Service Learning Commons^™

Summary Of Major Findings: Learn And Serve America, Higher Education, Maryann Jacobi Gray, Elizabeth Henegan Ondaatje, Sandra Geschwind, Abby Robyn, Stephen P. Klein

Project Summaries

This report provides an overview of results from the first year evaluation of Learn and Serve America, Higher Education (LSAHE), an initiative of the Corporation for National Service (CNS). The evaluation assessed the impacts of LSAHE on communities, students, and institutions in fiscal year 1995.

Working At Learning, Education Week

Special Topics, General

School-to-work, community service, and service-learning programs teach students to learn by doing. But are schools the right place for them?

In India / A Bold Experiment In Teaching Values, Carolyn Cottom

International Service Learning & Community Engagement

A religiously diverse school has proven that teachers can instill both personal and social virtues and a desire to excel, and that academic excellence flows from character development.

School-To-Work And Service-Learning, The National School-To-Work Learning And Information Center

School K-12

School-to-work systems show young people how their classroom experiences relate to their work and to their lives, typically through internships, apprenticeships, or other work-based learning experiences. Other methods of positive youth development, such as service-learning, can also provide opportunities for the real world application of classroom-developed skills. As a work-based learning component in a school-to-work system, service-learning extends learning beyond the classroom into real world contexts where young people acquire not only basic math, science, English, and communication skills, but also broader problem-solving and decision-making skills. However, instead of focusing primarily on occupational skills sought by employers, service-learning addresses community …

Youth Development/Youth Service Status Report, Minnesota Children

School K-12

During the 1994-1995 school year, over 80% of Minnesota's school districts chose to participate in Youth Development/Youth Service that has been an integral part of Community Education since 1987. Out of the 365 operating school districts in Minnesota, 290 districts applied for and received the $1.00 per capita authorized by the Minnesota State Legislature to "implement a Youth Development Plan approved by the (local) school board and to provide a youth service program."

Evaluation Of Learn And Serve America, Higher Education: First Year Report, Volume I, Maryann Jacobi Gray, Sandra Geschwind, Elizabeth Henegan Ondaatje, Abby Robyn, Stephen P. Klein, Linda J. Sax, Alexander W. Astin, Helen S. Astin, Tessa Kaganoff, Kathy Rosenblatt

Evaluation/Reflection

This report presents evaluation results for the first year of the Learn and Serve America, Higher Education (LSAHE) initiative, sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNS). It addresses impacts of LSAHE on communities, higher education institutions, and service providers.

Combining Service And Learning On Campus And In The Community, Barry Checkoway

Service Learning, General

Student workshops are valuable resources for combining service and learning. The challenge, Mr. Checkoway points out, is to recognize their limitations, integrate them with other courses in the curriculum, and find ways to improve their quality.

Citizenship, Community Service, And University--Based Community Schools, Marie K. Bogle, Ira Harkavy

Higher Education

In the October 6, 1995 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Alexander W. Astin discussed why "student interest and engagement in politics are at an all time low." Astin's explanation placed responsibility squarely (and in our judgement appropriately) at the feet of the American university. Despite their traditionally professed mission to promote good citizenship, universities have devoted few resources to that mission and performed it badly. Why has this occurred? Astin's answer was simple and direct- higher education has

Service Learning: Why Community Colleges?, Lynn Barnett

Higher Education

More than any other segment of American higher education, community colleges play a unique role in their own communities. The AACC is sponsoring several community-building and service learning projects at community college campuses across the nation.

Integrating Service Into A Multicultural Writing Curriculum, Robert Franco

Diversity

In 1986, the American Association of Community Colleges brought together nineteen distinguished leaders in higher education to produce Building Communities: A Vision For a New Century. Their mission statement focused on excessive fragmentation, cultural separation, and racial tension in local communities ·across America. It emphasized that many neighborhoods and families had lost their cohesiveness and that an atomistic individualism was on the rise (Commission on the Future of Community Colleges, 1988).

Reflections On Evaluation Of Service-Learning Programs, Maryann Jacobi Gray

Evaluation/Reflection

Somewhere between a thorn in the side and a bloom on the rose of service-learning is evaluation. Whatever one's personal attitude toward evaluation, pressures to demonstrate effectiveness are increasing for practitioners and proponents of service-learning at the postsecondary level. This article describes the factors driving interest in assessing program outcomes and reviews some of the challenges facing evaluators of service-learning programs. Although this discussion focuses on the higher education environment, many of the principles examined are also applicable to high school and middle school programs.

Linking Learning And Service: Lessons From Service Learning Programs In Pennsylvania, Carl I. Fertman

Service Learning, General

Service is part of most schools. School staff and students participate in car washes, bake sales, dances, read-a-thons, and SK races to raise money for national and local groups and community-based organizations. Other students and teachers provide thousands of hours of more direct service, working at hospitals, providing support services at the Special Olympics, cleaning parks, assisting at shelters and food banks, providing tutoring services, running hotlines, and visiting the elderly. Young people and their teachers can also be found speaking at public hearings, serving on policy boards, and visiting elected officials to talk about the needs of the community.

