Describes a project for professional writing classes that teaches effective persuasive writing, as teams of students research local nonprofit or campus service organizations, design projects to address their groups' main needs, and write solicitation letters for donations or volunteers. Discusses potential problems and how students benefit. (SR)

Discusses service learning (learning that combines public service with related academic work) and service learning projects in an undergraduate course on mass communication and society. Finds that it is an effective means of teaching that increases student understanding of complex material. (SR)

Discusses how critical multiculturalism can be used to inform academic service learning, offering as an example the case study of a Pennsylvania State University project in which college students work with homeless citizens in Washington, DC. Stresses the importance of intentionality in planning the community service components of academic service…

This report explains the need for viable and effective partnerships between K-12 schools and institutions of higher education involving service and service-learning, and discusses the State of Washington's experience in this area. It is stated that both rural and urban schools have found service and service-learning to be effective methods of…

The college's role in promoting community service activities and in developing students' sense of civic responsibility is addressed in two articles: "Community Service and Higher Education: A National Agenda," by Governor of Virginia Charles Robb and Brown University President Howard Swearer; and "Community Service and Higher…

A study investigated the effects of service-learning projects conducted by 255 student teachers and designed in cooperation with their cooperating teachers. Drawing on survey and case-study data, it was found that classroom-based service-learning projects, if structured carefully, can contribute to student-teacher empowerment and enhanced…

Commitment to the improvement of the social order underlies and challenges the kind of educational program that Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, strives to offer its students. Between 63 and 73 percent of traditionally-aged seniors at Saint Joseph's indicated that they participated in some form of community service during…

A guide for college and university educators who manage service-learning programs, or programs that support student involvement in the community, is presented. A systematic approach to planning and managing service-learning programs is presented, management functions for supporting a service-learning system are identified, and ideas on…