Engaging undergraduate students in community-based research (CBR) offers rich benefits to both students and communities (Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, Stoeker, & Donahue, 2006). Finding ways to expand its application promises to multiply those benefits. Senior capstone courses represent a promising vehicle for that expansion, as they are also…

This report examines the relationship between students' participation in high-impact practices (HIP) and their perceived learning gains, with special attention paid to the nature of these relationships among Black and Hispanic students and among students 25 years or older. In 2018, with support from Lumina Foundation, the National Association of…

This article identifies what can be learned from seeking to adapt teaching and learning styles in a post-disaster environment. It focuses on the development of student research through community-based learning as a means of increasing engagement and contributing to recovery in an earthquake-damaged city. It urges consideration of the…

In response to increasing homelessness in our city, Seattle Pacific University invited a homeless encampment (Tent City) to reside on our university campus for three months. This provided an opportunity to engage students on issues of poverty and inequality. Building from a service-learning model, we devised course work around homelessness and…

Universities and funding agencies are increasingly calling for collaborative research between community partners and academics. When combined with faculty roles in training the next generation of researchers, these collaborative frameworks can present a challenge to undergraduate students seeking experience with research activities--both in terms…

In an effort to teach students the basic knowledge of research methods and the realities of conducting research in the context of agencies in the community, faculty developed and implemented a service learning model for teaching research and program evaluation to foundation-year MSW students. A year-long foundation course was designed in which one…

The benefits of community-based research (CBR) in the sociology classroom go beyond those associated with traditional service learning. Here, students use their sociological skills to examine and propose solutions to local social problems addressed by community organizations. Through analyzing students' course reflection journals and the results…

C. Wright Mills would be a friendly critic of service learning, acknowledging its benefits for providing students with experiential learning opportunities to connect personal troubles with social issues. Yet he would be critical of service-learning practices that perpetuate institutional power inequalities and that do not advance the social change…

Presents six service learning lesson plans from the Constitutional Rights Foundation. Each lesson plan represents a step in a larger service project. The plans include "Defining and Assessing Your Community"; "Choosing and Researching a Problem"; "Examining Policy"; "Exploring Options"; and "Taking…