Describes a two-year service-learning project for undergraduate students in a physical education teacher education program. Students reported that their experience had a direct impact on their collaborative skills, ability to apply their subject matter, their leadership skills, and ability to communicate their ideas in a real-world context.…

Reviews a series of service-learning programs implemented over a four-year period by special education teachers enrolled at California Lutheran University's preservice graduate program. Finds that an increasing number of these programs involved students with special needs in the service learning projects. These "reciprocal empowerment"…

Describes a service learning project at Onekama Middle School (Michigan), that involves students from English, Computer Applications, Social Studies, and Michigan History courses. Students meet with senior citizens who share their life stories while the students teach them how to use computers. The project helps students develop pride in and a…

Explores the relationship between service-learning and the development of social capital, particularly the expansion and deepening of social networks for children. Draws on ethnographic data from seven rural schools. Concludes that service-learning opened new social networks by providing students, school staff, and adult community members with…

Teaching--and assessing learning--about diversity through service-learning is full of challenges, especially if the learning goals are affective. The teacher has no good way of knowing exactly where the starting point is for each student. The student may only know where the starting point was once he or she has moved beyond it and sees it in…

Describes the creation of a community-service option for biology nonmajors as part of the course requirements. The student had to relate the project to some aspect of biology. The goal was to teach students that learning science is an everyday occurrence, and that they can make a difference in their community. Program instructions and student…

Describes how Red Bridge Elementary (Kansas City, Missouri) participated in the "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle--Make a Difference in Our Community" campaign that coincided with the 1998 Make a Difference Day Campaign. Discusses the project, including the planning, publicity, donation collection, donation distribution, and campaign results.…

Observation of eight associate-degree students in a service-learning project revealed the following about service learning: it was progressive-education opportunity; established a realistic working environment; enabled problem solving; developed learning through experience, awareness, and collaboration; and broadened students' perspectives. (SK)

Evaluation of required service learning activities by first and second year students (n=272) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy indicated 64 percent of first- year students and 86 percent of second-year students felt the experience was educational. Results support use of experiential learning pedagogy to meet educational objectives…

Compares the service learning experience of college students to the traditional social science technique of participant observation. Suggests that service learning allows students to test theories through personal observation in a service setting and experience the logic and practice of social research. Uses examples from the Xavier University…

Twelve theme articles discuss service learning and reflection in agricultural education, student perspective on service learning, Future Farmers of America, character education, intergenerational projects, agricultural communications, and service learning as advocacy. (SK)

Discusses research on the effectiveness of service learning. Reviews the work of John Dewey and C. Wright Mills, indicating how their philosophies serve as a springboard to service learning. Presents potential problems with service learning and discusses service learning at Millikin University (Illinois). (CMK)

Experiential education, and more specifically service-learning, connects students with a different kind of education. Moreover, service-learning provides the opportunity for students to listen to voices seldom heard in academia. Experiential learning and service-learning have taken on an important role in contemporary schooling and are being…

The document discusses a project that sought to create sustainable service learning programs in community colleges. In 1997, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) (District of Columbia) began a 3-year grant project to increase the number, quality, and sustainability of service learning programs in community colleges nationwide.…

Service learning helps students develop skills such as creative problem solving, effective communication, decision making, and information synthesis. A recent report found that service-learning participants scored significantly higher on measures of personal and social responsibility, acceptance of cultural diversity, and service leadership.…