Sociology Commons^™

The Impact Of Service-Learning On Academic Outcomes: A Statewide Study Of Michigan Learn And Serve Grantees, Stephen Meyer

Project Summaries

Service-learning is a teaching strategy that involves students in service projects that are connected to the curriculum. Service-learning has its roots in the ideas of philosophers, such as Piaget and Dewey, who argued that students learn more when they are actively involved in their own learning and when learning has a distinct purpose (Anderson, Kinsley, Negroni, & Price, 1991; Conrad & Hedin, 1991; Kinsley, 1997). A body of evidence is building in support of the positive academic outcomes of service-learning (see Billig, 2000 for a review). However, the conclusions that can be drawn from many of these research studies are …

Service To Children Through Teaching, School Of Education

Curriculum

This guide features: Lesson Plan for Writing Letter to Military Personnel; Parts of a Friendly Letter; Book for Class to Welcome New Students; Describe Your Teacher; Know Your Town; Care of Classroom Pets; Picnic Game; Positive Characteristics About our Classmates; Teaching Procedures and Practices; and a Service Learning Lesson Plan.

Student Experiences With Service-Learning In Sport Management, Gregg Bennett

Higher Education

Many professors utilize academically-based service-learning in their classes to provide students with an experiential experience. In fact, service-learning has increased in popularity in higher education due mainly to the many perceived benefits of the method. Service-learning is being written about extensively by several authors (Gray, Ondaatje, Fricker, & Geschwind, 2000; Hilosky, Moore, & Reynolds, 2000; Jackowski & Gullion, 1998; Mattson & Shea, 1997; Sutton, 1989; Zlotkowski, 1995), as educators grapple with how to implement this effective means of learning into the curriculum.

Md. Service Learning: Classroom Link Weak?, Michelle Galley

School K-12

Maryland students are mucking out horse stalls, dancing in ballets, answering telephones, and ladling soup for the homeless in order to graduate from high school.

Eleven years after the legislature passed a first-of-its-kind state law requiring all public school students to complete 75 hours of service learning, young people are fulfilling the requirement with varying degrees of success.

Using Polvika's Model To Create A Service-Learning Partnership, Gwendolyn F. Foss, Maria M. Bonaiuto, Z. Sue Johnson, Dee M. Moreland

Partnerships/Community

Collaboration can maximize limited resources of universities, school systems, and public health departments by offering learning from experience. Polvika's theoretical model and principles from Community-Campus Partnerships for Health guided development of a service-learning partnership among a university, a county health department, and an alternative school in a large public school district. Of three commonly identified patterns of service-learning, this partnership demonstrated the pattern that equally emphasizes service to a community or agency, and mutual learning by all participants. All organizations in the partnership share a common goal to optimize the health of children in schools, and to provide quality learning …

The Legitimacy Of Experiential Learning In Research Universities, Angela E. Schmiede

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The goal of this historical and exploratory study was to describe and analyze the spread and legitimacy of experiential learning to and within Cornell University and Stanford University. Using an institutional and political framework, this analysis focused on understanding how elements of legitimacy from the academy, the experiential learning field and the external environment intersected to shape the diffusion, forms and purposes of experiential learning within Cornell and Stanford. The constructions of legitimacy within these three different contexts shifted over time, influencing the extent to which experiential learning was adopted; and once adopted, the extent to which it was adapted, …

Community Leaders' Perceptions Of University And College Efforts To Encourage Civic Engagement, Richard A. Brisbin Jr., Susan Hunter

Civic Engagement

"Students who volunteer in the community often end up staying or coming back after they graduate because they find out they can make a difference;' reports one economic development director in West Virginia. He and other community leaders agreed that getting college students involved in community activities not only had short-term benefits for the community but that often their experiences led to long-term gains for community life. This finding is important in a time when scholars, politicians, and pundits argue that a crisis of civic disengagement affects American politics. As a partial remedy for this crisis, educators have linked partnerships …

