Service Learning Commons^™

Seeking More High-Quality Undergraduate Degrees: Conditions For More Effectively Working With Policy Makers, Judith A. Ramaley

Higher Education

Our nation’s colleges and universities have always sought to prepare their graduates for life and work in their own era. The pressures we face today, both from outside the academy and within the higher education community, are complex, interlocking, and hard to manage. Some of these challenges require us to rethink what it means to be educated in today’s world and to explore ways to provide a coherent and meaningful educational experience in the face of the turbulence, uncertainty, and fragmentation that characterizes much of higher education today.

Reinventing Citizenship As Public Work, Harry C. Boyte

Civic Engagement

The fate of democracy is inextricably tied to the work of educators, as well as to the meaning of citizenship and the practices of civic education. If we are to create a citizen-centered democracy—with citizens capable of tackling the mounting challenges of our time—we must revisit conventional ideas. We will have to reinvent citizenship as public work, for the sake of ourselves as educators, as well as for our students and for the democracy itself.

Service Learning Students’ Perceptions Of Citizenship, Audrey Falk

Education Faculty Publications

This study examines the conceptions of citizenship held by students engaged in a service learning course. Open-ended responses to instructor-developed surveys were analyzed. Results indicated that students primarily viewed good citizenship in terms of community service; however, their ideas about service were limited to passive kinds of service such as helping others and volunteering, rather than active kinds of service such as community organizing. Results were compared with conceptions of citizenship held by students engaged in another course with a smaller volunteering component. Opportunities for broadening service learning students’ understanding of citizenship are discussed.

The Impact Of Service-Learning On General Education Outcomes At A Community College In Virginia, Sonya Lisette Landas

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Service-learning is an instructional method designed to cultivate interaction between students and their communities in order to improve the learning process. Although there is a wealth of information available pertaining to the development and implementation of service-learning in higher education, evidence supporting the impact of service-learning on general education outcomes at a community college is minimal. The current study investigated the impact of service-learning on two general education outcomes at a local community college: critical thinking and personal growth (measured by two subtasks on the Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Assessment). The researcher used an Analysis of Variance with repeated …

Service Works!: Collaboration Between Vocational Rehabilitation And National Service Programs As An Avenue Towards Employment For Vr Clients, Sheila Fesko, Allison Hall, Institute For Community Inclusion, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Volunteering and engaging in community service are effective avenues for personal and professional development, service participants actively contribute and to strengthen their communities. For people with limited vocational experience, national service can be part if a long-range employment plan. Service can allow VR clients to develop vocational skills, gain work experience, engage in career exploration build professional networks.

Urban Partnerships Promoting Academic Excellence, Amy L. Cook, Laura A. Hayden, Robert A. Gracia

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Boston Public Schools (BPS) and the University preparation programs have developed a collaborative partnership that shares a vision for charting bright futures for all students. This program aims that incorporating service learning in curricula will prepare school counseling students to promote educational excellence and equity among urban youth, and Co-creating school counseling interventions between UMass Boston faculty and BPS personnel will foster communication and meet student needs.

Community Health Nursing Service Learning, Joyce K. Edmonds, Diane Coste

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Through the Service Learning Course, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, RN-BS Online Program, Senior Level Course, Community Health for RN’s and NU 461, 6 credits Student Body Registered Nurses (70-105 each semester) throughout the state seeking to obtain a Bachelor in Science of Nursing. The Institute of Medicine, Future of Nursing Report recommends increasing the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80% by 2020. Instructional Aim Students obtain a better understanding of public health and nursing theory and practice as they further develop their professional and civic identities through meaningful service to their communities. Service Learning Requirement …

Harbor Point Outreach Partnership, Walter Derney Center, Joan Arches, Kim Bomba

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Harbor Point Outreach Partnership is a community-university tutoring and afterschool youth enrichment program based on the work of students in service-learning classes, volunteers and work study students from UMass Boston and the Community. We are part of the UMASS Boston-Harbor Point Apartment Community Memorandum of Agreement. Our primary partner is the Walter Denney Youth Center and most activities take place at this location. We also partner with the Dever-McCormack School.

Enhancing The Team Experience In Service Learning Courses, Audrey Falk

Education Faculty Publications

Service learning is pervasive in higher education today, with 31 percent of students at Campus Compact member schools engaging in service activities (Campus Compact, 2009) and universities’ missions and strategic planning documents increasingly aimed at developing engaged citizens. Service learning has many potential benefits for college students; among those benefits is the opportunity to develop and practice teamwork skills. The present paper describes the strategies used in a team-based service learning course to support positive team experiences for students.