Swat Team Formed To Lead Service Learning, Lexington Community College

Project Summaries

Lexington CC's SWAT team is poised to lead the community in "learning through service." SWAT-the Service Work and Training Team-is made up of 10 LCC students who represent each division. Team members. who act as service providers and college ambassadors, are, from left (front row), Chanda Barlow, Terra Greer, Sean Corbin, Yevette Relford; (back row) Hendrick Floyd, Greg Williams, Rod Givens, Chris Cofher and Misty Sullivan. Charlene Walker, center, coordinator of the SWAT team, said the group will assist the college with recruiting and with · the Leadership Education Odyssey (LEO) project. They are available for projects at area hospitals, …

Proceedings From The Service Learning Summit - September 9-10, 1995, Dale A. Blythe, Candyce Kroenke

Conference Proceedings

There is great promise and significant challenges to sustaining and expanding service learning--both as a method of teaching and a method of educational reform. While the practitioners that use service learning are convinced of its benefits to youth, it has been difficult to substantiate claimed outcomes, particularly those related to academic achievement. There are problems in the depth of practice, the depth of research, and the expectations for outcomes.

The purpose of the Summit was to get people together to share, from their own perspectives, their expectations of service learning, its impact, and what they think is needed to make …

Implementing Service Learning In Higher Education, Robert G. Bringle, Julie A. Hatcher

Higher Education

In a recent article, "Creating the New American College," Ernest Boyer challenges higher education to reconsider its mission to be that of educating students for a life as responsible citizens, rather than educating students solely for a career. By doing so, the "New American College" will take pride in connecting theory to practice in order to meet challenging social problems, particularly those faced by universities in urban settings. As Ira Harkavey of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Community Partnerships has noted, "Universities cannot afford to remain shores of affluence, self-importance and horticultural beauty at the edge of island seas …

Developing Graduate Educational Technology Programs From A Service Learning Platform, John Lebaron, Dorothy Burke, Christine Maloof

Higher Education

The graduate College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), is in the second year of a service centered model for graduate coursework in educational technology. The two courses Technology and Learning Environments (T&LE, 1994), and Technology and Schools of the Future (T&SF, 1995) had previously been offered as "traditional" academic offerings. In cooperation with the Lawrence Public Schools, one of the poorest districts in the nation, these courses were modified as "service learning" experiences. A more detailed account of the first year of this project (LeBaron and Scribner-MacLean, 1995) is available on request to the authors. This …

Service Learning Coursebook • Ill Mathematics, Benjamin Winchester

Guides

The Mathematics Discipline of the University of Minnesota, Morris has moved into the forefront of its academic excellence with the addition of a service learning component in its curriculum. Three professors, Dr. Jon Anderson, Dr. Peh Ng and Dr. Engin Sungur recently received SEAMS (Science, Engineering, Architecture, Mathematics and Computer Science) Mini Grants from Minnesota Campus Compact in 1996. These grants challenge the faculty to find innovative ways to address community/environmental hazards and concerns while enhancing students academic and civic understanding.

Maryland Service Exchange Directory, Governor's Commission On Service

Partnerships/Community

On behalf of the Maryland Governor's Commission on Service, I am pleased to present the second edition of the Maryland Service Exchange Directory. The Governor's Commission on Service created the Maryland Service Exchange to provide cost-free, program development, technical assistance and training to Maryland's national and community service programs, non-profit and community-based organizations, schools and colleges. At the same time, the Exchange offers a new, innovative opportunity through which Marylanders can volunteer to serve our communities.

Investigating Urban Community Needs: Service Learning From A Social Justice Perspective, Carol Wiechman Maybach

Service Learning, General

Homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, hunger, teen pregnancy, youth violence, and marginalization of the disabled are but a few of the complex social issues that continue to plague urban America. They are also issues that attract the attention of student service providers involved in service-learning programs across the country (Education Commission of the States, 1994). However, few of the higher education service-learning courses focus on the investigation of the needs of the individuals included in these groups in the urban community, and even fewer build service--learning projects around a model that is accountable for the results of the service experience on …

Community Partner Orientation For Service Learning Courses, Service Learning Institute

Guides

We have prepared this manual as a "work in progress" to help you think about the service learning process and practice. We are at a crucial stage in developing service learning infrastructure. We began our work this fall semester supporting 7 courses which involved 160 students in over 30 agency/sites in the Salinas-Seaside-Monterey area. This spring, 24 service learning courses/experiences are being offered as more faculty become involved with extending learning experiences into the community.

