Student Doing Community Service Work with Children

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Service Learning For Faculty


Service Learning Starter Kit


•   Service Learning Brochure

•   Syllabus Development Form

•   Service Learning Forms

•   Service Learning Contract

•   Service Learning Evaluation

•   Service Hour Log

•   Liability Release

•   Service Learning Syllabi

•   SOC 150 Princples of Sociology

•   SOC 270 Social Problems

•   Service Learning Reflection

•   Purpose of Reflection

•   Reflection Ideas

•   More Reflection Ideas

•   Reflective Journals

•   Service Learning Journals



 

 

For Faculty


What is Quality Service Learning?

According to the Corporation for National & Community Service(March 2006), quality service learning encompasses three key elements:

  • Participating in regular community service for a least one semester;

  • Writing or reflecting on the service activity through class;
  • And participating in planning the service activity.

What are the benefits of Service Learning?

Service-learning is a process through which students are involved in community work that contributes significantly to:

  • Positive change in individuals, organizations, neighborhoods, and/or larger systems in a community;

  • Students’ academic understanding, civic development, personal or career growth, and/or understanding of larger social issues;

Even with an expanded vision for the field, service-learning will undoubtedly continue to play a critical role in campus-community collaboration.

Charity to Change, by Minnesota Campus Compact (2002)

Tips for Service Learning in the Classroom:

  • BUILD RELATIONSHIPS (with your students, with community partners, and make sure they are building relationships in their sites.)

  • Understand your students starting points and interests.
  • Let the students research what they want to learn and discuss their experience before they begin.
  • Consistently speak to the students about what is happening in their work, including what happens, problems, joys, and most of all what is the service doing to each of them.
  • Probe gently at what students say in order to go deeper. Pull the student out gradually and support them.
  • Have the students write one page about what goes on at their site and how they are processing it each week and reflect as a group.
  • Incorporate their service site into course readings and a larger project somehow. Have them write a paper on how working with children in North St. Louis doing Robotics relates to their computer science course. In Studio Art, do a final piece to encompass what they learned in their service site. The key is to make them think about their service and how it relates to the world.

How the Center for Community Service Can Help

  • The program coordinator can help place your students. If you are looking for service sites on a specific topic, we can try to place students in regards to the course topic.

  • During the first two weeks of classes, the program coordinator will meet with students and discuss their service learning options and interests to set them up with an ongoing opportunity to meet their needs.
  • If you do not have class time to reflect on their sites, the program coordinator offers once a month reflections on students’ service experiences. We also offer individual meetings or class time meetings.
  • The program coordinator can sign off on service hours and reflection assignments to ensure your students have completed hours.
  • The program coordinator can meet with you one on one to explain service learning or come to your class to assist with the service learning aspects of the course.
  • The program coordinator will also try to help in any other ways you feel would be beneficial to you or your students.