Universities are criticised for overemphasising instrumental values. Instrumental values are important but universities risks undermining cultivation of humanity, critical consciousness and civic agency. Service-learning (SL) is practice that moves teaching and learning beyond the focus on technical skills and instrumental outcomes. Nonetheless,…

The use of community service to promote learning and civic responsibility in higher education has blossomed since the 1980s. The problem addressed in this study was that although the X University initiated the required community service program in 2004, it had not assessed the effectiveness of the program from students' perspectives. Using Kolb…

For over a decade, the national Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP) project has promoted the idea that well-being is an essential outcome of college students' learning and civic engagement. The project emphasizes the full promise of a liberal education: to be liberally educated is to possess the complex skills and abilities necessary for…

Universities have become increasingly interested in incorporating civic engagement into undergraduate education with the goal of enhancing leadership skills and creating socially responsible global citizens. What is unclear is which educational experiences are most effective in achieving this goal. In this study, we seek to determine the impact of…

A "student scholars" program was developed to engage undergraduates at a large, public, land-grant research university with its public service and outreach mission, through cohort meetings, supervised internships, and site visits. Qualitative and pre-/post-participation quantitative data from the first cohort of 10 students show that…

The purpose of this study was to describe and examine a model for assessing student learning through reflection in service-learning courses. This model utilized a course-embedded process to frame, facilitate, support, and assess students' depth of learning and critical thinking. Student reflection products in two service-learning courses (a…

This study examined the civic outcomes of the Sustained Dialogue model. Qualitative interviews investigated the perceived impacts of dialogue experience on post-graduate civic life, generating an inventory of 29 dialogue civic outcomes across five domains: 1) cognitions, 2) behaviors, 3) attitudes 4) skills, and 5) hopes and plans for the future.…

Reflecting upon the previous decade, an advocate for service-learning continues his call for institutional responsibility while taking a look at the progress made. Ehrlich writes that service learning has come of age and suggests three major directions for continued advancement. The first stresses service-learning's value for enhancing academic…

A study examined the impact of the Corporation for National Service's Learn and Serve America Higher Education program, a service learning consortium, on 3,540 students from 42 participating colleges and universities, focusing on three areas of student development: civic responsibility, academic development, and life skills. Course-based service,…

John Dewey's "Democracy and Education" suggests an approach to civic education using techniques commonly adopted in today's undergraduate education, including community service, problem solving, and collaborative learning. Community service is an important way to foster civic engagement in young Americans. If American higher education is…

Discusses how service learning can promote the development of a "caring self" in college students by drawing on the ideas of John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, and contemporary critical theorists. Links this caring self to democratic citizenship and uses students' narratives to illustrate how it develops through service learning contexts.…

This issue paper discusses service learning in the community college and lists three major cultural values that, in the past, shaped college missions: (1) civic participation--preparing students for effective participation in community life; (2) extending educational opportunity--offering all Americans a low-cost education near their homes; and…

This packet contains lesson plans with real-life service projects that students can do throughout the school year, from September 2000 to August 2001. The lesson plans in the packet provide teachers with flexibility to offer them to students as young as grade 5 and as old as grade 12. The lesson plans, although essentially social studies, service…

Proposes a project to help teachers introduce service learning in the classroom. Gives a descriptive case analysis of one teacher's efforts to stress the importance of service, locally and globally, to her students. Argues that the main goal is for students to increase their personal development and civic responsibility. (DSK)

Service-learning gives school administrators a powerful tool to achieve some of their most important goals: educating students to high levels, connecting with the community, and preparing students to be active participants in the world around them. This issue paper examines why administrators support service-learning as a key element in school…