Service Learning In Higher Education

There is a growing expectation, on campus and in communities, that higher education will not only sharpen its focus on student learning and development but also expand its commitment to resolve social problems and address human needs. Increasingly, colleges and universities are meeting this challenge by developing service learning programs. This intentional linking of community service with specific learning and development outcomes is valuable to students, colleges and universities, and communities.Combining the most current theory and practice in the field of service learning with many examples from actual campuses, Service Learning in Higher Education is a comprehensive guide to developing high quality service learning experiences both in the curriculum and through student affairs programs. The book contains such useful information as? Basic principles that define a solid, viable service learning program? Guidelines for designing programs to encourage desired outcomes? Methods to maximize the potential for service and learning in one time or short term experiences? Ways in which faculty can integrate service learning into courses? A review of intensive service learning experiences, including alternative breaks, summer experiences, and national and international service? Issues faculty need to consider in deciding how to achieve course objectives through service learning? Assisting students to make career and lifestyle choices based on the values they acquire through service learning.? The steps to take when starting a service learning program? Institutionalizing service learning to ensure it is sustainable over timeAs an added value, the book describes and provides contact information for national organizations that support service learning and resources that are useful in helping students make postcollege service and career choices.Service Learning in Higher Education is an invaluable resource for all campus professionals?inclu

This practical guide assists university faculty in developing and implementing service-learning courses and projects across multiple disciplines. It examines how embedding academic service-learning projects into the core curricula benefits not only the students, but also their universities and communities. The book describes ways in which service learning becomes a powerful teaching method using step-by-step explanations, real-world examples, and instructor checklists and handouts. Chapters detail how to integrate academic service-learning projects into classroom pedagogy and evaluate student experience. Key areas of coverage include: Strategies for ensuring that students engage with academic service-learning projects from the initial stages through completion. Guidance on embedding an academic service-learning curriculum into traditional coursework to supplement students’ textbook knowledge and classroom experiences to address real-world problems in the community. Research confirming the ways in which students learn more and score higher on end-of-the-semester tests when courses incorporate academic service-learning projects. Steps to incorporate service-learning projects across various disciplines and coursework to enrich student learning and produce positive outcomes for universities and communities. Service Learning in Higher Education is an essential resource for professors and graduate students as well as teachers and educational professionals in such varied fields as school and clinical child psychology, educational psychology, social work, pedagogy, educational practice and policy, sociology, anthropology, and all related disciplines.