The functional area of service-learning is currently emerging as an acknowledged department at an institution of higher education. The theoretical roots of service learning go back to John Dewey, and the early twentieth century. However, current research on service-learning pedagogy dates back only to the early 1990’s. Best practices for the field are still being created as more and more new offices are springing up on campuses throughout the United States and institutions internationally. The reason this functional area is becoming ever popular is due to the positive impact it has on students and most all educational outcomes.
Service-learning is considered both academic and co-curricular. Academic service learning is credit bearing and co-curricular being non-credit bearing. There have been several definitions of service-learning established, all by reputable authors in the field. Eyler and Giles (1999) cite Jane Kendall as stating there are 147 definitions of service-learning. One of the most comprehensive definitions is stated by Wajert (1998) and says academic service learning consists of six elements. Three are community based, and three are campus based.
“On the community side: the student provides some meaningful service (work), that meets a need or goal that is defined by a community. On the campus side: the service provided by the student flows from and into the course objective, is integrated into the course by means of assignments that require some form of reflection on the service in light for course objectives, and the assignment is assessed and evaluated accordingly” (p. 5).
Eyler and Giles (1999) suggest that there is significance in the hyphen between service and learning and that is where the definition...
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...gan Journal of Community Service Learning, 14(2), 5-15.
Eyler J., Giles, D.E. (1999). Where’s the learning in service-learning. San Francisco: Jossey-
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Learn and Serve America. (2008). President's higher education community service honor roll
award levels and selection factors. Retrieved November 1, 1008 from
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Novak, J., Markey, V., & Allen, M. (2007, May). Evaluating cognitive outcomes of service
learning in higher education: A meta-analysis. Communication Research Reports, 24(2),
149-157.
Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: Volume 2, a third
decade of research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wajert, K. M. (1998, Spring). Academic service learning: Its meaning and relevance. New
Directions for Teaching and Learning, 73, 3-10.
Service; there are many different things that come into mind when you think of the term service. I use to think of the term as, in something needs to be serviced, something needs to be done or helped. PSL has changed my view on the term service and that their are many different things about service, its not just helping. Throughout my service experiences and resources I have learned its not about helping at all. Naomi Remen, author of In the Service of Life states “serving is different from helping. Helping is based on inequality; it is not a relationship between equals.” Serving is all about having that connection with someone and going in with an open mindset.
Service learning is a rather new concept, but it has proven advantageous in connecting students with their communities when paired with reflection and when included in school curriculum. . Weigert’s (1998) view of ser...
provide service to disadvantaged groups or public areas. While community service has numerous benefits, it only focuses on unidimensional service and caters to a current need setting nothing in place to implement substantial change in the future. In contrast, service learning focuses on reciprocity and sets a foundation to create changes in communities. Service learning is defined as an organized collaborative process that requires individuals to actively participate in service projects. Community service is often viewed as volunteerism rather than service learning. Individuals often times tend to establish barriers between the provider and the person receiving help and never focusing on gaining anything from the group or person being assisted.
Community service hours are a significant issue to all students around the globe, as they are taking a substantial amount of time away from their lives scouring for some kind of work to do. This is especially a problem for those who do not live near any public organizations, and do not have the schedule to do any work for them. Most students go searching around their neighborhood asking if their neighbors have any work for them, which does not help anyone academically. Thus, most community service hours that are done don’t relate to their academic classes or technical area.
Student development- practices that focus on developing occupational abilities, life, and employment are exposed to student from learning experiences that derive from school and work. Students are also provided with assessments and accommodation.
How did a departmental faculty generated 12,000 hours of student community service in one semester? The following is a qualitative analysis of conversations with faculty members in a department that recently instituted a service learning requirement for all student majors. The campus is a large urban comprehensive university with a multi-ethnic student body. Approximately fifteen faculty members were interviewed for this study. While most of those interviewed included service learning components in their courses, interviews with faculty members who resisted or refused to incorporate service learning were conducted as well in order to understand varying faculty attitudes towards service learning.
