Service learning programs, which combine practical volunteer community service experience with traditional academic study, are cost effective and meaningful alternatives to college activities programing. Such programs increase learning options, are good public relations, can involve faculty and departments, and attract a wider variety of students…

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)

Presents data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS: 88) to demonstrate the widespread participation of high school seniors in voluntary community service. Suggests that teachers should build on this interest in community service, and offers hints to help make community and service learning more effective learning…

Teaching the research process through service-learning projects increased student interest in research at Bethel College (Minnesota). Examples of eight such research projects in nursing education are discussed, including their impact on community partners and students. Guidelines for academic-community research partnerships cover building…

Examined beginning teachers' experiences with community-service learning. Survey and interview data indicated that while teachers' experiences varied widely, most had positive experiences during teacher education and were strongly committed to it in the future. Approximately 30% were implementing service learning despite being busy and…

Although Generations X and Y do not promote specific social-change goals, today's young people share a concern for building, maintaining, and serving community. Simply assigning students tasks in teacher-designed service-learning projects denies them opportunities for decision making, action planning, and leadership development. (MLH)

The College Park Scholars Program at the University of Maryland is a learning community, based on the model of a residential college, that was designed to attract and retain academically talented undergraduates. Three experiential learning components developed by faculty for the curriculum are colloquia, service learning units, and discovery…

Tests the effectiveness of a teacher education course designed to reduce teacher biases, increase their commitment to social justice, and entice them towards collaboration with community members. Results show a positive increase in all areas of focus except social activism. (GR)

Asserts that service learning seeks to provide students with real-life, community-based experiences related to the content offered in the classroom. Discusses methods used to support students in writing about their service learning experiences and considers the value of reflection journals and group discussion in the learning process. (DSK)

Examined the literature to answer: (1) "What outcomes have resulted from preservice teachers' involvement in service-learning activities in diverse community settings?" and (2) "What challenges exist to enhance their multicultural teaching competencies through service-learning?" Summarizes three challenges (e.g., the resiliency of preservice…

Describes Earth Force's Community Action and Problem Solving (CAPS) learning model that integrates learning across the curriculum by bringing together three experientially based activities: care for the environment, service learning, and skills of civic engagement. Discusses CAPS' six-step sequence, and teacher and student responses. (JPB)

Discusses progress on three fronts in promoting pedagogy as a university discipline: (1) pedagogies of engagement such as community-service learning; (2) assessment of student learning; and (3) preparation of teachers for undergraduate teaching. Maintains that linking these is necessary to enhance undergraduate education; such a linkage would be…

The New Hampton School (New Hampshire) uses the holistic Total Human Development Model with both students and faculty to instill principles focused on relationships as central to teaching and learning; respect and responsibility; sense of community; whole person development within the community; compassion and service; and the meaningful,…

Spiritual development in adolescents is marked by the search for meaning, longing for solitude, urge for transcendence, hunger for joy, creative drive, and hunger for rites of passage. Educators can foster spiritual development by creating an environment where students can explore these yearnings and make connections within themselves, to other…

Recommends using children's literature as a means for introducing social problems and their possible solutions to elementary students. Offers different trade books on homelessness and the elderly along with descriptions of each book. Provides guidelines and teaching resources for creating a service project where students interact with their…