For some time now advocates of service-learning in higher education have been arguing for a change in pedagogy without the support of arguments for a change in epistemology. However, if we wish to rethink the way we teach and learn, then we need to rethink the way we know. This article is an effort to support service-learning pedagogy at the level of philosophy. The author describes and critiques the theory of knowledge that undergirds conventional pedagogy in higher education. He then presents pragmatism as an alternative epistemology that illuminates the contextual nature of knowledge and that affirms community, diversity, and engagement as pedagogical virtues. He concludes with brief comments on the significance and limitations of philosophical inquiry for advancing service-learning as a pedagogy and as a movement.

This paper explores a common understanding of service as a term encompassing a continuum from charity to social change and describes the implications this understanding has for service-learning in higher education. Based upon a review of alternative theories, a student survey and interviews with practitioners, the author argues that there exists a series of related but distinct community service paradigms charity, project and social change each with its own logic, strengths, limitations and vision of a transformed world Integrity in service-learning, it is suggested, comes not by moving from charity to social change, but from working with increasing depth in a particular paradigm.

This article endeavors to answer two questions: does combining service and learning in college level courses contribute to the learning outcomes desired for the course, and what explains why faculty have moved from skepticism to affirmation concerning the answer to the first question? In the past ten years faculty in a wide variety of post-secondary institutions and virtually all disciplines have begun to integrate field study in the form of service-learning into their courses. The article argues that faculty assessment is one of the best proxy measures available to answer the question of whether learning outcomes derive from service learning and that their positive assessment of that question can be explained contextually, empirically and experientially, using both quantitative and qualitative measures. This exploratory study reviews findings from a sample of 48 faculty from sixteen different disciplines from across the nation.

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A service-learning model by Delve, Mintz, and Stewart (1990) describes developmental processes experienced by students engaged in community volunteer work, from sporadic involvement to internalization of 'social responsibility. The Scale of Service Learning Involvement was developed to validate the model as well as to assess student outcomes. Reliability, concurrent validity, and contrasting group validity indicated strong psychometric qualities. Applications pertaining to the potential use of this instrument are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of infusing a service-learning component into an undergraduate course entitled "Survey of Human Disease. " Comparisons were made between the service-learning students and those not involved in service-learning to determine the effect of service-learning on students ' perceptions of institutionalized older adults ' perspectives on disease and aging. As well, students within the service-learning group were compared based on the type of feedback received on weekly journal entries. Finally, the question of reciprocity between student visitors and older adults was considered by evaluating students ' and older adults ' responses to items on an exit survey.

This article discusses the use of focus groups as both a qualitative research methodology and a reflection tool in service-learning. Three focus groups were piloted with service-learning participants at Vanderbilt University to assess cognitive outcomes of service-learning and to encourage students ' reflection on their experiences. Focus group data were triangulated with survey data to assess the validity of focus groups as a data gathering method.

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Recognizing, as John Dewey observed, that democracy begins in conversation, the Service Learning Writing Project views the writing classroom as a place where rhetorical processes and democratic practices naturally converge. Informed by complementary disciplinary conversations in public culture studies and composition research, the project 's interdisciplinary curriculum and pedagogical methods seek to shape habits of heart and mind that advance the development of critical discourse skills, the refinement of civic sensibility, and the promotion of students ' ethical responsibility for the public good.

The Dayton Literacy Project uses a service-learning course, offered by the University of Dayton, to bring together undergraduates and GED students from the local community. This paper discusses this course's intellectual rationale, its organization, and its work with women receiving did to Families with Dependent Children. The overall success of the project suggests some of the ways that the discipline of English can be re-envisioned to integrate academic study in the humanities with literacy instruction.

This article discusses the educational crisis of U.S. Latino/as and argues for the recognition and understanding of the extent to which institutional racism and violence are exercised by schools against this cultural sector. It then describes, as forms of intervention, a course which trains future Spanish teachers in developing Latino cultural competence, and a community service learning course which offers tutoring and emotional support to at-risk middle school students.

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This article suggests that there exists a continuum of service-learning models, ranging from more "direct " to more "indirect " projects, and describes indirect service-learning. In indirect service-learning, students do not participate directly in field work, but learn about some sector of the community through their teacher's own research and/or community service and use knowledge acquired through their course to create a service or product which helps to meet a need of the community. The author presents a brief description of his own implementation of the indirect approach to service-learning, and argues that the indirect model allows academics to incorporate service-learning into their classrooms in ways that improve the applicability and relevance of their students ' learning while enhancing the validity of their own research.

The development of service-learning courses is contingent upon faculty. Institutions of higher education which are interested in service-learning can engage in faculty development activities in order to (a) develop a common understanding on campus concerning the nature of service- learning, (by establish and maintain the academic integrity of service-learning, (c) increase the confidence of faculty as they implement a new pedagogy, and (d) increase the likelihood that service-learning is institutionalized in higher education. This article describes a curriculum for a series of faculty workshops: Introduction to Service-Learning, Reflection, Building Community Partnerships, Student Supervision and Assessment, and Course Assessment and Research. Each mod ale provides a synopsis of topics and suggested readings for participants.

Until very recently the service-learning movement has had an "ideological" bias. i.e., it has tended to prioritize moral and/or civic questions related to the service experience. Such a focus reflects well the movement's past but will not guarantee its future. What is needed now is a broad-based adjustment that invests far more intellectual energy in specifically academic concerns. Only by paying careful attention to the needs of individual disciplines and by allying itself with other academic interest groups will the service-learning movement succeed in becoming an established feature of American higher education.

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Service-learning and other farms of innovative pedagogy are employed least often in the fields at the core of the traditional arts and sciences. This is in part because of a perceived incompatibility between the purposes of a "liberal education ' and the dynamics of these pedagogies. This essay argues that when we better understand the purposes and potential values of liberal learning today we will find service-learning a very useful pedagogy for achieving those ends.

Journals contribute to learning by focusing students ' attention on elements of their community service and by providing a quiet space for reflection on their actions. Writing helps students to engage in observation, questioning, speculation, and self-awareness, and to gain an overview of their community service. Lessons about enhancing the quality of students' journal writing in service-learning are discussed.

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Over the past two years, Providence College has institutionalized service-learning into its liberal arts curriculum through the creation of an academic degree program in Public and Community Service Studies. In addition to administering this new major and minor, the Feinstein Institute for Public Service has used the new program as a catalyst promoting service-learning throughout the curriculum. This essay draws lessons from the Providence College experience that may be of value to faculty seeking to institutionalize service-learning at other colleges and universities.