Provides an overview of service learning: definitions, reasons for including service learning as an instructional strategy, ways to maintain academic vigor, grading principles, risks and rewards, and adaptability. Includes students' written comments, details on Northern Virginia Community College's widespread use of service learning in 18…

Estimates changes across years in student reports of school practices to promote community service, student participation in community service activities, and service-learning activities. Data are from the National Household Education Survey. (SLD)

Reports on the policy and practices of the community development department of Rand Afrikaans University (South Africa) and a service learning project of the university's faculty of education and nursing. The program provides South African students, living with a legacy of segregation, the opportunity to develop a sense of shared social…

Administered the revised Community Service Involvement Preference Inventory (CSIPI) and investigated if college students' involvement preferences changed during a 10-week term as a result of participating in a service learning course. Found significant differences in mean scores for the Exploration and Assimilation involvement preferences, and no…

Discusses community-based research (CBR) as a pedagogical strategy for courses in social science research to show how service learning enriches discipline-based learning. Explores how CBR engages students with epistemological debates by modeling alternatives to conventional assumptions about why research is conducted, how best to study people, and…

Describes a service learning project developed at the Hampton University (VA) library to have students write user guides for the library's new technology. Discusses the collaboration between a librarian and an English faculty member; reports on an increase in online searches; and proposes future service learning projects. (LRW)

Discusses the many benefits of service learning, and offers examples from the author's high school students. Notes literacy and language arts service learning projects; the importance of integrating service learning into a regular program of instruction; programs and resource materials that support service learning at the K-12 level; and students'…

Discusses academic service learning, and the three key elements of such projects. Discusses the need for meaningful community service that meets needs, clear curriculum connections for students, and projects that incorporate ample time for both reflection and evaluation. Describes pairing preservice secondary teachers with high school writers.…

Discusses how technology-enhanced service-learning can help teachers address national standards. Describes a three-step process (preparing students for service- learning, reflecting on the experience, and taking action through communication) to strengthen service-learning. Uses the Internet to enhance environmental community projects. Includes a…

The Federal District Court ruled in favor of the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, school board's requirement that, as a condition for graduation, each student must perform 50 hours of unpaid community service. (MLF)

Analyzes the present state of higher education and psychology in relation to the future needs of society. It is proposed that the U.S. educational system and society should negotiate a new "contract" that is appropriate for the coming decades. A model of future higher education is described, and examples are given of courses involving socially…

Briefly describes programs at some of the 10 public universities participating in a three-year, federally funded project to monitor students' attitudes concerning democracy, diversity issues, and service learning. Programs at Arizona State University, the University of Maryland, and the University of Michigan are noted. (DB)

Notes that the Center for English Studies Technology (CEST) at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa has sponsored several projects that bring together literacy, computer-mediated communication, and community-service learning. Concludes that community-service learning projects can be used to further pedagogical goals for technology-intensive writing…

Reviews recent research related to the roles of race and gender issues in community service learning, exploring issues of student participation, student learning and peer interaction, community relationships and impact, and transfer to other venues in the educational institution. A series of foci for further research related to race and gender…

Discusses fundamental issues of contention regarding educational research on service learning, including standards of validity and who is represented in the research. Examines the crisis in legitimization and demonstrates how various research paradigms are necessary and appropriate for understanding the impact and process of service learning…