How do service learning and self-directed learning connect and what are the implications for early adolescent students? The authors explore both the service learning and self-directed learning literature and research to discover the connections between the two approaches and concepts. This essay reviews existing frameworks for self-directed…

This research recounts a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) project aimed at facilitating students' empathic development while also offering ways to identify and assess students' written expressions of empathy. I ground this work in an exploration of the many processes labelled as empathy and the reasons for including empathy as a course…

Purpose: To explore undergraduate students' experiences leading and facilitating an out-of-school-time (OST) physical activity program for middle school girls. Method: Five female undergraduate students (N = 4 Black or African American) participated in semistructured individual interviews and submitted weekly reflections during their time leading…

Shanghai has always led college entrance examination reform in China, and has piloted the new round of college entrance examination reform for 5 years. At present, the comprehensive quality evaluation of general high school students has been carried out on a regular basis, and the comprehensive quality evaluation information of graduates of the…

Intentional reflection is a key component of Community Service Learning (CSL) as it guides students to integrate knowledge of theory with experience in practice. A semester-long chemistry curriculum with an integrated CSL intervention was implemented in a Canadian university to investigate how reflection in the laboratory setting enhances…

To engage more youth in service, we require further research on the characteristics of youth who serve, particularly disadvantaged youth with limited access to formal service opportunities. This study investigated the positive youth development characteristics of New Zealand youth who decided to mentor younger peers in the Stars program for the…

This pilot study explored the effects of participation in a servicelearning initiative on first-year pre-service teacher education student development. The focus of the service-learning was a combination of problem-based learning and immersive activities, pairing pre-service teacher education students with an early high school-to-college bridge…

Shifting demographics among racial and ethnic groups within the United States are reflected in the diversity of the middle grade student population, as they are members of longstanding racial groups or members of biracial or multiracial groups that have emerged. These diversities are causes for celebrations, but at the same time offer challenges…

The purpose of this study is to thoroughly describe a program designed to strengthen the pipeline of Latino students into post-secondary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and present evaluation data to assess multiyear effectiveness. The program includes a suite of interventions aimed at students and families, and…

This paper explores the intersection of feminism and service-learning by describing the creation of a women's studies course for girls attending an alternative high school. In the course participants could critique sexist practices in the media and in the school, as well as establish cultural competence through engaging in service projects that…

Elite schools around the world aspire to produce perfect students and yet there are always obstacles to this perfection being achieved. In this paper, we suggest that this process of perfectionism and obstruction can best be understood using a methodology that looks to the creative arts, rather than the usual social science orthodoxies. Our focus…

The main goal of this paper is to analyse the effect of high school scholarships tied to community service on the development of secondary school students in Northwest China. Using data from three rounds of surveys of thousands of students in 298 classes in 75 high schools in Shaanxi province, the paper documents the implementation of the…

This paper describes the culture of experiential community based learning at Central College, a rural liberal arts college in Midwestern, USA. Pre-service teachers use experiential community based learning to reflect on their personal growth in understanding the needs of diverse learners. Reflections demonstrate how the program contributes to the…

Research on service learning in business education often enumerates its efficacy and overall value. The focus on business students' attitudes toward service learning offers insight into program design and implementation of service learning into business curricula. This study investigates the distinctions between undergraduate and graduate business…

This qualitative study examined the use of service-learning in an alternative high school that primarily serves students at-risk for educational failure due to behavioral problems. Interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, as well as observations and archival documents yielded three major categories of student benefits: (a) increased…