Some of the most rewarding times in college are when concepts and ideas connect. This is something that I have found happen semester after semester. No matter the art, journalism or sociology courses I take, ideas from each class repeatedly seem to connect to one another. In Art 338, the heavy focus on service work and engagement in the community also relates to the stories I cover in my journalism and my own interest in community dynamics. A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to interview Haley Madden, Community-based Learning Graduate Assistant through the Morgidge Center. Her research, focusing on health care discrepancies, ties into community service and the idea that individuals can use their work to positively impact others around them.
What I once thought was an impossible job, organizing so many books, people helped me understand the work process which made me gain self-confidence that I was able to produce in my work. Part of that confidence was also a sense of pride because I was responsible for placing books onto the shelves that many people come to read. Now that I have done my volunteer work, when I apply for scholarships and colleges, I can mention my volunteer experience and the hours I did. Although many students would rather spend four hours of their lives doing something else, those who do community service work will learn to use important characteristics such as, confidence, sense of responsibility, and scholarships, that will help them be successful not only in school, but also in future careers and
The combination of class and service learning provided a solid foundation on which to be a morally responsible leader. During class, all sorts of ideas are brought up and discussed as a group and critically analyzing from different perspectives and relating it to other ideas. This enables the students rectify their own beliefs and morals in constructive ways. From these developments, we begin to see how it fits in the world and try to apply ourselves and gain wisdom. Gaining knowledge, experience and wisdom, it becomes our understanding to find good in any aspect of our lives and work towards advancing that good in a way that benefits all.
Service learning is the name for forcing college students to do volunteer work as part of their college careers. The hope is that this volunteer work will give students a better sense of civic duty, and thus, be a worthy addition to college curriculums. However, this idea relies on the faulty premise that if one is forced to volunteer that one will derive the same benefits as someone who does it out of their own desire to help. Mandatory service learning will not have the desired effect, and should not be forced upon students.
The article opens up describing a background of service learning through factual information and opinions of other people. Values of both service and learning are separately described discussing the importance of both. Service learning is described to initiate civic participation in the lives of future students through real life learning experiences solving problems. Incompetence of senior citizens use of technology is addressed as an issue faced in many communities according to the article. However, service learning students were trained to tutor senior citizens to technological advances. Another point the article addresses is that a relationship and knowledge was often acquired for both the student as well as the senior citizen. The student offered
Service is a word used constantly. The word service has an impression on many people. For example; people who work as lifeguards view their work as a service to the community. Naturally, based on working as a lifeguard their definition of service would be an action beneficial to the well-being of others. Not surprisingly, a similar definition was found in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Service is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as "the action of serving, helping, or benefiting; conduct tending to the welfare or advantage of another; condition or employment of a public servant; friendly or professional assistance." Furthermore, in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, service is described as "the occupation or function of serving others; employment as a servant; contribution to the welfare of others.”
Julie M. Novak, Vern Markey, and Mike Allen, all professors in communications at creditable colleges, have each earned varying degrees in their field and give them all credibility to speak on the topic of service learning. Although, Novak, Markey, and Allen’s article is a Meta-Analysis, meaning that they are using other peoples works and studies to then form a basis off of what has already been done, they use it to argue how service learning effects students. The design of the studies in the article only has a sample size of only nine service learning studies. With the nine studies, Novak, Markey, and Allen, argued that service learning was very beneficial for the student in multiple ways. Service learning benefited the student with cognitive
Community service is a common service for people to take care of each other and volunteer. People apply to different community services: soup kitchen, taking care of children and homeless people, clinics, churches, schools, neighbor's house and many countless places to volunteer. Some people really enjoy to work at community services while others do not. These community services can be a punishment for criminals because a court assigns them to do so. However, some people do not agree with community service supporters. While some people believe that there should be a community service requirement for high school and college graduation because students need to learn and have experiences there, they are right; on the other hand, a community service requirement should be allowed for two reasons and not be allowed for another three reasons.
Community service: What a wonderful opportunity for students! A chance for our younger citizens to learn responsibility, experience the satisfaction that comes with helping others and to acquire new skills.