Service LearningDecember 9, 2004

Dr. Edward Zlotkowski

Senior Fellow, Campus Compact

ezlotkowski@yahoo.com

THE SCHOLARSHIP OF ENGAGEMENTI am convinced that…the academy must become a more vigorouspartner in the search for answers to our most pressing social, civic,economic, and moral problems, and must reaffirm its historic commitment to what I call the scholarship of engagement.

The scholarship of engagement means connecting the rich resourcesof the university to our most pressing social, civic, and ethical problems…Campuses would be viewed by both students and professors not as isolated islands, but as staging grounds for action.

The scholarship of engagement also means creating a special climatein which the academic and civic cultures communicate more continuously and creatively with each other.

Ernest Boyer (1996), The Journal of Public Service and Outreach

Economic Development

Service-Learning

Student Volunteerism

Faculty Outreach

Shared Resources

Extension Services

Civic Awareness & Deliberative

Dialogue

Internships & Practice

Circle of Higher EducationCivic Engagement

Initiatives

Service-Learning Characteristics

• Meets academic learning objectives

• Involves experience with a community-based organization or group

• Involves structured reflection or analysis

• Is based upon principles of academy-community partnership and reciprocity

The Four Quadrants of Service-Learning Program Design

Student-Centered Structured Learning

Community-Centered Unstructured Learning

Academic/

ExpertiseFocus

Community/Common Good

Focus

Service-Learning

Four Quad Typology• A alone: Standard curriculum

• B alone: Student life

• C alone: Academic culture• D alone: Work of community organizations

B

C

A

D

Possible Combinations

• A + B: Course with civic awareness

• C + D: Faculty community work

• A + C: Course with field work

• B + D: Community service

A

C

B

D

Possible Combinations II• A + B + D: Service-learning course• A + B + C + D: Faculty documented and evaluated

service-learning course• A + D: No reflection or documentation• A + C + D: Documentation and assessment

but no reflection

A

C

B

D

Public Engagement

Personal Contact& Direct Service

Problem-solving Projects

Research

With

(Participatory Action

Research)

For

(Commissioned by

Community)

About

(Inclusion of Community)

Possible projects identified

Faculty and

partner(s)discuss/design

projects

In-classintroduction of projects/

student preparation and

pre-service reflection

On-site Orientation(possible

project contract)

Project implementation

and ongoing reflection

Project

completion

(product delivery)/

presentations and

post-service

reflection

Faculty-partner

debriefing andproject

assessment

Project portfolio created and filed

AAHE Service-Learning in the Disciplines Series

• Accounting• Biology• Communication Studies• Composition• Engineering• Environmental Studies• History• Hospitality Management• Management• Medical Education

• Nursing• Peace Studies • Philosophy• Political Science• Psychology• Religious Studies• Sociology• Spanish• Teacher Education• Women’s Studies

* Related Volumes: Economics, Mathematics

NSEE Engagement “Categories”

Active Learning

Academic Challenge

Faculty-Student Relationships

Peter Ewell’s 3 Categories

What We Know About Learning

What We Know About Promoting Learning

What We Know About Institutional Change

What We Know About Learning

• The learner creates his or her learning actively & uniquely • Learning is about making meaning for each individual by establishing and reworking patterns & connections• Every student learns all the time, both with us & despite us• Direct experience decisively shapes individual understanding

for each learner• Learning occurs best when people are confronted with a compelling and identifiable problem• Beyond stimulation, learning requires reflection• Effective learning is social and interactive

* Source: Peter Ewell, “Organizing for Learning,” AAHE Bulletin, Dec. 1997

What We Know About Promoting Learning

Effective Approaches:• Emphasize application and experience• Involve faculty who constructively model the learning

process• Emphasize linkages between established concepts and new

situations• Emphasize interpersonal collaboration• Involve curricula that develop a clear set of cross-

disciplinary skills publicly held to be important• Emphasize rich and frequent feedback

* Source: Peter Ewell, “Organizing for Learning,” AAHE Bulletin, Dec. 1997

What We Know About Institutional Change

• A fundamental shift of perspective• A systemic approach• A relearning of roles• Conscious and consistent leadership • Systemic ways to measure progress and guide improvement• A visible “triggering” opportunity

* Source: Peter Ewell, “Organizing for Learning,” AAHE Bulletin, Dec. 1997

Change requires:

Key Factors Affecting Service-Learning Institutionalization

1. Specific Link to Mission

2. Individual “Driver”

3. Location in Structure

4. Visibility in Documents

The man who embraces a new paradigm at an early stage must often do so in defiance of the evidence provided by problem-solving. He must, that is, have faith that the new paradigm will succeed with the many large problems that confront it, knowing only thatthe old paradigm has failed with a few. A decision of that kind can only be made on faith.

Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions