| Student Resources |
Service Learning is student-centered, and therefore begins with matching student talents/knowledge to meet a need in the community. Expectations for the student role are discussed so that the project is clear and the learning objectives are established. As the student participates in the service, there is on-going reflection in the form of a journal, class discussion, or one-on-one conversation. On-line chat rooms could also work! Feedback by the community site supervisor and the instructor is provided, to assure the student is integrating learning in the service, and to promote critical thinking. The end result is enhanced learning and commitment to civic engagement.
|
Model |
Description |
Example |
|
Individual Placement: |
The placement model integrates a required community service component in an existing course. All students in a course are required to individually fulfill the service-learning component for course completion. Students select service sites from a menu of placements and complete the service hours and assignments designed to facilitate learning. |
An Outdoor Recreation Programming course collaborates with a variety of local environmental agencies to design and implement special events such as Earth Day, tree plantings, trail clean-up, wilderness preservation trainings and outdoor programs for adolescents. |
|
Fourth Credit Option: |
This is a model that allows a student (with consent of the department) to add a community service component to an existing course for an additional credit hour. |
A course offered at Virgina Tech, Introduction to Women's Studies once offered students the chance to earn an extra credit by volunteering with an organization serving women and writing a journal of their experiences. |
|
Optional Placement |
Similar to the 100% placement except the service-learning option is in lieu of another course requirement, i.e. a research paper. Students choose which activity they will pursue to fulfill the course requirement. |
A course, World Interdependence: Food and Population, offers students the choice of a research paper related to course issues or 15 hours of work at the Food Distribution Center where they explore local manifestations of course issues. |
|
Problem-Based: |
The problem based model incorporates the actual product of service with the course objectives. |
In a Technical Writing course offered at Virginia Tech, students are required to produce materials for nonprofits, which are then evaluated against course objectives. |
|
Service-Leadership |
The service-leadership model connects community service with the development of leadership skills and competencies. |
Exploring Leadership Praxis sections involve students in a variety of team projects that require leadership and student initiative, as an extension of their class work. |
|
Service-Centered |
The service-centered model builds a course around a community service experience. |
Crossing the Border Through Service-learning links Spanish language students with the immigrant Hispanic community. Students' outreach is supplemented with extensive writing and reading. |
|
Action Research: |
The action research model makes the study of community problems and the application of research findings the center of service-learning activities. |
In this model a student may be involved in an interdisciplinary research projects such as working for a County on an initiative, which is a project that monitors something in order to identify problems and make strides towards improving it. |
|
Disciplinary Capstone: |
The disciplinary capstone model invites students to demonstrate their accumulated knowledge in a specific discipline through a project. |
An example might be a capstone course that allows students to choose and implement a hands-on experience as a culmination of their work in the program. |
|
Grassroots Community Action |
Students work on pressing social issues along with or independent from a community agency.
|
In a course involving Race and Ethnic Relations and Issues, students could be involved in research and action on topics of racial injustice, including sweatshops, police brutality, third world debt, immigration and educational retention of people of color. |
http://www.compact.org/resources/service-learning_resources/
Recent publications on service learning and its impact in higher education
http://www.compact.org/syllabi/
A searchable database of service learning syllabi according to discipline
http://www.compact.org/disciplines/reflection/index.html
A guide on structured reflection for service learning
http://www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/online_documents/assessmentevaluation/service-learning_and_assessment_a_field_guide_for_teachers/
Service Learning and Assessment: A Field Guide for Teachers
http://awardsforexcellence.project.mnscu.edu/
Awards for Excellence (an opportunity to integrate service learning in your courses)
