Many instructors have expressed a recent interest in incorporating service-learning activities into their courses. Several authors have maintained that service-learning opportunities help students to better understand class concepts and also lead to desirable outcomes in students, such as enhanced self esteem and an increased interest in social…

This qualitative study explored the intersection between social class and college outreach. The service-learning experience was perceived differently by students of different social classes. The benefit was that the interactive classroom forum allowed diverse students to exchange views. Regardless of their personal backgrounds, students shared a…

In this study, the authors analyze an effective classroom teaching style that relies on interactive learning and integrates classroom activities and efforts into communities. They introduce the service learning project as an effective teaching tool that can be used along with other effective teaching practices to enhance students' learning…

This essay describes service learning as a space for civic dialogue. In the project-oriented course discussed below--an oral history of a south-side African-American neighborhood in Chicago--civic dialogue took shape when middle class students from a range of backgrounds at the Illinois Institute of Technology interviewed residents of different…

Interdisciplinary groups of students learned screening tools for substance use and practiced skills of brief intervention while serving needs of a local free clinic.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and implementation of community-based, service-learning field projects by 30 health professional faculty fellows of Project MAINSTREAM, a faculty development program on substance abuse. The fellows worked together for two years in 10 Interdisciplinary Faculty Learning Groups (IFLGs), which…

This article uses primary and secondary research on educational, social, and political theory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to argue that the history of service-learning must be revised to include Jane Addams' pioneering work. A full consideration of Addams significantly revises understanding the origins of service-learning, suggesting…

This article introduces an approach to service learning based on students' collective engagement with a range of community organizations. We explore the particular benefits of this comparative collective community-based (CCC) learning model through a discussion of the "Possibilities for Change in American Communities" program, which was begun by…

While there has been a steady increase in the understanding of how service-learning affects students, there remains a dearth of research on how using service-learning pedagogy impacts faculty. In this research study six themes emerged that illuminate how using this innovative pedagogy shaped and influenced faculty members' understandings of, and…

Intentionally linking the assessment of student learning outcomes of service-learning with reflection allows each to inform and reinforce the other. This paper traces the evolution of a strategy that uses reflection products as data sources to assess and improve both individual student learning and program-wide approaches to reflection. Two tools…

Service-Learning can be a rewarding and challenging experience for students. One of the rewards for students can be the connection between their course work and real life experience. However, students interacting with populations with which they have limited prior experience face unique challenges. We developed a training program designed to…

This article is based on the author's own strategies to foster community among educators. As a new, young, female junior faculty member in the School of Education at a major research university, the author has struggled to build a strong sense of community in her school. She has also encountered ambivalence about openly expressing…

Our annual feature, "From the Inside," is intended to share stories about working with youth in order to inspire others. In this year's installment, Carol Weiss Rubel, an educator in Pennsylvania, writes about her experience working with at-risk teens and creating "Yellowwood." Yellowwood is an alternative school for youth with…

The media calls them the wizards of tomorrow, the fix-it-kids, athletes of the mind, star players, and champs. These are the young people who compete and win academic, artistic, leadership, and service related competitions. Competitors spell words as difficult as autochthonous, make new scientific discoveries, compose poetry, publish their short…

This article explains the benefits and challenges of requiring undergraduate political science students to act outside the classroom to mobilize voters. Although several published articles describe student engagement with social service agencies, policy research, community outreach, and classroom simulations, this article fills a gap in the…