Service Learning

Summary of reform: Service-learning utilizes experience and practice to teach students in areas that may be difficult to teach through abstract reasoning such as empathy. It also claims to enhance outcomes such as critical thinking that are associated with traditional forms of pedagogy and curriculum. Service learning is distinct from community service in that it combines a formal structured learning experience or process through a preparation session and reflection experiences. Some distinguish that service learning must be integrated into the formal curriculum and can not be co-curricular programming.



Connection to other reforms: Active Learning; Collaborative Learning
Model Institutions: Brown; Stanford; Vanderbilt

Web Site: http://www.cns.gov/ls-hed.html
Types of institutions: multiple institution types
Duration: since 1990
Source list of institutions: NSEE
Contact for further information: NSEE and AAHE; Patrcia Barnicle, Tufts University, 617/827-3401



Level of institutionalization: Typically low, tends to be integrated by individual faculty members in classrooms. If institutionalized (usually through the development of a center on campus to centralize and support efforts), the initiative is usually more successful

Outcomes: Moral development, social responsibility, (Kellie has a long list - get from her)

Process:



Target of Reform:

K-12 parallel:

Origination of reform: association or national level

Support: government grant

Linking Characteristic 1: humanist orientation

Linking Characteristic 2:

Linking Characteristic 3:

Linking Characteristic 4:

Assessment? Yes



Description of assessment:

Resistances: Experiential learning has been resisted by some faculty (and students to some degree) since it emphasizes a concrete approach to learning that is in conflict with the traditional faculty culture.

Evolution/History: Service Learning has a long tradition that evolved out of Deweyian notions of thinking by doing. There was a major emphasis on integrating service learning into the curriculum in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It resurged in the early 1990s due to Clinton's National Service Plan. Americorps has institutionalized at the federal level the idea of serving and learning.



Notes:

Major sources: Boughner, Cynthia J. (1996.) The Metacurriculum of Arts Classrooms: Skills for the Next Century. NSEE Quarterly, 21(4), 6-7, 22-23.

Combining Service and Learning, NSEE publication

Rama, D.V. and Zlotkowski, Edward. (1996.) Service-Learning and Business Education: Creating Conceptual Bridges. NSEE Quarterly, 21(4), 10-11, 26-27.

Ylvisaker, Paul N. (1988.) Teaching about a Human Instinct. Liberal Education, 74(4), 26-27.

[Overview] [Guiding Questions] [Model Categories] [Project Description] [Project News] [Working Definitions] [Your Comments]

Return to Innovation Models Table of Contents