Service-Learning In The United States: Status Of Institutionalization, Ann Rautio

Service Learning, General

Service-learning takes students beyond the traditional classroom by integrating service to the community into the academic curriculum. In forming new connections to their communities, students experience an increase in academic achievement, career orientation, social development and civic response. They acquire a sense of efficacy, learn 21st century skills such as teamwork and problem solving, and engage in the broader world of their community and the society of their future. In 2000, the Education Commission of the States (ECS) conducted the first 50-state (and the District of Columbia) policy scan on service-learning, seeking to determine the status of institutionalization of service-learning …

Creating A Culture Of Assessment: 2012 Annual Member Survey, Campus Compact

Higher Education

Campus Compact has conducted an annual membership survey since 1987. The purpose of this survey is to help the organization and its member campuses track the extent of civic engagement activity in order to be able to implement ongoing improvements as well as to report outcomes to various constituencies.

This year’s numbers tell a story of continuing growth in support structures for campus engagement, leading to notable levels of engagement with students, faculty, and community partners. Where possible, comparisons with prior years have been provided to highlight areas of growth as well as those where more work is needed.1 Campuses …

How Porous Are The Walls That Separate Us?: Transformative Service-Learning, Women’S Incarceration, And The Unsettled Self, Coralynn V. Davis, Carol Wayne White

Faculty Journal Articles

In this article, we refine a politics of thinking from the margins by exploring a pedagogical model that advances transformative notions of service learning as social justice teaching. Drawing on a recent course we taught involving both incarcerated women and traditional college students, we contend that when communication among differentiated and stratified parties occurs, one possible result is not just a view of the other but also a transformation of the self and other. More specifically, we suggest that an engaged feminist praxis of teaching incarcerated women together with college students helps illuminate the porous nature of fixed markers that …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of An Internship Program, Daniel Jackel

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The traditional way to learn about social sciences in a university setting includes taking courses that teach theoretical frameworks and scientific methodologies that are required for one’s major area of study. The courses that are taught to students are determined by what major they sign up for. After a student has taken all required courses,what skills does the student have to take with him after graduation?

Whether participation is pursued solely for academic credit, for career development, or for civic engagement, an experiential experience typically enhances a student’s connection between academic content and “real world” applications. Bridging the gap between …

Understanding How Institutional Leadership Affects Civic Engagement On University Campuses, Prairie Leigh Burgess

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher education in America has a long tradition of civic engagement education. Although there is theoretical and rhetorical support, many institutions still struggle with implementing effective civic engagement on their campuses. The aim of this study was to provide an understanding of factors that contribute to successful civic engagement, specifically focusing on the affect of presidential leadership. The study used a limited sample of two groups to provide comparative analysis and offer much needed statistical research for civic engagement. Institutions were identified through the organization Campus Compact and the Carnegie Foundation's elective Community Engagement classification. Institutions that had joined Campus …

Deepening The Roots Of Civic Engagement: 2011 Annual Membership Survey - Executive Summary, Campus Compact

Higher Education

Campus Compact has supported the efforts of campuses to develop an engaged academy and promote the public purposes of higher education for more than 25 years. As demonstrated by the annual survey of Campus Compact’s nearly 1,200 member colleges and universities, this effort continues to pay off: Each year more students on more campuses are engaging with their communities in ways that create strong partnerships and encourage growth and development. These experiences reinforce academic learning and encourage lifelong civic habits.

Catch The Spirit: A Student's Guide To Community Service, Prudential

Guides

Ideas and information on how young people can help make their communities better places to live.

Programming For Impact: An Approach To Measure Project Success, Project Star

Guides

The Programming for Impact (PFI) Approach used by NSSC programs provides you with a framework for developing measurable outcome/impact-based objectives for each need identified in your community and for reporting project results. This packet provides information to help you design measurable objectives to include in your work plan and an evaluation plan to assist in measuring the outcomes or impact of your service activities. Part I of this packet will assist you in identifying community needs and preparing outcome-based objectives to meet these needs. Part II will help you develop an evaluation plan for each objective in your work plan …

Ua23 Newsletter, September 2010: Progression Through Partnerships, Alive Center, Western Kentucky University, Aurelia Spaulding

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Educationg Citizens, Building Communities: Annual Membership Survey Results - Executive Summary, Campus Compact

Higher Education

Campus Compact’s annual survey of its 1,100+ member colleges and universities gauges a host of measures of campus commitment to and support for service, service-learning, and civic engagement. Results over the past decade reflect a deepening awareness of the importance of such activities in enhancing teaching and learning, building strong community/campus partnerships, and educating the next generation of responsible leaders.

