Providence College (Rhode Island) has institutionalized service-learning into its liberal arts curriculum by creating an academic degree program in Public and Community Service Studies. The Feinstein Institute for Public Service administers this new major and minor, using the program as a catalyst for promoting service-learning throughout the…

Calls for greater attention to pedagogical challenges and opportunities to integrate service-learning and academic study, particularly in maintaining both content coverage and empowerment as objectives. Draws on transcripts of class discussions and student writing in a community service learning course focusing on literacy to trace students'…

Relates Carol Gilligan's two perspectives on moral reasoning (care and justice) to discussions in service learning circles concerning the relationship between charity and social change as orientations of service and service-learning and to the nature of "self." The discussion informs the questions of what constitutes "mature"…

This article explores an important purpose that some scholars in professional programs of study are utilizing service-learning to pursue: educating the civic professional by integrating education for work and citizenship. While such a purpose holds promise, an examination of a case study from the field of landscape architecture illustrates the…

This article reports findings from a longitudinal case study investigating how students experience perspective transformation from their participation in international service-learning program with an explicit social justice orientation. Findings indicate that each student experienced profound changes in their world-view in at least one of six…

Discusses rejuvenation of the campus community service movement and its potential to explore the meaning of citizenship in a democracy. Argues that civic education should be an integral part of a liberal education and that community service can help prepare students for citizenship. A Rutgers University (New Jersey) program illustrates how service…

Recent proposals for including service-learning in teacher education focus on challenging teachers' assumptions about traditional modes of schooling. Also seen is the need to involve preservice teachers in projects centered on needs of children and youth; sensitize them to changes in demographic and social contexts of schooling consistent with…

Solutions to some enduring problems in elementary and secondary education may be found in the intersection of educational reform, teacher education, and service-learning. Service-learning in both K-12 and teacher education can help educators understand intelligence as multiple and dynamic, understand the learning context as both school- and…

Describes and critiques the theory of knowledge that undergirds conventional pedagogy in higher education. Pragmatism is suggested as an alternative epistemology to illuminate the contextual nature of knowledge and affirm community, diversity, and engagement as pedagogical virtues. Comments on the significance and limitations of philosophical…

Discusses indirect service-learning, in which students do not participate directly in fieldwork but learn about some sector of the community through their teacher's research and/or community service, and use knowledge acquired through the course to create a service or product meeting community need. Argues that this approach improves student…

Service-learning has drawn largely on a few major theorists for theoretical support. Additional theoretical perspectives drawn from cognitive psychology and social theory can also contribute, including constructs of concept formation, selective perception, categorization, critical reflection, and mediated learning. Each of these helps to explain…

Argues that, in the context of the present health care system, interdisciplinary service-learning holds promise for equipping future health professionals with collaborative problem-solving skills needed to effect change in community health care. Describes three models of interdisciplinary service-learning in health professions education, explores…

Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) was created by Purdue University (Indiana) School of Electrical and Computer Engineering to broaden the education of engineering students by the use of an extended service-learning experience integrated into the engineering curriculum. EPICS provides local community service organizations with…

Presents three studies examining the psychometric properties of the Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale developed for program evaluation of service learning in college. The scale was constructed to assess an individual's confidence in his or her ability to make clinically significant contributions to the community through service. Reliability,…

Journals of 30 college students of child development engaged in community-based service learning in multicultural settings revealed three themes. Students: (1) articulated their own approaches or philosophies regarding racial issues; (2) expressed concerns about specific multicultural or race-related incidents; and (3) discussed the resources they…