American high school and university students perform community service in record numbers. According to the most recent survey of incoming university freshman, more than 80 percent of students undertook volunteer work in high school. While volunteering is on the rise, political interest and engagement among youth is declining. These two trends lead…

This constructivist study explored service-learning as a contextual influence on identity development and self-authorship. Analysis of data from interviews with 8 participants, each of whom completed an undergraduate service-learning course 2 to 4 years prior to the study, suggested that an enduring influence of service-learning was construction…

Three large and diverse data sets were used to study the relations among 6th?12th grade students' community service and service-learning experiences, academic success, and socioeconomic status (SES). Principals in high-poverty, urban, and majority nonwhite schools were more likely to judge service-learning's impact on student attendance,…

This paper discusses the implementation of an intergenerational service-learning (IS-L) project with a mentorship component for graduate students at Western Michigan University's Gerontology Program. Two classes of students, one graduate and one undergraduate, taking introductory gerontology courses were brought together to complete IS-L projects…

Presents the results of a national study designed to gain an understanding of the status of service-learning in teacher education programs. Concludes that although service-learning exists in the language and curriculum of the majority of teacher education programs - approximately 60 percent address the subject - it still resides largely on the…

Discusses the development of a survey instrument designed to measure the impact of service learning on student development, specifically students' sense of caring, ethics, connectedness, collaboration, diversity, reciprocity, and self-efficacy. The authors invite other service-learning practitioners to utilize the instrument, and if they wish, to…

Presents a model that combines research and service learning. The Community Based Research Institute is an interdisciplinary summer academic experience in which undergraduate students and community partners collaborate to meet a community-defined research need. Finds that students are less likely than faculty to recognize the connections between…

Evaluates the outcomes of the service-learning component in two undergraduate courses in which some students identified their own service-learning sites and others chose one of three pre-arranged sites. Concludes that all students experienced a greater understanding of the course content and their roles as citizens, but students who arranged their…

Describes a project that allows university students to participate in organized service activities that identify and provide health and safety programs and services to two poverty-stricken elementary schools in a Pennsylvania school district. Student activities, including participation in faculty meetings and mandatory reflection, and outcomes are…

Describes a study that examined the effect of community service learning on teacher education students. Concludes that students who are involved in such programs are more aware of the community in which they will teach and are more willing to become engaged in the community they will serve. (Contains 25 references.) (CAK)

Describes the Generations Together program, an intergenerational service-learning experience for undergraduate students and how the three generations - the young child, the college student, and the older adult - impact on each other. Presents the benefits to the participants, insights regarding children and their families, and students'…

Tens of thousands of Latino students helped fuel rallies across the country the week of April 10, 2006 against federal proposals to crack down on immigrants who are in the United States illegally. It was the third week of such rallies, which have put some school officials into politically delicate situations, such as having to decide whether to…

The purpose of this article is to highlight ways in which programs within institutions of higher education and Foster Grandparent Programs can interact to their mutual benefit. Given federal and state initiatives to develop linkages between institutions of higher education and community service sites, mutual benefits exist at the program level for…

Community-based Learning (CSBL) is based on the idea that learning is facilitated when the classroom is linked with real-world experience. This paper presents an overview of the pedagogical basis of community service-based learning (CSBL) and compares CSBL projects carried out in two very different settings. The findings indicate that in order to…

When college students are asked why they attend college, most say they want to obtain a diploma so they can get a good job, make good money, and get ahead in the world. A growing body of evidence indicates that students are hoping to get more than just education out of their college experience. They are searching for life skills and a way to help…