Raises the notion of service learning, which is defined as a method of helping students develop their own learning through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experience. Explores the use of science as the curriculum and service learning as the methodology to reach students and improve science instruction. (KHR)

Responds to the argument that service-learning must be supported by a theory of knowledge--antifoundational pragmatism--holding that this characterization of the pragmatist model retains the dualism seen as a fault of traditional epistemology. Suggests a remedy, and then extends the original argument by setting more restrictive limits on the range…

Thirteen theme articles discuss integration of science and agriculture, the role of science in agricultural education, biotechnology, agriscience in Tennessee and West Virginia, agriscience and program survival, modernization of agricultural education curriculum, agriscience and service learning, and biotechnology websites. (SK)

This conversation began with the question: what has teaching Appalachian Studies taught us about teaching in general? Several themes emerged. Teaching Appalachian studies makes the subject matter relevant to the personal growth of students; requires innovative curriculum development; and because of its activist past, connects naturally with…

Analyzes the present state of higher education and psychology in relation to the future needs of society. It is proposed that the U.S. educational system and society should negotiate a new "contract" that is appropriate for the coming decades. A model of future higher education is described, and examples are given of courses involving socially…

Service-learning is used least often in the fields at the core of the liberal arts and sciences, in part because of the perceived incompatibility between the purposes of a liberal education and the dynamics of service-learning. When we understand better the purposes and values of liberal learning, we will find service-learning a useful pedagogy…

In this article, the author discusses the pedagogical negligence on civic education after 9/11 due to the No Child Left Behind Policy resulting in several counterproductive restructuring of curricula, which include the creation of a core ninth-grade course in civics, integrated service learning across the curriculum, and the restructuring of…

Service-learning has drawn largely on a few major theorists for theoretical support. Additional theoretical perspectives drawn from cognitive psychology and social theory can also contribute, including constructs of concept formation, selective perception, categorization, critical reflection, and mediated learning. Each of these helps to explain…

Ernest Boyer traced the cause of many of higher education's problems to the fragmented nature of the college experience. Boyer's concept of the New American College had three priorities, all rooted in American higher education traditions: clarifying the curriculum; connecting to the world beyond the classroom; and creating a campus community.…

Offers educators and students an integrated model for participation in community service. The model focuses students on community service for an entire semester, during which they gain valuable interpersonal interaction and work experience, and wages for both personal and class time. (YKH)

Community service is excellent for students if done in proper circumstances. There should be worthwhile, carefully chosen, objectives for learner attainment. Learning opportunities need to be safe and emphasize the psychology of education. Noting that he has supervised student teachers in the public schools for 30 years, the author of this paper…

Until recently the service-learning movement has had an ideological bias, prioritizing moral/civic questions related to the service experience. Now it needs to invest more intellectual energy in specifically academic concerns. Only by paying attention to the needs of individual disciplines and allying itself with other academic interest groups…

Top issues in service learning research include how service learning enhances subject matter; defining expected outcomes; identifying the processes of effective service learning; faculty involvement; effect on educational institutions; institutional policies, practices supporting/enhancing service learning; nature of effective community…

The content, skills, pedagogy, and structure that should guide the design of service learning curricula for citizenship education are examined. For service learning to teach youth about their responsibilities as citizens in a democratic society, content and strategies must model and support democratic principles. (SM)

Examines how to translate health education's current shift to a community orientation into practical, replicable action steps forward in college peer health education, describing four assumptions in peer health education and explaining a curriculum to reshape the philosophy of peer health education programs into a community and service oriented…