Service-Learning

Service-learning is a method by which students learn and develop intellectually through the combination of traditional classroom work and thoughtfully organized community service. Students reflect upon their experiences in the community and integrate what they learn into their academic courses, using the service component as another text. In the end, the students learn from real-life experiences, which enhance their understanding and make their course work more real and personal.  At the same time, the students meet a critical need in the community, so an equal exchange of giving, receiving, understanding and learning takes place between the college and the community.

Main Principles of Service-Learning include:

• Service is conducted in the community and meets the needs of the community
• Service is coordinated between the college and the community
• Service fosters civic engagement
• Service is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students. Academic rigor is not compromised!
• The service component is integrated into the course as text
• Coursework includes reflection on the service experience
• Credit is awarded for learning that occurs through the service, rather than for the service itself. 

(AAHE: Service Learning in the Disciplines)

Reflection: the Vital Ingredient of Service-Learning

Reflection, through writing, speaking, discussion and reading, is the key ingredient of service-learning. It is what transfomrs community service into service-learning. Reflection is important because it allows the students to learn from their experiences and from themselves through a "mix of theory and practice, thought and action, observation and interaction. (www.fiu.edu)

Service-Learning Resources:

• The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
• Reflection ideas
• The National SHINE Web site
• The National Campus Compact Web site
• Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning
  available in the Hamilton College Levitt Center
• Successful Service-Learning Programs: New Models of Excellence in Higher Education, Ed. by Edward Zlotkowski
  available in the Hamilton College Levitt Center
• Beyond the Campus: How Colleges and Universities Form Partnerships with Their Communities by David J. Maurrasse
  available in the Hamilton College Levitt Center