Service Learning Summary

April M. Fawson, Utah State University

Abstract

Book Title: Service Learning from Classroom to Community to Career Author: Marie Watkins, Ph.D. & Linda Braun Audience: Undergraduate students Issues: Service learning has three components: 1. Service-learning should be related directly to the instructional objectives of the course for credit. 2. Reciprocity – all three entities, student, instructor and service-learning partner should be receiving something from the service-learning. The instructor receives instructional content that cannot be provided in a classroom, the student receives credit and invaluable, real-world learning experience and the partner receives service. 3. Reflection – this can take the form of in class discussion, presentations or journaling and should begin as soon as the service-learning project gets underway. The point of reflection is to enable the student to see how they felt about service-learning at the beginning and hopefully demonstrate how they’ve grown as the project progressed. Findings: Service-learning can be a very beneficial way to learn subject matter. Students should be prepared to learn about the organization’s services and policies prior to the service-learning launch. The organization should be willing to work with students to help them progress through the course objective goals. Instructors should be available to communicate and intercede if necessary.