Learning communities in health and human performance are creative approaches to traditional academic outcomes. Learning communities are becoming increasingly widespread in a variety of contexts, and there is extensive evidence suggesting that effective learning communities have important benefits for students as well as faculty. In this article,…

Youth civic engagement is a diverse field of practice, with each initiative claiming it has a unique approach. This chapter describes three initiatives, Youth-in-Government, Youth Science Center, and Public Achievement from the point-of-view of program staff. Their view is often privileged; it is the one used for official communication and public…

This paper addresses the strengths and challenges of university-based service learning projects, using preservice elementary teachers in an undergraduate social studies methods course as a model for implementing service learning in university courses. The goal of the project was to provide future teachers with the motivation and experience in…

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research examining the impact of service-learning on student's personal qualities has shown positive results. Findings indicate that students participating in high quality service-learning programs show increases in their perceptions of self-efficacy, civic responsibility, social justice, and diversity…

The Wilderness Education Association (WEA) helps people enjoy and protect the nation's most precious resource: the wilderness areas. The WEA has been training and certifying outdoor leaders around the world for nearly 30 years, teaching students safely and effectively to lead groups in the outdoors without harming the environment. This document…

This article offers a case study of a graduate class in communication research methods with a service-learning approach. Students were engaged in evaluating the public information campaign of a nonprofit organization exposing human rights abuses in US prisons. They gained hands-on experience in the use of a variety of basic research methods and…

Background: One of the debates around service-learning is if and what changes can be affected in the short duration of a college course, typically 15 weeks. This study explores how one education program addresses this challenge by taking into consideration students' cognitive and social development and systematically designs a progression of…

Background: Isabella Thoburn College at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India has initiated Service Learning Program for its students through 4 issue based centers. One of the centers AIDS Awareness Center for Counseling, Education, and Training (AACCET) is in the field of HIV/AIDS. It follows 6 pronged approach to achieve its objectives and one of the…

Service-learning can be used as a teaching tool to promote social justice, and its implementation can encourage both students' personal development and social engagement. In this article, I illustrate how service-learning can help students become more self-aware, appreciative of diversity, and agents of social change. This process involves…

This article analyzes the role of service-learning faculty fellows programs in promoting pedagogical innovation and university-community engagement. The analysis is based on the findings of a study conducted among former fellows at two universities in North Carolina, USA. The faculty fellows programs had a strong influence on participants'…

This article describes a case example of a pedagogical approach that successfully integrates teaching technical skills, knowledge, and civic engagement. Students embarked on a semester-long project to assess the complexities of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, develop a response to address the concerns of community constituents, and…

Efforts by metropolitan universities to engage in meaningful and democratic partnerships with community organizations require much time, effort, and considerable resources from the university and its various constituents. Widener University is located in a distressed urban environment. This study, presented from the perspective of the university's…

Hamline University, a medium sized college in St. Paul Minnesota, dedicated resources and time to New Orleans, Louisiana in its efforts to rebuild and reclaim the city. Days after Hurricane Katrina hit, Hamline sent students, faculty and staff to help with recovery efforts. The Education Club adopted Martin Luther King Science and Technology…

Reports on the multiple perspectives of students, community members, and faculty to document the affect of student participation in service-learning courses. The study examined in this article used a large sample size and multiple qualitative and quantitative methods over several years. The results indicate that service learning affects students…

Examines the effects of the Bonner Scholars Program, a stipended college service program, that focuses on the development of community service ethics. Discusses the results of the study on the program's effectiveness for 265 students from 9 colleges and universities in the midwest and south. (SWM)