Service-Learning In Agricultural Instruction: A Guide For Implementing Real-World, Hands-On, Community Based Teaching And Learning, Carol E. O'Neil

Guides

Service-learning (SL) is defined as "a credit-bearing, educational experience in which students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility" (Bringle and Hatcher, 1995). The service-learning movement has gained tremendous popularity during the past decade in response to visionaries like Boyer (1990), who called for radical change in higher education toward the "scholarship of engagement," in which universities engage with communities as equal partners for the …

Experiential Learning As Service For Others, Mary K. Canales, Helen French

Service Learning, General

In the hours and days immediately after the collapse of the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001. When it became evident there would be few survivors to care for, nurses realized that despite their clinical skills and medical knowledge, they were powerless to help during this tragedy. Many began to question the meaning of their practice and ask themselves what they could do to serve their country and fellow citizens in this time of uncertainty. Since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, many nurses are learning other ways to serve and translating that service into personal and professional growth.

Learning That Matters, Shelley H. Billig

Special Topics, General

In Georgia, kindergarten and first-grade students conduct a community mapping activity to figure out the needs of the children within the school. Kindergartners new to the school say that the school layout is confusing and it is hard to find their way to the classrooms. Each class considers solutions, and students decide to label the hallways with street signs. Each class brainstorms potential names for the hallways, and first grade students design and conduct a survey. They eliminate names that do not represent positive images. (No Shock Street because it would scare the five-year-olds.) The surveys are administered, the data …

El Milagro: The Miracle Of Service Learning On The Border, Kathleen A. Baca, Elizabeth J. Gutierrez, Luly Valencia-Glenn

Diversity

In 2000, DoZa Ana Branch Community College (DABCC) received a grant from the American Association of Community Colleges Broadening Horizons through Service Learning program to develop service learning in southern New Mexico. Poised on the United States- Mexico border, DABCC serves a population that includes 40% colonia residents. Colonias are communities within 150 miles of the border that lack basic infrastructure such as paved roads, water and sewage treatment facilities, and adequate housing. DABCC has developed community partnerships with colonia residents and with agencies that provide services within the colonias. In their presentation, a DABCC team will describe service learning …

Mentoring Youth: A Service-Learning Course Within A College Of Nursing, Janis C. Childs, Susan B. Sepples, Kimberly A. Moody

Higher Education

Faculty at the University of Southern Maine College of Nursing and Health Care Professions developed a service-learning course that connected students and faculty with at-risk children in a local community. Nursing students, with faculty supervision and support, developed, implemented, and evaluated interventions to reduce risk factors and increase protective factors to build and strengthen the participants' resiliency.

Students enrolled in the service-learning course worked in the community where they gained an understanding of what it was like for children and adolescents to live in an impoverished community setting with disorganized family units and weak community support. The students learned to …

Colorado Department Of Education Service-Learning: Evaluation Report, Rmc Research Corporation

Project Summaries

In 2001, the state of Colorado received three federal grants to provide service-learning opportunities for students. Service-Learning Colorado at the Colorado Department of Education, in turn, distributed funds to a total 27 grantees. There were three types of grantees: Community, Higher Education, School Partnership (CHESP), School- or District-Based grantees, and Community-Based grantees.

Civic Engagement And American Democracy, Richard Erdmann

Civic Engagement

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote of the United States during the 1830’s and his observations say much about democracy in general, democracy in the United States of the 1830’s and democracy today. His greatest fear for the United States was of apathy on the part of its citizens. He saw individualism and material wealth as potent contributors to the United States but also as potential distracters. He felt that the greatest threat existed because democracy might work so well that citizens would become apathetic. At this point the omnipotence of the majority would cause the democratic freedoms to slip away almost …

A Status Report On Community Service Learning In The California State University For The 2001-2002 Academic Year, Season Eckardt

Higher Education

Community service and service learning arc long-standing touchstones in the mission and purpose of the California State University since the first campus was founded in 1857. Partnerships between local communities and CSU faculty and students make numerous goals achievable: they improve the quality of life across California, promote faculty research, and support CSU programs- all while students learn the value and satisfaction that comes from contributing to society. Policymakers and leaders of higher education have expressed renewed interest in utilizing service learning as a vehicle to instill civic values in students. All these elements have contributed to the profound advancement …

