Service Learning Commons^™

Teaching Ethics Through Community Service, Judith A. Boss

Special Topics, General

Community service learning, when combined with a program of ethics education, is an effective means of enhancing students' personal, social and moral development as well as their academic performance.

Service-Learning Guide Book: Designed For Curriculum-Based Service-Learning, Steven W. Dieleman

Curriculum

This guidebook includes: Part One -Essential Components of Service Learning; Part Two-A Process for Designing Service-Learning Opportunities with Students; Part Three-Administrative Forms for Service Learning; Part Four-Student Assessment and Reflection in Service -Learning; Part Five-Changing and Improving Schools and Communities through Service-Learning; Part Six-School-Business Partnership Promoting Student Achievement and Service-Learning; Part Seven-Examples of Service-Learning

Developing Active Citizens: Community Service Learning In Social Studies Teacher Education, Rahima C. Wade

Service Learning, General

How are social studies teacher educators to prepare teachers for working in a society fraught with social, environmental, and economic problems? If the true mission of our profession is active citizenship, we must help our students learn the value of engaging in long-term efforts to revitalize our democratic society and the skills to respond compassionately to those whose daily needs cannot wait for societal transformation. This article is based on the premise that social studies teacher educators are in a unique position to develop future teachers' commitment to giving their students opportunities for active involvement in the community and the …

Becoming People Who Find Solutions, Eli J. Segal

Special Topics, General

I asked a young boy in Maine why he thought spending six hours a month in a homeless shelter was an important part of his 5th-grade lessons. "Because I used to think that homeless people were really different and frightening," he said. "Now I know that a lot of homeless people are like me inside, but things didn't work out for them somehow. I'm learning about what they need."

Assessment Of A Service-Learning Programmme, Chris Walsh

Evaluation/Reflection

In the summer, 1994, NSEE Quarterly, I described the design and setting up of a new service-learning course at Roehampton Institute, London, England. The innovatory nature of this course was determined by its academic availability in the undergraduate curriculum. In this article, I want to examine the assessment methods and criteria. Why was it decided to provide a rigorous system of assessment and to assess the reflective work produced rather than directly assess the agency experience?

Curriculum Integration And The Disciplines Of Knowledge, James A. Beane

Service Learning, General

At a conference on curriculum integration, a speaker who admitted that he had only recently been introduced to the concept said, "From a quick look at various readings, it seems that the disciplines of knowledge are the enemy of curriculum integration." Unwittingly or not, he had gone straight to the heart of perhaps the most contentious issue in current conversations about curriculum integration. Simply put, the issue is this: If we move away from the subject-centered approach to curriculum organization, will the disciplines of knowledge be abandoned or lost in the shuffle?

Experiential-Learning Activities In Undergraduate Developmental Psychology, Andrea D. Clements

Higher Education

In two studies, I examined student responses to an increased emphasis on experiential activities in a required undergraduate developmental psychology course. For four experiential sections (n=134), each class topic was related to a specific, real-world application. Four other sections (n=187) were taught primarily by lecture, with one out-of-class observation assignment. The experiential sections rated the value of and interest in the subject matter higher and the courtesy and consideration of the instructor significantly more positively than did the lecture sections. Students in the two types of sections did not differ significantly in achievement. A follow-up study identified the origin of …

English Language Arts And Service Topic Bibliography, Robin Vue Benson, Robert D. Shumer

Bibliographies

Community service and service-learning projects represent a powerful forum for developing language and communication skills. Connections with the community reinvigorate language education while enhancing the civic awareness of students. The sources selected for this topic bibliography are intended to aid practitioners in thinking about and developing service activities in their classrooms, schools and communities. The first section contains references providing background information and conceptual frameworks useful in thinking broadly about the role of service in the English language arts. This is followed by items which feature description of service programs or information pertinent to program development. Records in each section …

English Language Arts And Service Topic Bibliography, Robin Vue-Benson, Robert D. Shumer

Bibliographies

Community service and service-learning projects represent a powerful forum for developing language and communication skills. Connections with the community reinvigorate language education while enhancing the civic awareness of students. The sources selected for this topic bibliography are intended to aid practitioners in thinking about and developing service activities in their classrooms, schools and communities. The first section contains references providing background information and conceptual frameworks useful in thinking broadly about the role of service in the English language arts. This is followed by items which feature description of service programs or information pertinent to program development. Records in each section …

Civics, Social Studies And Service Topic Bibliography, Robin Vue Benson, Robert D. Shumer

Bibliographies

Participation in service activities can be a vital component to civics and social studies education. The sources selected for this topic bibliography are intended to aid practitioners in thinking about and developing service activities in their classrooms, schools and communities. The first section contains references providing background information and conceptual frameworks useful in thinking broadly about the role of service in education and youth development. This is followed by items which feature description of service programs or information pertinent to program development. Finally, Section Three has references discussing the civic and citizenship education context surrounding any service activity. Records in …

