Presents the results of a national study designed to gain an understanding of the status of service-learning in teacher education programs. Concludes that although service-learning exists in the language and curriculum of the majority of teacher education programs - approximately 60 percent address the subject - it still resides largely on the…

Discusses the development of a survey instrument designed to measure the impact of service learning on student development, specifically students' sense of caring, ethics, connectedness, collaboration, diversity, reciprocity, and self-efficacy. The authors invite other service-learning practitioners to utilize the instrument, and if they wish, to…

Presents a model that combines research and service learning. The Community Based Research Institute is an interdisciplinary summer academic experience in which undergraduate students and community partners collaborate to meet a community-defined research need. Finds that students are less likely than faculty to recognize the connections between…

Evaluates the outcomes of the service-learning component in two undergraduate courses in which some students identified their own service-learning sites and others chose one of three pre-arranged sites. Concludes that all students experienced a greater understanding of the course content and their roles as citizens, but students who arranged their…

Describes a project that allows university students to participate in organized service activities that identify and provide health and safety programs and services to two poverty-stricken elementary schools in a Pennsylvania school district. Student activities, including participation in faculty meetings and mandatory reflection, and outcomes are…

Describes a study that examined the effect of community service learning on teacher education students. Concludes that students who are involved in such programs are more aware of the community in which they will teach and are more willing to become engaged in the community they will serve. (Contains 25 references.) (CAK)

Describes the Generations Together program, an intergenerational service-learning experience for undergraduate students and how the three generations - the young child, the college student, and the older adult - impact on each other. Presents the benefits to the participants, insights regarding children and their families, and students'…

Community-based Learning (CSBL) is based on the idea that learning is facilitated when the classroom is linked with real-world experience. This paper presents an overview of the pedagogical basis of community service-based learning (CSBL) and compares CSBL projects carried out in two very different settings. The findings indicate that in order to…

This article describes a course that integrates environmental science students into local community organizations. Despite initially high expectations, students who completed the course held negative opinions about their experience because of inadequate community partner preparation. Based on the course's successes and challenges, in this article,…

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…

Service-learning projects help students make connections to their community and help them to think about civic participation. The projects can range from very simple short-term philanthropy to very complex direct involvement by the students across multiple years. Students learn both social problem-solving skills and academic knowledge through…

Conversations continue as to whether and how community-based learning and research (CBLR) can be most effectively integrated into the mission and practice of institutions of higher education (IHEs). In 2005, eight District of Columbia- (DC-) area universities affiliated with the Community Research and Learning (CoRAL) Network engaged in a planning…

In an effort to increase the quality and quantity of service-learning assessment, this article provides a brief rationale for engaging in service-learning assessment and reviews a selection of available tools for doing so. The paper includes a matrix that lists cognitive outcomes, including critical thinking and problem solving, and the…

Colleges and universities across the country are encouraging the integration of service-learning and community-based research into the curriculum, often by establishing centers to assist in that process. The goal of this paper is to outline a set of tasks for campus-wide institutional support of service-learning that are necessary and that can…

Living in Alaska offers many extreme challenges and opportunities for family and consumer sciences (FCS) teachers to step up to the challenges of facing the future. In this article, the author describes how she started the "Stepping Up For Our Future" program. She relates that as the sole FCS teacher in Chugiak High School, she was…