The classroom teacher plays a pivotal role in any formal educational environment. More specifically, how this individual is involved and how s/he structures activities and discussions about a topic depends on the preferred learning style, personal demeanor, and educational philosophy of the teacher. For teachers that employ service-learning…

Through Service Learning, students learn while serving the community. This "educational approach ties relevant community service to academic content and uses critical reflection activities to strengthen learning and developmental outcomes" (www.csufresno.edu/sl/). Studies have shown (Astin, et.al., 2000; Eyler, et.al., 2001) that Service…

A research study surveyed 946 volunteers from congregations who were actively involved in community service, as well as 3,959 other congregational attenders who were not involved in volunteer service, to understand the relationship between service learning and faith development. Findings show that service-learning is powerfully related to a mature…

Explores a service-learning program at a university attempting to develop a service-learning minor. This article examines the effect of the program on students and the university community. The qualitative data were gathered from 25 students over a period from December 2001 to December 2002. The results demonstrate that students in a comprehensive…

Teachers who work together to blend academic and career/technical (CT) instruction have found a key to motivating students to complete high school and prepare for college, advanced training and careers. This newsletter highlights key strategies schools are using to join academic and technical studies to advance student motivation and achievement.…

In California, and elsewhere, faculty are being encouraged to create "service learning opportunities" for their students, such as having social work students volunteer at a local soup kitchen, or having environmental studies students reforest the local watershed. While these endeavors have obvious social value, their education value…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

The Make a Difference model transforms community service from free labor and low-level tasks to efforts yielding genuine community improvement and enhanced academic performance. Students study the organization they work for and/or the chosen problem. California middle-school students conducted interviews, located primary sources, and created a…

This theme issue of "Service-Learning Network" explores the fundraising process as it applies to students and educators who want to secure financial aid for a school or community program. The article, "Seeking Funding for School and Community Programs" (Charles Degelman; Debra Ballinger; Vickie J. Burt), surveys the search for…

This paper describes and discusses the effect of service-learning on students' reflective thinking about their own knowledge in multicultural teacher education at a state university in Southern California (USA). Two versions of students' multicultural autobiographies, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the course, were examined to…

Approaching reflection from the perspective of a teachable skill set implies that research may inform how to help students reflect. Employing a framework of making connections often used in reading comprehension, this study aimed to characterize how making connections between the service-learning experience (SLE) and prior experiences in similar…

The University of California is the nation's largest and most prestigious public research institution. As such, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to assume a leadership role in an emerging national movement within higher education, translating our identity as a land grant institution into 21st century terms. On June 10, 2005, over 70…

The purpose of the study was to document the planning, process, and outcomes resulting from a partnership between two private, faith-based institutions a kindergarten through fifth grade (K-5) school and a university. A team of five university professors formed a partnership with the K-5 school in February 2003. The university faculty continues to…

The University of California, Los Angeles is an institution founded on a public mission and positioned as a world-renowned research university. This article describes the successes, challenges and future directions of a concerted institutional effort to engage with the broader Los Angeles community to address pressing social issues and needs. The…

Project-based service learning emphasizes educational opportunities that are interdisciplinary, student-centered, collaborative, and integrated with real-world issues and practices. Teachers have found that environments which foster academic achievement through hands-on, authentic learning can motivate students by engaging them in their own…