Intergenerational Service Topic Bibliography, Robin Vue Benson, Robert D. Shumer

Bibliographies

This topic bibliography is produced in response to numerous requests from service and education practitioners for information on intergenerational issues and programs. Additional records have been added in this most recent revision. The primary source for the below citations and annotations is the Eduational Resources Information Center's (ERIC) database of Resources In Education and Current Index to Journals in Education. This material is supplemented by references from a draft bibliography by Generations United as well as some resources abstracted by the National Information Center for Service-Learning. Records from each source are indicated by ERIC, GU, and NICSL, respectively, following the …

Impacts And Effects Of Service Topic Bibliography, Robin Vue Benson, Robert D. Shumer, Madeleine S. Hengel

Bibliographies

Many claims have been made about the impact of service-learning on participants, programs and communities. From positive influences on psychological, social and intellectual development to effects on alienation, attitudes and social behavior, service-learning has been mentioned as a method of achieving these outcomes. Additional reviews of the literature in areas related to civic participation and general engagement in the public, political process indicate that service-learning can have an affect on the civic development of youth.

On the other hand, some studies have indicated service-learning does not always have the desired outcomes. As Dan Conrad points out in his review of …

Lessons Learned: Institutionalizing Service On The Campus, Corporation For National Service, Cooperative Education Assocation

Conference Proceedings

Learn and Serve America: Higher Education Corporation for National Service. January 26, 1995 Telebriefing: "Institutionalizing Service on Your Campus" Resource Packet.

Community Partnerships: Collaboration For Youth Service Learning, Terry Pickeral, Beau Bassett, Rachel Vaughn

Conference Proceedings

On behalf of the Alaska State Community Service Commission, I would like to welcome you to a series of training, forums, and workshops on Learn & Serve America programs. These programs have great potential to impact the youth and adults of our community.

We are pleased to have Terry Pickeral and Rachael Vaughn with us for the week and hope to learn from them additional ways that the people of Alaska can help to create collaborative relationships for youth service, volunteerism, educational reform, and community involvement.

The Alaska State Community Service Commission has been developing a State Pan that proposes …

The Minnesota Americorps-Youth Works Evaluation Plan, Robert D. Shumer, Jane Maland

Evaluation/Reflection

Passage of the Youth Works bill is important legislation. It brings Minnesota to the forefront of the national service movement and sets standards for other states to follow. Because Youth Works leads the nation in involving young people in service to their community ad their state, the evaluation design also reflects the innovative spirit of the legislation. The state evaluation design incorporates the best of other evaluative studies of service programs and promotes new processes which reflect the intent of the legislation.

The state evaluation of the AmeriCorps-Youth Works Programs promotes programmatic self-evaluation, while it links together state and federal …

Students And Service-Learning: Planning Programs With Communities, Ruth A. Assell

Partnerships/Community

Project: "Improving the Health of Women and Children Through a Multidisciplinary Service-Learning System"

You are about to embark on an exciting journey--working with a population of homeless women and children, the agencies that serve them and the community in which they live. You, in partnership with these individuals and groups, will be assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating a service-learning program aimed at addressing mutually identified needs. This handbook is intended to assist you in that process. Although the handbook provides an overview of the entire process-assessment through evaluation, most attention is given to the needs assessment portion of the process. …

Students Trained In Advocacy And Community Service: Training Manual, Pennsylvania Campus Compact

Guides

A fundamental goal of the STACS program is to further develop students to become "community leaders" or "active citizens." Many historians, philosophers, and social scientists, after Witnessing a process of social disorganization and a decline in local community life, have concluded that the processes that fragment and change communities are inevitable. These processes have been called many things: progress, modernization, urbanization, industrialization, secularization, and "the great change" (Rollans Warren). Change itself has been measured in terms of loss, decline, and deterioration of traditional communities. In discussions that emerge as a result of the Citizenship Development component of the STACS workshops …

From Teaching To Learning: A New Paradigm For Undergraduate Education, Robert B. Barr, John Tagg

Higher Education

Two alternative paradigms for undergraduate education are compared; one holds teaching as its purpose, the other learning. The natures of the two paradigms are examined on the following dimensions: mission and purposes, criteria for success, teaching and learning structures, underlying learning theory, concepts of productivity and methods of funding, and faculty and staff roles in instruction and governance.

Service Learning With Student Organizations, Mary Anderson-Rowland

Higher Education

Recently, there has been an increased demand on fiscal accountability in all sectors, but perhaps even more so in the educational arena. Recruitment and retention have become very important in a time of shrinking engineering enrollments. This means that special efforts need to be made to attract new students to our engineering and applied sciences college, especially underrepresented minorities and women. At the same time, extra efforts need to be made to retain the students already recruited. All of this takes time and money.

The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) at Arizona State University (ASU) has a plan …

Faculty Guide To Service-Learning, David B. Johnson

Higher Education

Since you are reading this, you probably have an interest in service-learning. Perhaps you are presently a volunteer in your community or had a fulfilling experience with activism as a college student. Maybe you have been incorporating community service in your teaching and are looking for some new ideas. Possibly you are searching for a new approach to bring more life to the classroom or just recharge your batteries. Whatever the motive, the proven pedagogical strategy of service-learning may be for you.

