Essential Service-Learning Resources Brochure (2002)

http://www.compact.org/resource/SLres-definitions.html

     • Definitions of Service-Learning

     • Program Characteristics of Effective Service-Learning

     • Recommended Service-Learning Print and Web-Based Resources

     • Resources for Community Colleges

     • Six Models for Service-Learning

     • Principles of Good Practice for Service-Learning Pedagogy

     • AAHE-Campus Compact Consulting Corps

     • Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers)

 Six Models for Service-Learning

    The following is excerpted from Heffernan, Kerrissa. Fundamentals of  Service-Learning Course Construction. RI: Campus Compact, 2001, pp. 2-7, 9.

    Whether creating a new course or reconstructing an existing course using service-learning, faculty should explore the appropriate model of service-learning.

    Whileone could argue that there are many models of service-learning, we feel that service-learning courses can basically be described in six categories:

                      1) “Pure” Service-Learning

                These are courses that send students out into the community to serve. These courses have as their intellectual core the idea of service to    

                 communities by students, volunteers, or engaged citizens. They are not typically lodged in any one discipline.

                      2) Discipline-Based Service-Learning

                           In this model, students are expected to have a presence in the community throughout the semester and reflect on their experiences on a regular

                           basis throughout the semester using course content as a basis for their analysis and understanding.

                      3) Problem-Based Service-Learning (PBSL)

                          According to this model, students (or teams of students) relate to the community much as “consultants” working for a “client.” Students work

                          with community members to understand a particular community problem or need. This model presumes that the students will have some

                          knowledge they can draw upon to make recommendations to the community or develop a solution to the problem: architecture students

                          might design a park; business students might develop a website; or botany students might identify non-native plants and suggest eradication

                          methods.

                      4) Capstone Courses

                        These courses are generally designed for majors and minors in a given discipline and are offered almost exclusively to students in their final year.

                        Capstone courses ask students to draw upon the knowledge they have obtained throughout their coursework and combine it with relevant

                        service work in the community. The goal of capstone courses is usually either to explore a new topic or to synthesize students’ understanding

                        of their discipline. These courses offer an excellent way to help students make the transition from the world of theory to the world of practice

                        by helping them establish professional contacts and gather personal experience.

                      5) Service Internships

            Like traditional internships, these experiences are more intense than typical service-learning courses, with students working as many as 10 to 20

            hours a week in a community setting. As in traditional internships, students are generally charged with producing a body of work that is of

            value to the community or site. However, unlike traditional internships, service internships have regular and on-going reflective opportunities

            that help students analyze their new experiences using discipline-based theories. These reflective opportunities can be done with small

            groups of peers, with one-on-one meetings with faculty advisors, or even electronically with a faculty member providing feedback. Service        

            internships are further distinguished from traditional internships by their focus on reciprocity: the idea that the community and the student

            benefit equally from the experience.

                      6) Undergraduate Community-Based Action Research

            A relatively new approach that is gaining popularity, community-based action research is similar to an independent study option for the rare

            student who is highly experienced in community work. Community-based action research can also be effective with small classes or groups

            of students. In this model, students work closely with faculty members to learn research methodology while serving as advocates for

            communities.

  Exemplary Service-Learning Syllabi

     • Include service as an expressed goal

                 • Clearly describe how the service experience will be measured and what will

                      be measured

                 • Describe the nature of the service placement and/or project

                 • Specify the roles and responsibilities of students in the placement and/or

service project, (e.g., transportation, time requirements, community

contacts, etc.)

                 • Define the needs the service placement meets

                 • Specify how students will be expected to demonstrate what they have

                      learned in the placement/project (journal, papers, presentations)

                 • Present course assignments that link the service placement and the course

                      content

                 • Include a description of the reflective process

                 • Include a description of the expectations for the public dissemination of

                      students’ work