We offer you this manual to assist you and inform you of our plans for supporting, monitoring, and evaluating service learning experiences this spring. We …

Crossing Boundaries A Research Agenda Toward Productive Learning And Community Renewal, American Association For Higher Education

Higher Education

Colleges and universities expect that society's pursuit of democratic goals is continuously informed by well-prepared graduates who shape and contribute to the common good. The creative, competent, and committed student is often a faculty's finest form of service. Joining this fundamental mission to the daily tasks of continually building and renewing democracy was the focus of the 12th annual AAHE Research Forum. Crossing boundaries among teaching, research, and service includes making informed commitments and taking responsible actions. But what do we need to know to reconsider who we are and what we do in light of the changing complexities of …

Leam & Serve Higher Education Programs In Minnesota: The Impact And Sustainability Of Service-Learning, Kevin J. Gormley

Higher Education

This article provides a descriptive evaluation of 12 higher education, service-learning programs in Minnesota funded in part by the Corporation for National Service: Learn and Serve America Program.' The research for this project was conducted in 45 days during the summer of 1995 using a phenomenological methodology to examine the impact and sustainability of the programs. The data for this research were derived from interviews with individuals involved in local initiatives. Three main categories of information became evident after analyzing the data: (I) program design, (2) success and impact of programs, and (3) sustainability and the future of service-learning. These …

Sociology And Service Learning At Loyola, Barbara H. Vann

Higher Education

Service learning is a term used to describe efforts to link community service to the academic curriculum. It is a broad, nebulously defined term which at times includes academic endeavors.such as internships, needs assessments and participatory action research (Marullo, !996). A more narrow .usage, and the usage promoted by its advocates, refers to the process through which students participate in organized service activity for academic credit to meet identified community needs and reflect on that service to further their understanding of course material (Bringle and Hatcher, 1994 ). And, as Marullo (1996) has pointed out, when service learning activity is …

Student Experiences With Service Learning In A Business Ethics Course, John Kohls

Higher Education

Service learning provides many challenges and opportunities for the instructor who wishes to test its potential. This paper looks at some of the promise for service learning in the undergraduate Business Ethics course and describes one experience with this project. Quotations from student journals and reflective papers are utilized to present the student's perspective on the project. Some suggestions are offered for insuring effective service learning in courses like Business Ethics.

Large-Scale Institutional Change To Implement An Urban University Mission: Portland State University, Judith A. Ramaley

Higher Education

In response to calls for accountability and effectiveness, public universities are reviewing their missions and are adopting measurable mission-specific goals. An emerging distinctive institutional type is the urban university, an institution characterized by the nature and extent of its responsiveness to the research and educational needs of complex metropolitan regions. This paper concerns the national environment for organizational change, a model for change, and a case study of one urban university that has pursued comprehensive and systemic change in its academic and administrative environment to direct resources to the support of its distinctive urban mission.

Implementing Service Learning In Higher Education, Robert G. Bringle, Julie A. Hatcher

Higher Education

The current interest in service learning provides universities with a unique opportunity to engage their students in community service, expand their educational agenda, and build reciprocal partnerships - with the community. This article discusses the implementation of service learning by delineating a set of activities for four constituencies: the institution, faculty, students, and community.

Community-Based Learning Projects For The "Real World", Chris Davis

Special Topics, General

As we walked down the street to the next-door elementary school, the I 5 high school juniors with me began reflecting on their elementary school experiences. They remembered the Dr. Seuss stories their teachers had read to them, the art projects, the time to play, the time to just be kids. Life was simpler and more fun then, they all agreed.

Now school mostly means sitting at desks and listening to teachers talk for a large portion of the day. And when teachers aren't talking to them, they take tests, read a textbook chapter, write on a ditto, watch a …

A Service-Learning Contract: Clarity, Commitment, And Completion, Darroll Bussler

Special Topics, General

A student was reporting her service-learning experience to her classmates during a reflection session. She was hesitant to begin ... and then explained \Vhy. Everyone in the class seemed to be having fun and fulfillment in their experiences. She said, "My experience isn't fun. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing; I don't even think they know I'm there, and I don't think I want to finish my service." She then said, "I think we need something like ... a learning contract."

Service Learning Teacher Training Manual, Scott Richardson

Guides

This is a guide for trainers who view service learning as a teaching strategy to improve instruction. The guide assumes that the participants in the training are teachers who will use service learning to help their students achieve the objectives of the school curriculum. Some of the training sessions, such as reflection and defining service learning, may be useful for non-school-based programs as well. The bulk of the guide, however, is shaped by our belief that service learning is good education. We view service learning as an experiential teaching strategy with an ultimate aim of promoting student understanding of established …

Guides To Developing Service-Learning Programs, Gail Klosterman

Guides

This document lists those guides in our collection which are most pertinent to service-learning. Each citation provides bibliographic information, an indication of the type of guide, a program grade level, and the source or sources where the guide can be obtained. If an abstract was available from the ERIC database or the author it is included. The next edition of this document will include a greater number of abstracts as our staff continues to abstract and index materials. The guides included in this document meet the following criteria:

1. NSLCC has a copy of the resource on hand for reference by …