.
Follow-Up of Solid Waste Disposition Behavior
One week after Awareness Day, Chemistry 2 students inspected
the solid waste from the garbage station located inside the
cafeteria. The contents of the bins (green, gray, and blue) were
weighed to determine the percentage of misclassified material in
each one. The results were 20% in the green bin, 55% in the gray
bin, and 63% in the blue bin.
The results showed an improvement in the disposal of waste
in the green and gray bins, but it seemed that the community was
still not clear about the selection criteria for the blue bin. On the
basis of this result, the students hypothesized the following:
Continuity in the improper disposal of waste in the blue bin
is due to the fact that the cafeteria users were not yet aware
that the disposable material deposited there must be clean.
Now, it must be taken into account that tracking was only
carried out once in just one station because the semester was
ending. Consequently, it is recommended that teachers that
wish to reproduce this project carry out the follow-up process at
least twice at all the stations that were evaluated at the beginning
of the project.
■
REFLECTION
Reflection is one of the most important parts of a service-
learning project. It is used to link course tasks to academic
content and service, and it provides a means for the teacher to
evaluate the fulfillment of learning objectives. For this reason,
the teacher developed sessions where the students reflected on
the activities carried out during the project and evaluated the
knowledge acquired through these activities.
Some student reflection moments that can be described
follow.
After quantifying misclassified waste, students wondered why
it was so difficult for people to understand the rules for solid
waste classification and what strategy they could undertake to
help the community to improve waste classification practices.
Another issue that arose from the reflection moment was the
fact that, as they are an active part of the community, the
maintenance of campus sustainability was their responsibility,
too.
During the oral presentations, some students confessed that,
before this activity, it was even confusing for them to decide
where to dispose of some materials such as food packaging and
disposable plates, and that the acquisition of knowledge about
polymers and biodegradability made sense with the solid waste
classification.
The final day of group reflection took place within the
framework of the following questions:
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• Do you think you really learned the chemical concepts
related to solid waste management?
• What were the most difficult and the most entertaining
parts of the project?
Some comments that arose during the reflection time were the
following:
The project “Applying Chemistry to Solid Waste Collection at the
UAO” developed during the Chemistry 2 class conducted by Adriana
Maria Chaurra Arboleda was wonderf ul. I loved it! The success of
the project was immediate. Understanding the chemical composition
of each type of waste while understanding its classification exceeded
all my expectations. The methodology of the course gave me the
opportunity to do teamwork with my classmates inside and outside
the classroom adding value to my research on the chemical
composition of waste. We gave oral presentations and reviewed
bibliographic material in Spanish and English in addition to
creating surveys and videos that made the research more interactive.
I enjoyed working with the university community looking for a way
to solve an environmental problem at my university. I consider that
the project contributed to expanding my knowledge regarding
synthetic and natural organic polymers. Currently as an engineering
student, I apply the knowledge learned in Chemistry 2 in my personal
and student life. (Esteban)
The service learning project allowed us to learn chemical concepts
and apply them to solid waste classification in real life. Sometimes we
learn concepts in class, but we do not always see their usefulness for
solving real life problems. (Adriana)
The Chemistry 2 course was a great help for my professional
growth at the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, since it allowed
me to put the theoretical knowledge acquired on solid waste into
practice. My project was based on how we should make people aware
of the correct disposal of solid waste for later use. I would also like to
see more of this type of activities promoted in other areas so that, in
addition to putting the theoretical side of learning into practice, we
will get closer to the world of work. (Camila)
The service learning project developed in Chemistry 2 allowed me
to assimilate concepts that we often recognize but do not properly
understand: as for example, oxo-biodegradable. Through rigorous
research, I was able to understand that the meaning of this word was
related to an accelerated plastic degradation process. On the other
hand, by assimilating the chemical concepts related to the separation
of solid wastes, I was able to share the information with people in the
Universidad Autonoma de Occidente community with complete
certainty and good arguments for clearing up the conf usion around
the classification of solid wastes. Finally, I was able to understand
that it is really important to make a correct classification to reduce
the amount solid wastes generated. An appropriate classif ication
allows their reuse, reincorporation into the production process, and
reduction in the consumption of raw materials. (Maria Camila)
The service learning project implemented in the Chemistry 2 class
gave us great experiences as we learned how to look for relevant
information f rom reliable sources and validate it creatively and
interactively to convey the knowledge needed to change the
perspective on plastics and their great potential for reuse. The
methodology followed during the project was the correct one because
the order of the activities allowed us to carry out the project in an
orderly manner. We had enough time for the development of each
activity, thus achieving both their realization and socialization.
