This article describes Garden Mosaics, a program funded by the National Science Foundation. Garden Mosaics combines science learning with intergenerational mentoring, multicultural understanding, and community service. The program's mission is "connecting youth and elders to explore the mosaics of plants, people, and cultures in gardens, to learn…

Service learning adds instructional value to any curriculum area, and it is especially appropriate for education courses. Its benefits include development of critical thinking, deeper processing of course content, and practical related experience. Using action research, this article examines the impact of service learning on preservice teachers'…

Sixteen preservice teachers participated in a service-learning project to build tolerance in the community as a result of their desire to do something or to make a difference after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Student reflection papers revealed an increase in student tolerance and feelings of competence after participating in the…

This paper develops a rhetorically centered model of community literacy in the theoretical and practical context of local publics--those spaces where ordinary people develop public voices to engage in intercultural inquiry and deliberation. Drawing on fifteen years of action research in the Community Literacy Center and beyond, the authors…

This article presents a longitudinal research study that led to the development of a theoretical framework for explaining how students experience the process of transformational learning in service-learning. The article describes nonreflective and reflective dimensions of the process of transformational learning. The author recommends that future…

Little research has examined the effects of service participation and the level of integration of service into courses on alumni service-related attitudes and behaviors. In the present study, 481 alumni of a religious-affiliated liberal arts college participated in a phone survey that examined their present and past behaviors related to service…

Supervisors from 40 community agencies working with a university-based service-learning program were interviewed regarding the extent of their input in service-learning program planning and implementation "(Agency Voice), Interpersonal Relations" with service-learning students, "Perceived Benefit" of the service-learning…

This article presents a control group study of the influence of a partnership-centered, community-based learning program on students' academic writing. The improved writing of first-year students in the Chicago Civic Leadership Certificate Program (CCLCP), we argue, results from the deeply situated learning that took place in the context of…

This article describes a gerontological enrichment model for institutionalizing and sustaining curricular change utilizing Rogers' (1995, 2003) diffusion of innovations approach to organizational change. The goal of the project, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, is to transform the social work curriculum at a major state university so…

Johnson C. Smith University, one of the nation's oldest historically Black colleges and universities, has a peer education program known as Students with a Realistic Mission (SWARM). SWARM's primary focus is on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted disease prevention, alcohol education, and other drug awareness. During the spring 2000 semester, we…

Service-learning is a wide-spread educational strategy in K-16 education. Currently 64% of all public schools and 83% of public high schools have community service. Researchers have proclaimed the many benefits of service learning in terms of student empowerment, but does it have the power to create a counter-hegemony that provides an alternative…

Growth in the field of early childhood education has placed emphasis on improving quality through leadership and teacher education. With the advancement of the early childhood field, teacher education programs are called upon to develop leaders, challenge experienced teachers and meet professional standards through advanced degree programs.…

This article examines the persistent gaps in academic achievement among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States. The magnitude of the gaps is documented and potential causes summarized. One of the causes, and potential solution, is social capital. Research documenting the strong correlations between social capital and academic…

Scholars of public opinion and socialization have documented extensively the declining levels of political knowledge and the increasing levels of political apathy and individualism among young people. The purpose of this paper is to assess an American Government course's ability to affect young people's perceptions of power in the political system…

Service learning has been recognized as an effective pedagogical tool in the writing classroom. It has also served to help students develop an awareness of diversity and multicultural issues. In this article, the author examines the benefits of service learning in a basic writing course designed for students of color attending a disproportionately…