Nancy Bragg, Ed.D.
Illinois State University
Service learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development. (Jacoby, 1996)
Service learning is a pedagogy that integrates theory and practice through application and reflection. Service learning is a form of active learning. Active learning is one of the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education offered by Chickering and Gamsen (1987) as a guide for faculty members and students and is based on fifty years of research on teaching and learning in higher education.
Students are actively involved in connecting course content to real world settings. The service is designed to enhance the learning. The concept of reciprocity in service learning suggests that every participant is both a teacher and a learner. Initially, students accustomed to being passive learners may be resistant to service learning. They have to learn to be active learners!
The degree to which faculty utilize service learning should be directly related to the course goals. What are the goals of your course? How could service learning help you to achieve them? Angelo and Cross (1993) suggest that in addition to goals related to content, faculty in higher education address a number of other goals, although sometimes implicitly rather than explicitly.
The goal areas below are general categories suggested by Angelo and Cross (1993), followed by an example that could be addressed with service learning.
Typically through service learning experiences, students demonstrate learning is intentional and based on predetermined course learning goals. In addition, incidental or unanticipated learning often happens as a result of the service experience.
Illinois State University is one of about 140 institutions nationwide involved in brainstorming and implementing ways to foster undergraduates’ intellectual and experiential understanding of civic engagement, as well as to foster a commitment on the part of graduating seniors to engage in meaningful actions as citizens in our democracy.
Howard (2001) suggests that purposeful civic learning is one of the three criteria necessary for academic service learning, as well as relevant and meaningful service with the community and enhanced academic learning. Purposeful civic learning (Howard, 2001) is learning that intentionally prepares students for active community or public involvement in a diverse democratic society. Service learning can foster an empowered citizenry by fostering cognitive, communicative, and problem solving skills; cultivating respect for cultural differences, and enhancing the capacity and inclination to take individual and collective action for the common good.
Co-curricular service learning can also foster purposeful civic learning and was an important part of our American Democracy Project audit of what ISU currently does to promote civic engagement.
Service learning is designed to be mutually beneficial, meaning that all partners benefit. The service must be relevant and meaningful for community impact and for student learning. The service must be co-developed through collaboration with community partners, so that all partners have ownership in the project.
It is often easier to start a partnership with a person or organization familiar to you, so you already have a basic relationship upon which to build. In considering potential partners, think broadly. For example, if your content centers around environmental issues, think beyond the obvious Ecology Action Center to other organizations that might have a mutual interest such as libraries, schools, or governmental units such as parks, planning commissions, etc.
Keep your eyes and ears open to community issues that are related to the content of your course and what players are stepping up to address these issues. Think about what you have to offer in the way of student resources that might benefit what community organizations are doing or planning to do. Talk with several community organizations to come up with projects that could be mutually beneficial.
One resource on the Illinois State University campus for connecting with community organizations is the Student Volunteer Center. The Assistant Director of Community Service, Kate Schenk kschenk@ilstu.edu or 438-2151, meets individually with over 60 community organizations each summer to find out their needs and how Illinois State University can partner with them. If you give her a one-page description of what you are thinking about doing, she can take that with her and discuss it with community organizations. Current specific community organization needs are listed on the Student Volunteer Center website, at: http://www.ilstu.edu/depts/studentlife/svc, along with agency lists both alphabetically and by needs categories.
You will need to think about how to assess the various kinds of learning. Intentional learning designed to meet your course learning goals can be assessed as you would any other learning processes or products in ways such as pre- and post-tests, classroom assessment techniques (Angelo & Cross, 1993), observations, journals, portfolios, and final projects. For example, students who design and produce brochures for community organizations may be assessed on to what extent and how well they applied design principles.
Since students and community partners have active roles in the service learning, they may also be interested in taking active roles in assessment. Your partner may want to assist in assessing work habits and quality of work, perhaps a mid-term and final report form. The final presentation may be before the board of the community organization with the opportunity for board members to ask questions. Students could self-assess.
To make the incidental or unanticipated community learning explicit, you can design opportunities for students to reflect on what they learned from their experiences. The students creating brochures might note in their reflection journals what they learned about communicating and compromising with community organizations.
As in other forms of experiential education, reflection on the action is essential for making the learning explicit. Reflection can be defined as “the intentional consideration of an experience in light of particular learning objectives” (Hatcher & Bringle, 1997). Reflection can be done orally, in writing, or through creative expression by oneself or with others.
Eyler, Giles, & Schmiede (1996) found the following “4 Cs” made the learning from service learning more effective:
Students are evaluated on evidence that they have met learning outcomes through assignments you design to elicit learning from the service, not on the number of service hours completed.
Faculty often require a minimum number of hours or visits they think will be necessary over the course of the semester in order to provide students with a solid basis for new thoughts, deeper understandings, and realization of course goals. Faculty may find it necessary to develop some way of ensuring that the service is performed. One possibility is to give students an all-or-nothing 20% base on the course grade for completing the service. Another option is making the completion of the service a necessary condition for passing the course.
If service learning is an integral part of the course, it also needs to be very visible in the syllabus. The syllabus must clearly explain how the service learning connects to course content, what it will entail, and how it will be evaluated.
Nancy Bragg, Coordinator at Illinois State University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and author of this piece, has interest and expertise in service learning. Contact information: njbragg@ilstu.edu or (309) 438-7695
Originally published in “With Zeal Unceasing”: Essays on Teaching at Illinois State University. Eds. Douglas Hesse, Lori Ostergaard, Kathleen McKinney.
Angelo, T.A. & Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Racine, WI: The Johnson Foundation.
Eyler, J., Giles, D.E. Jr., Schmiede, A. (1997). A practitioner’s guide to reflection in service-learning: Student voices and reflections. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University.
Hatcher, J. & Bringle, R. (1997). Reflection: Bridging the gap between service and learning. College Teaching, 45 (4), 32-37.
Howard, J. (ed). (2001). Service-learning course design workbook. The University of Michigan: OCSL Press.
Jacoby, B., & Associates. (1996). Service-learning in higher education: Concepts and practices. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