Finally, everything learned was shared with the university
community at a stand. It was at that time that we realized the
real importance of the research carried out and of its transmission to
the community to encourage the creation of new consumer practices
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Journal of Chemical Education
and recycling, not only on a personal level but also at a job level.
(Daniela)
Overall, students were receptive to the challenge of helping
the members of the community clarify the rules for solid waste
classification. As a teacher of Chemistry 2 for the past four years,
my perception of this course was that the chemistry concepts
involved in the project made sense for the students who were
confident when exchanging opinions with the community. In
addition, it was very evident that they enjoyed each phase of the
learning process; their comments at the end of the semester are
proof of this. The use of service-learning methodology in a
chemistry course has been found to be an effective teaching−
learning tool that promotes inquiry, real problem solving, and
teamwork in an active-learning environment.
On the other hand, students had to develop creative strategies
(pamphlet and video) to capture the attention of the
community, which led to intellectual development, and the
acquisition and application of knowledge related to their career.
Decoding the separation rules into simple language requires an
understanding of chemical concepts and the application of
communication skills, both of which lead to the achievement of
the goals of a service-learning project and the learning goals set
at the beginning of the project. Additionally, the development of
planned activities leads students to think about chemistry as an
integrative discipline, not as an isolated collection of concepts.
The environmental engineering program students helped
members of the university community understand the rules for
solid waste separation and improve separation practices; these
practices are directly connected with their future employment
leading them to career preparation and personal growth.
Additionally, their concern and willingness to solve a university
community environmental problem revealed their social
responsibility, ethical commitment, and development.
The population of Colombia is mostly Mestizo and Black,
with indigenous minorities. The students that worked on the
project were all Mestizos, and the development of the project
required teamwork requiring them to come to agreements. Even
though we cannot talk about a multicultural understanding here,
they all demonstrated being open-minded to the proposals of
their groupmates.
■ CONCLUSIONS
Associating chemistry concepts with real-life situations through
service-learning methodology greatly helped students to
contextualize the concepts acquired in Chemistry 2 for future
employment. The planning of the activities that would take place
during the service-learning project helped to mitigate the
students’ fear of the time they would have to invest during the
semester. A demonstration that the students really achieved the
learning and service-learning objectives was their ability to
communicate to community members the procedures for proper
solid waste disposal and to clarify their doubts. Service-learning
methodology helped students to develop skills such as creativity
and communication, and to awaken a sense of social
responsibility. All of the above will be very useful during their
professional life. As shown in the course evaluation comments,
the students enjoyed the learning process and experienced
personal satisfaction since they could apply their knowledge to
relevant real-world situations in cooperation with community
members.
Since the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente is a regional
university that focuses on regional problems, service-learning
G https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00594
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Article
methodology constitutes an excellent learning option for
connecting the classroom to our society.
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*
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
sı Supporting Information
The Supporting Information is available at https://pubs.ac-
s.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00594.
Copy of Figure 1 showing English language brochure
explaining the steps for disposing each waste product into
an appropriate bin after lunch (PDF)
Copy of Figure 2 showing Spanish language brochure
designed by Chemistry 2 students during the develop-
ment of the service-learning project (PDF)
Table 1 detailing Chemistry 2 schedule for the seven-
week project and Table 2 detailing evaluation rubric of the
project (PDF, DOCX)
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
Adriana María Chaurra − Research Group on Environmental
Studies for Sustainable Development, Universidad Autónoma
de Occidente, Cali 760035, Colombia; orcid.org/0000-
0001-6277-4245; Email: amchaurra@uao.edu.co
Complete contact information is available at:
https://pubs.acs.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00594
Notes
The author declares no competing financial interest.
■
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The corresponding author wishes to thank the Chemistry 2-
2018 students at Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Camila
Bonilla, Camila Duque, Natalia Valencia, Daniela Velez, and
Sara Gomez, who designed and provided the brochure used in
this paper. Special thanks to the Vice-Chancellor of Universidad
Autónoma de Occidente, Alvaro del Campo Parra, for his
management, thus permitting us to carry out this training
program in service learning.
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