For 14 years, Mountain Outreach, a program at Cumberland College (Williamsburg, Kentucky), has enabled college students to participate in community service projects. Recently, 35 students traveled to New Mexico to build a house for a Navajo elder who was unable to obtain adequate housing. Participants discuss their learning experiences and their…

Describes a preservice program that prepares students to work in schools with children at risk due to poverty. The program integrates university classroom instruction with relevant community service to develop a strong knowledge base for students. It is structured around a systematic constructivist pedagogical model that contributes to high…

Service learning can help students learn specific skills and concepts, particularly in social studies. The article examines characteristics of good middle school service learning projects, explains how to begin a project, discusses the benefits of service learning, presents an example of service learning in Wren Middle School, Piedmont (South…

Profiles Active Citizenship Today (ACT), a social studies service learning program for middle and high school students. In ACT, students explore their community, identify problems, examine public policy, explore their options, and take action. Includes unit excerpts from the ACT teacher's handbook. (MJP)

Briefly describes a service-learning grant program and provides examples of elementary, middle, and high school projects awarded grants in 1996. Projects included efforts to educate the community about river pollution, multicultural murals, and a school activities news show. Includes application form and general guidelines and suggestions. (MJP)

Explores how a student service program can be implemented without a large staff and without cost, in large introductory sociology classes as part of an extra-credit project, while augmenting course material as an active learning component. Discusses a class that fits this description at North Dakota State University. (MJP)

Describes a college service-learning project addressing a crucial need for school-age child care within the community. While creating and implementing the after-school program, students took responsibility for their decisions, cooperated to solve problems and delegate tasks, and developed leadership and self-efficacy. The result was student…

Chronicles the emergence of community service in the United States, beginning with the turn-of-the-century collision of capitalism and democracy which generated a crisis of community and profound rethinking of the meaning and practice of charity. Three service "paths" are identified: nonprofit human services organizations; active…

Explores academic service learning as an innovative pedagogical model capable of transforming traditional teaching and learning practices. Notes that faculty undertaking this challenge can expect initial resistance from students, periodic self-doubt about their teaching accomplishments, and colleagues' skepticism, but also renewed student…

Discusses Project YES, a model of urban programming that provides youth with a support structure wherein their voices about pressing social issues can be heard by a wider audience. Youths participate in project-based workshops in which they develop critical-thinking, problem-solving, leadership, and consensus-building skills. (GR)

Energy Express is a summer reading and nutrition program for disadvantaged young children in 80 rural West Virginia communities. College student/AmeriCorps mentors support childrens' literacy by creating a print-rich environment, using a place-based curriculum, and providing activities, including a community service project. Two case studies…

A college and high school collaborated on an early field experience for preservice physical education teachers combined with a service-learning component. Evaluation indicated that high school student motivation and participation increased, high school teachers learned new teaching strategies, and preservice teachers experienced decreased…

A study examined perceptions of a 7-day Outward Bound program among 23 urban youths, foster parents, and foster care workers from group homes in Atlanta (Georgia). Foster parents reported improved self-esteem and behavior among the teens, but foster care workers reported worse behavior. Negative program impressions lessened among male youths but…

Service learning has been identified as a promising approach to reduce sexual risk behavior, among other outcomes. This study used qualitative data analysis to offer suggestions for optimally integrating service learning into a program to reduce sexual risks among alternative school students. Data were collected from student participants in the…

Many universities provide overseas student teaching yet little is known as to what knowledge, skills, and dispositions university students have prior to arriving in their host country as well as after their return to their home country. This article considers several key issues and suggests factors that schools of education should consider when…