Service LearningDecember 9, 2004
Dr. Edward Zlotkowski
Senior Fellow, Campus Compact
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