Cesar Chavez: Individual Action: Fluff And Fold, Orange County Cesar Chavez Day Initiative

Curriculum

Cesar E. Chavez was one of the most significant and influential civil rights leaders of our time. Chavez devoted himself to social justice and improving the lives of the impoverished and op- pressed. His name, like the name of Martin Luther King, Jr, speaks of character and commitment. This project is in honor of the life and work of Cesar E. Chavez.

The Cesar E. Chavez- "Fluff and Fold" project is a multifaceted service learning experience that will provide your grades 3-5 students with a vehicle that embodies Cesar Chavez' values, addresses homelessness issues, and facilitates gaining life skills all …

Building Community Through Service-Learning: The Role Of The Community Partner, Susan Abravanel

Partnerships/Community

The students in Mike Walsh's Natural Resources class at Nestucca Valley Middle School in Beaver, Oregon, are learning in the woods. Twice a month, teams are managing their own experimental forest, a quarter-mile strip of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property in Pacific City divided into 100-by-100 foot sections. Their curriculum begins with measuring and marking out the plots, removing invasive scotch broom plants, and marking and taking inventory of the lodgepole pine trees planted in rows 30 years earlier to hold back the shifting dunes. These 7th- and 8th-grader students will develop comprehensive management plans, outlining in detail which …

Community Needs Assessment Guide, Cesar Chavez Foundation

Guides

To ensure students have a clear understanding of the importance of a community needs assessment, gauge their understanding of “community” and “need.”

2003 Service Statistics: Highlights Of Campus Compact’S Annual Membership Survey, Campus Compact

Higher Education

The trend toward increasing civic engagement among colleges and universities is stronger than ever. In Campus Compact’s 2003 survey, member institutions reported not only record participation in community service but also an increase in structural and financial support for initiatives to improve communities and to make civic learning part of academic life.

Seizing The Moment: Creating A Changed Society And University Through Outreach, Judith A. Ramaley

Higher Education

This conference is built on two very interesting premises; first, that university outreach can change society and second, that outreach can also change the university. What is the mechanism by which this mutual influence can occur? What does the university offer the community, and what does the community offer the university? The short answer is--the opportunity to learn in the company of others in a situation where learning has consequences.

Starting A Volunteer Program In An Organization, Points Of Light Foundation

Guides

Instituting a new volunteer program or reenergizing an existing one involves a process that covers a range of management functions-from needs assessment, volunteer position development, and recruitment, to supervision, evaluation, and recognition. These processes are interdependent and together create a synergy that will enliven your volunteer program. Once instituted, an effective approach to volunteer management will perpetuate itself.

Cesar Chaves: Can't We All Get Along?: A Peer Mediation And Awareness Campaign Project For Middle School Students, Rmc Research Corporation, Cesar Chavez Foundation

Curriculum

The “Can’t We All Get Along? A Peer Mediation and Awareness Campaign Project for Middle School Students” provides a multi-faceted service-learning experience that will give students an understanding of César E. Chávez’s core values, specifically service to others, determination, the use of nonviolence as a tool for achieving justice, acceptance of all people, community building, problem solving knowledge, and innovation. The unit is tied directly to the California State Curriculum Standards for Middle School and provides young adolescents with the opportunity to gain conflict resolution skills while providing service to their peers. Whether used to celebrate César E. Chávez Day …

Civic Engagement And Service-Learning With Young Children: Lntergenerational Peacemaking Projects: By The Students, Volunteers And Staff Of Peace Games, Education Commission Of The States

Intergenerational

Violence, in all of its forms, continues to make learning difficult, if not impossible, for a substantial number of children. While high-profile incidences such as the Columbine High School shootings grab the public's attention, it is the daily difficulties of bullies, intimidation and fear that affect students in all schools (Twemlow, 2001 ).

Meeting Ncate Standards Through Service-Learning: Diversity, National Service-Learning In Teacher Education Partnership

Diversity

Over the past several years, college campuses across North America have seen an increase in the variety of service-learning projects integrated with academic course goals. Federal and state governments are asking schools, colleges, and departments of education to promote service-learning because of service-learning's unique capacity to promote high-quality learning and civic engagement in its participants. Teacher educators are responding by embedding service- learning into various teacher education courses and they report positive outcomes. For example, experiences in culturally diverse and/or low-income schools and communities juxtaposed with multicultural education courses provide preservice teachers the opportunity to gain a better understanding of …

The Impact Of Service Learning On Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy, Monalisa Mccurry Mullins

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

In recent years, the role of higher education in promoting volunteerism and social responsibility through service learning has become an issue that may radically impact both faculty and student development programs on American college campuses. Despite the significant amount of data regarding the impact of student participation in service learning on students' attitudes toward volunteerism and social responsibility, there is still a tremendous gap in our understanding of how such participation impacts subsequent student perceptions of personal self-efficacy. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to further articulate and clarify the relationship between student involvement in service learning courses …

Roadmap To Civic Engagement (Adapted For Washington Service Corps), Larry Fletch

Guides

Service-Learning Northwest partnered with Washington Service Corps (WSC), a statewide AmeriCorps program, to implement the Roadmap to Civic Engagement program in its 2002-2003 pilot year.

Service-Learning Northwest (SLNW), a program of Educational Service District 112, was established to meet the training, technical assistance and resource needs of educators, students, youth and community-based organizations throughout the service-learning and service communities. SLNW promotes service-learning excellence through the development of high quality service-learning practices and tools for success. Please visit our web site for information about products and services offered by Service-Learning Northwest at www.servicelearningnw.esd112.org.

Senior Capstone Faculty Handbook: A Resource Guide For Psu University Studies Capstone Faculty, Portland State University

Guides

This resource guide contains:

• What is the Senior Capstone?
• Teaching the Capstone Course: Most Commonly Asked Questions
• Combining Service and Learning: Essential Elements
• The Community Partner's Role in Capstone
• Clarifying Service and Learning Goals: The Use of Learning Agreements
• Sample Leaming Agreement
• Legal Issues in Community-Based Courses
• Student Safety in CBL
• Student Responsibility in Community-Based Leaming
• Combining Service and Leaming: Some Notes from Capstone Faculty
• Strategies for Student Support
• References and Resources
• Appendix

Inclusive Service Learning: A Training Guide For K-12 Teachers, Hampshire Educational Collaborative

Guides

Designed to be used in conjunction with the video FROM "YOU CAN'T" TO "YOU CAN" SERVICE LEARNING FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

The Impact Of Service-Learning On Meap: A Large Scale Study Of Michigan Learn And Serve Grantees, Rmc Research Corporation

Project Summaries

Service-learning is a teaching strategy that involves students in service projects that are connected to the curriculum. Service-learning has its roots in the ideas of philosophers, such as Piaget and Dewey, who argued that students learn more when they are actively involved in their own learning and when learning has a distinct purpose (Anderson, Kinsley, Negroni, & Price, 1991; Conrad & Hedin, 1991; Kinsley, 1997). A body of evidence is building in support of the positive academic outcomes of service-learning (see Billig, 2000 for a review). However, the conclusions that can be drawn from many of these research studies are …

Cesar Chavez: Who Are Today's Heroes?, Rmc Research Corporation, Cesar Chavez Foundation

Curriculum

This project will help young people to understand the characteristics that make individuals “heroes.” In learning about César E. Chávez’s life and values, students will learn about history, self determination, help for the needy, and actions that promote equity and justice. They will develop a sense of what it means to contribute to society and how they may make a difference. Students will also identify ways in which they can incorporate these characteristics into their own lives and recognize heroes in their community. Participation in the Chávez inspired service-learning project will promote academic learning, civic responsibility, and personal/social development.