Decades of scholarship on teaching and learning affirm the benefits of public service internships on student learning outcomes. Studies emphasize how hands-on fieldwork can increase students' substantive knowledge, political efficacy, trust in government, and civic participation, among other factors. However, most articles treat internships…

The work of the Commission on Voluntary Service and Action affords perspectives on the problems that agencies face in using student volunteers. Student attitudes, preparation, adjustment, and length of service are discussed. (Editor/LBH)

An effective service learning program (1) engages people in responsible, challenging actions; (2) articulates clear service and learning goals; (3) allows those with needs to define those needs; (4) expects genuine, sustained commitment; (5) includes training, supervision, monitoring, support, recognition, and evaluation; and (6) encourages…

Applications of academic values in productive service activities are exemplified by public service internships in Georgia and policy research in Texas. Described are Jimmy Carter's Georgia Intern Program and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. (Editor/LBH)

The public health practice program at the University of South Carolina illustrates two general principles of service learning. A model program is described and its implications discussed. (Editor/LBH)

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has been operating a program of service-learning in resource development for student interns, public service agencies, and institutions of higher education since 1967. The objectives of the program are: (1) to give manpower assistance to agencies concerned with economic and social development; (2) to…

As faculty director of an undergraduate leadership program that is part of the public policy studies department at Duke University, the author has been developing a pedagogy that introduces students to difficult social issues through community-based internships, and asks them to imagine what kind of leadership it would take to address those issues…

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…