Research and experience has shown that allowing children and youth to feel that they are contributing members of their communities, they are less likely to exhibit rebellious or delinquent behaviors. Describes three model programs that employ the principle of generosity as a key component of interventions for troubled children and youth.…

According to the chairman emeritus for McDonnell Douglas, a free republic is the most powerful form of government and also the most fragile, because it depends on a virtuous people. Virtue calls for balancing our own needs with those of society. The Character Education Partnership has drawn up and published 11 principles of effective character…

Explores the understandings developed by 65 preservice elementary and secondary school teachers from an experience in community service learning for multicultural teacher education. Findings suggest that community service learning for teachers should include more opportunities for reflection and more critical concern for inequity. (SLD)

Introduces a geography course that uses a service learning approach to study the Dog River Watershed in Alabama. (YDS)

Surveyed supervisors from 30 community-based organizations about their perceptions of each service-learning student located at their site at the end of an academic term. Factor analyses yielded two reliable factors explaining over 74 percent of the common variance: students demonstrated service skills (e.g., constructive relationship with others,…

Uses research and theory on intrinsic motivation to suggest that some service learning practices may be counterproductive over the long term. Offers suggestions about the structure of service learning requirements concerning: (1) choice and control over community assignments; (2) choice and control over how activities are undertaken on site; and…

Reports on the Community College of Baltimore County's (Maryland) service learning program for diversity education, which is unique to American community colleges. States that students and faculty members spent two weeks in Belize, establishing a summer camp program for children to develop English skills. Asserts that volunteers benefited from the…

Examines how service learning in teacher education can help build a community of learners, strengthen the capacity of teachers to enhance the community, and foster increased teacher involvement in the community development process. (RS)

An experimental group of 22 undergraduates (including 10 over age 55) took a course with an intergenerational service learning component. Compared to 22 controls, results showed the course increased knowledge about aging processes and improved attitudes toward aging. (SK)

Data from 214 students in adult development and aging classes (117 participated in service learning) indicated that service learning did not seem to affect social values, civic attitudes, or achievement. It did result in improved understanding of course concepts, dispelled myths about aging, and reinforced career choices. (SK)

Content analysis of reflections of 104 students involved in service learning revealed the following outcomes: insights about aging and older adults, enhanced self-worth and efficacy, appreciation of the value and importance of service, awareness of the realities of long-term care, consolidated career goals, and integration of coursework and…

Provides an overview of practical methods and tools for assessment planning and implementation for service learning and civic engagement projects conducted by colleges and universities. Offers suggestions to help readers design their own program assessment plans. (SLD)

Studied a project undertaken by 21 undergraduates enrolled in an American University Washington Semester Program seminar using the collaborative teaching/lawyering method of clinical legal education. Results show that this type of community service learning can be incorporated into undergraduate courses. (SLD)

Describes problem-based learning, in which students encounter and solve a problem through reasoning and identifying learning needs, typically through a group process. Provides a rationale and guidelines to use problem-based learning effectively to strengthen service learning curricula. (SLD)

To determine the effects of a service-learning experience, first year pharmacy students were surveyed on their perceptions regarding: (1) cultural diversity, the elderly, the poor, and the disabled; (2) community service and social support; and (3) their service learning assignment. The experience positively impacted their perceptions regarding…