Explores sources of tension associated with the service-learning movement in higher education. Returns to the origins of the movement, John Dewey, to find ways to address these tensions. Concludes by suggesting that institutional leaders look to the philosophy of Dewey to create the organizational changes necessary to successfully implement…

Uses the indigenous Andean concept of "ayni" to extend the idea of reciprocity as an aim of service learning. Draws on student reflections from a semester-long seminar with spring break building project in Bolivia to offer eight applications of the concept. These applications offer doorways to discuss the challenges of fostering mutual,…

This study examined the effects of a small-scale, very short-term (8-10h) service-learning experience on college undergraduates. Repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that students participating in this experience reported maintenance of their sense of social responsibility, an increased sense of the meaningfulness of college, and an…

This paper addresses the strengths and challenges of university-based service learning projects, using preservice elementary teachers in an undergraduate social studies methods course as a model for implementing service learning in university courses. The goal of the project was to provide future teachers with the motivation and experience in…

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research examining the impact of service-learning on student's personal qualities has shown positive results. Findings indicate that students participating in high quality service-learning programs show increases in their perceptions of self-efficacy, civic responsibility, social justice, and diversity…

The Wilderness Education Association (WEA) helps people enjoy and protect the nation's most precious resource: the wilderness areas. The WEA has been training and certifying outdoor leaders around the world for nearly 30 years, teaching students safely and effectively to lead groups in the outdoors without harming the environment. This document…

This article offers a case study of a graduate class in communication research methods with a service-learning approach. Students were engaged in evaluating the public information campaign of a nonprofit organization exposing human rights abuses in US prisons. They gained hands-on experience in the use of a variety of basic research methods and…

Background: One of the debates around service-learning is if and what changes can be affected in the short duration of a college course, typically 15 weeks. This study explores how one education program addresses this challenge by taking into consideration students' cognitive and social development and systematically designs a progression of…

Background: Isabella Thoburn College at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India has initiated Service Learning Program for its students through 4 issue based centers. One of the centers AIDS Awareness Center for Counseling, Education, and Training (AACCET) is in the field of HIV/AIDS. It follows 6 pronged approach to achieve its objectives and one of the…

Service-learning can be used as a teaching tool to promote social justice, and its implementation can encourage both students' personal development and social engagement. In this article, I illustrate how service-learning can help students become more self-aware, appreciative of diversity, and agents of social change. This process involves…

This article analyzes the role of service-learning faculty fellows programs in promoting pedagogical innovation and university-community engagement. The analysis is based on the findings of a study conducted among former fellows at two universities in North Carolina, USA. The faculty fellows programs had a strong influence on participants'…

This article describes a case example of a pedagogical approach that successfully integrates teaching technical skills, knowledge, and civic engagement. Students embarked on a semester-long project to assess the complexities of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, develop a response to address the concerns of community constituents, and…

Efforts by metropolitan universities to engage in meaningful and democratic partnerships with community organizations require much time, effort, and considerable resources from the university and its various constituents. Widener University is located in a distressed urban environment. This study, presented from the perspective of the university's…

Hamline University, a medium sized college in St. Paul Minnesota, dedicated resources and time to New Orleans, Louisiana in its efforts to rebuild and reclaim the city. Days after Hurricane Katrina hit, Hamline sent students, faculty and staff to help with recovery efforts. The Education Club adopted Martin Luther King Science and Technology…

This article describes a particular endeavor, the Bridge Builders Academic Mentoring Program (BAMP), a partnership between a school of education in a Catholic university in the Northwest and a community-based rites of passage program for adolescent African American males. The partnership exemplifies tenets of Catholic social teaching, in that it…