This paper focuses on the parameters of a semester-long project called the "Do Good" project, geared towards developing small group communication skills in undergraduate students. This project highlights participation in a social engagement project that allows students to bridge concepts learned in small group communication lectures…

This study evaluates whether students who participate voluntarily in a service-learning activity achieve higher learning outcomes, measured by grades, than students who voluntarily choose not to participate in service learning. Analysis is based on a study of an introductory urban studies course at a large North American research university over a…

Success in academic service-learning (AS-L) comes in large measure from the work of faculty dedicated to this pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to examine how faculty who have taught nine or more sections of AS-L courses sustain their motivation despite the pedagogy's inherent challenges. Individual interviews were conducted with 10 faculty…

University of Michigan (U-M) students visit community-based organizations in Detroit on a weekly basis to work on projects aimed at improving the well being of children and their families, such as tutoring youth in after school programs. Their site visits are supplemented by relevant readings, class discussions and written reflections on topics…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

Originally published as a special issue of the "Middle School Journal," this book presents integrative curriculum as a foundational element of the middle school. By addressing the current gap in literature on curriculum integration in the middle grades, this text explores how learning can be organized around authentic concepts or…

The Lilly Endowment's Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation offered a range of educational activities and opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to reflect on and discern their values, beliefs, and goals across a wide spectrum of collegiate life. Tim Clydesdale has found that these opportunities were of much value to those…

The Peace Corps Masters International program offers students the opportunity to combine their Peace Corps service with their master's education. This article demonstrates how classroom learning strengthened the author's Peace Corps service in Tanzania, which in turn strengthened her master's thesis. Peace Corps supports an approach to community…

Service-learning is a high-impact pedagogical strategy embraced by higher education institutions. Direct service based on a charity paradigm tends to be the norm, while little attention is paid to social change-oriented service. This article offers suggestions for incorporating social justice education into courses designed to promote social…

This mixed methods study examined changes in self-reported multicultural competence and distress reactions of 32 counselor trainees engaged in service learning. Whereas 3 trainees significantly increased in self-reported multicultural competence, 5 significantly decreased. Trainees who significantly increased in multicultural competence reported…

The school where Chris Piccone teaches eighth-grade English maintains a desire to pull its community from its comfort zones to experience first hand the crushing poverty in the Dominican Republic. Although he always thought of himself as a bleeding heart, who was proud that he pushed his students out of their academic comfort zones, he realized…

Civic engagement, service-learning, and university-assisted community schools are strong forces in making universities, as anchor institutions, engaged and responsible within their spheres of influence. By helping solve social problems, universities engage in the highest form of learning, come to understand social issues and problems, and escape…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the question of what impact opportunities for service had on early adolescents. I also hoped to discover what types of service might inspire critical, caring thought and action. Four principal implications emerged from this inquiry. For service to inspire caring, it should be practiced and personally…

Although service-learning is considered to be a fairly new pedagogy in U.S. institutions of higher education, its origins can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century philosopher John Dewey and his "learn by doing" approach to education. Service-learning has gained popularity as a form of applied learning that helps increase…

This chapter explores the use of powerful pedagogies such as service-learning, cultural immersion, and community-based research to enhance leadership development. Four key principles are presented that describe how leadership educators can facilitate community-based learning in a way that creates an optimal learning environment for students, while…