Preparing The Way For Reform In Higher Education: Drawing Upon The Resources Of The Community-At-Large, Judith A. Ramaley

Higher Education

Higher education is being asked to pay more attention to student learning and to contribute to the enhancement of the social and economic conditions of the community it serves. As a result, educational institutions will no longer be self-contained Community members and organizations have become not only critical partners inframing the goals and intentions of the educational reform movement, but they also have assets that must be tapped by educational institutions that wish to implement change and respond to social needs

A Profile Of Service Learning Programs In South Carolina And Their Responsiveness To The National Priorities, Mary Kathryn Gibson Carter

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of Service Learning activities and programs in South Carolina; to explore the relationship between the person coordinating these activities and the degree to which Service Learning is practiced; to determine how Service Learning projects and activities respond to the national priorities of meeting critical educational, human, public safety, and environmental needs; and to determine how many students are participating and the number of hours they are volunteering in Service Learning activities. The study addressed all public schools funded in FY93 with Serve America and FY94 with Learn and Serve America …

Give Water A Hand: Leader Guidbook, Give Water A Hand

Curriculum

By opening this guidebook, you've taken the first step in helping young people Give Water A Hand. Here you'll find step by step guidelines for helping your youth group or class (ages 9 14) make a difference for their community and the environment. This Leader Guidebook is for you, the youth leader, and accompanies the Action Guide, written for youth.

The Contribution Of Religion To Volunteer Work, John Wilson, Thomas Janoski

Special Topics, General

The connection between church membership, church activism, and volunteering is explored using a three-wave panel study of young adults. Volunteering to help others solve community problems is more likely among members of churches that emphasize this-worldly social concerns, especially among those socially involved in these churches. Among Catholics, the connection between church involvement and volunteering is formed early and remains strong. Among liberal Protestants, the connection is made only in middle age. Among moderate and conservative Protestants there is little connection at all. Conservative Protestants who attend church regularly are less likely to be involved in secular volunteering and more …

Service Learning Standards: Draft Interim Content And Performance Standards, California Department Of Education

Special Topics, General

The Challenge School District Reform Initiative calls on California's educators and parents to embrace a simple but powerful concept: school districts must set high content and performance standards for student achievement-stating clearly and publicly what each student should know and be able to do at the end of each year in each subject area. Schools are challenged to hold themselves accountable for results, reporting precisely how well their students are achieving and how many students are meeting the school district standards.

Action Research In The Service Of Learning, Warren Everett

Special Topics, General

Alma High School has a 9th-12th grade student population of about 720 in a primarily rural setting in Michigan's middle-of-the-mitten. We are considered a low-economic area with more than 40% of the students qualifying for free or reduced lunches. Some light industry remains, but what was the national center of mobile home production is completely gone as well as the linking industries. Student enrollment has dropped by nearly half over the last 20 years. In 1990, 9% of the 0-17 year-olds were Latino, most of whom were poor academic achievers. While our community has a prominent small college and a …

Partners: The Shared Service Experience, Big Brothers/Big Sisters Of America

Special Topics, General

Partners: The Shared Service Experience documents Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of America's (BB/BSA's) first national initiative designed to encourage Big Brother-Little Brother and Big Sister-Little Sister pairs to become partners in community service. Big Brothers/Big Sisters (BB/BS) agencies, and the volunteers they rely on to provide service to children and youth, can have a far-reaching positive effect on local communities. The key is to educate adults and youth about the individual and societal benefits of community service activities. This gives the "Littles" an opportunity to take on "Big" roles by contributing to their neighborhoods.

Usd And Community Partners. .. A Team Approach To Service-Learning, Learn And Serve America

Special Topics, General

The University of San Diego received a Corporation for National Service "Learn and Serve America: Higher Education Enhancement" grant during the 1994-95 academic year. Over 325 students from 18 classes enhanced their classroom learning by integrating course theory with their community service-learning experiences. How and why did this happen?

Service Learning And Urban Schools: A Method For Developing Attitudes Reflective Of Social Responsibility, Julianne Price

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Currently, a growing number of our nation's school districts are encouraging students to perform community service. Vermont, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, for example, all include community service activities as part of their K-12 education plans. Maryland requires all high school students to complete 60 hours of community service prior to graduation. And as part of California's Challenge Initiative, it is expected that by the Year 2004, every student in California will engage in at least one community service or service-learning experience prior to graduation (1996, California Department of Education).

By The People: Citizenship And National Service, The Center For Democracy And Citizenship, Harry C. Boyt

Guides

As an AmeriCorps member, you are part of a national effort, a national movement, to address some of America's most pressing problems -- from education to violence, health care to the environment. AmeriCorps members demonstrate that citizens can be serious players in public life and can build the foundations for a healthy and flourishing society in the 21st century. AmeriCorps broadens our understanding of democracy and citizenship, returning us to our nation's wellsprings.