Improving Student Learning Outcomes With Service Learning, Mary Prentice, Gail Robinson

Higher Education

Growing numbers of community colleges are incorporating service learning into the curriculum. While research has documented many benefits to those who participate in this experiential pedagogy, a primary goal of service learning is to increase students’ learning of course material.

Death Of A Dream Service-Learning: 1994-2010: A Historical Analysis By One Of The Dreamers, Don Hill

Service Learning, General

This essay was written in 1994 to stimulate discussion about issues that I felt threatened the efforts of the service-learning community to effectively expand with high-quality programs. It was based on my observations as a person involved in providing professional development support to teachers and education professors. — Don Hill, October 2005

A Guide For Evaluating Indian Education Services, Products, And Materials, Denise Juneau

Tribal Nations Documents

The following qualifications and criteria are designed to assist school districts in their decision-making process for professional development, curriculum, and other needs (see lists below) that are related to Indian Education for All and student achievement issues. The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) offers this guidance to help schools sort through the variety of available educational services and materials so that the most effective and culturally relevant services and materials will be highlighted for use in Montana schools. It is up to each local district to make choices that meet its needs. We hope this process will help tailor professional …

Idaho Learn And Serve Evaluation Report, Gallant Analytics

Evaluation/Reflection

This report examines and evaluates the effectiveness of the Idaho Learn and Serve program in the state of Idaho for the 2008-2009 school year. Fourteen schools were awarded the grants from around the state. The results of survey responses submitted by the grantee schools and the students within the program are compared in a pre-post format.

College Of Health And Human Services International Service Learning Program: Gales Point, Belize, Jordan Norris, Carrierobin Menapace

Impact Belize

No abstract provided.

Educating Citizens Building Communities: Annual Membership Survey Results - Executive Summary, Campus Compact

Higher Education

Campus Compact conducts an annual survey of its member colleges and universities to—among other things—gauge student and faculty involvement in service and service-learning, assess institutional support and culture for service and service-learning, identify the types of courses and programs offered as well as the issues being addressed through service, and identify the nature of campus-community partnerships. This publication provides an executive summary of our major findings in 2009.

Community-Engaged Scholarship In Ffigher Education: An Expanding Experience, Judith A. Ramaley

Higher Education

Higher education in this country has always been expected to serve the public good. Sometimes, the emphasis is on preparing educated citizens or practitioners in especially critical fields and how public service can deepen and enrich learning and prepare students to lead purposeful, responsible, and creative lives. Sometimes the focus is upon institutions themselves as major intellectual and cultural resources for a community. In this paper, based on the keynote presentation at the Community Engaged Scholarship for Health Collaborative's invitational symposium, the author explores four levels of engagement: the individual, the academic community and its concepts of scholarship, the institution …

Developing Enterprise Budgets For Sustainable School Gardens: Service Learning In A Global Context, Ashley D. Jones, Jennie S. Popp

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Service learning programs are becoming a part of curricula in universities throughout the United States. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, (UAF) established a service learning program that targeted the educational, health, social, and agricultural needs of a community. The focus of this research aimed to provide students, faculty, community members, school officials, and students with a template for crop budgets. These crop budgets are used to evaluate the costs and returns of producing multiple crops at a school. Crops produced in a sustainable garden must meet three criteria: 1) have minimal negative environmental impact, 2) provide just-in-time production of quality …

Indian Education For All: Your Guide To Understanding And Enjoying Pow Wows, Murton Mccluskey

Tribal Nations Documents

The following pages include a collection of information which is intended to help the reader better understand and enjoy the events and activities which occur at many of the plains area pow wows and celebrations. Because the customs, rules and regulations may vary from one celebration to another, the booklet should serve only as a basic guide and not as an authoritative directory. It is merely designed as a resource to help the reader to be more knowledgeable and better able to understand and enjoy the history, events, activities and planning of a pow wow. Comments and suggestions are welcomed …

Effects Of Service-Learning On Student Attitudes Toward Academic Engagement And Civic Responsibility, Larry Joseph Moss

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

This empirical study explored the impact of service-learning participation on high school students' attitudes toward academic engagement and civic responsibility. This study focused whether a group of high school students who participated in a service-learning project had more positive attitudes toward academic engagement and civic responsibility than their high school peers who did not participate in a service learning project.

Learning To Serve, Serving To Learn: Grant Portfolio 2008-2009, Evans School

School K-12

Evans High School Grant Proposal (2008-2009)