Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) was created by Purdue University (Indiana) School of Electrical and Computer Engineering to broaden the education of engineering students by the use of an extended service-learning experience integrated into the engineering curriculum. EPICS provides local community service organizations with…

Presents three studies examining the psychometric properties of the Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale developed for program evaluation of service learning in college. The scale was constructed to assess an individual's confidence in his or her ability to make clinically significant contributions to the community through service. Reliability,…

Journals of 30 college students of child development engaged in community-based service learning in multicultural settings revealed three themes. Students: (1) articulated their own approaches or philosophies regarding racial issues; (2) expressed concerns about specific multicultural or race-related incidents; and (3) discussed the resources they…

Increasing national awareness of the importance of a holistic approach to improving postsecondary education puts Appalachian colleges and universities in a potential leadership position due to their experience in integrating student needs, community service, and professional education programs. Discusses faculty development strategies that will…

Outcome data are provided for a national evaluation of Learn and Serve America School and Community-Based Programs and the Florida Learn and Serve program for 1995-96. Both national and Florida state data show positive effects, including improved attendance, improved academic achievement, and better attitudes for Learn and Serve participants. (SLD)

Examines student affairs professionals' areas of practice in which legal risk-management and ethical practice frequently clash. Offers a series of recommendations to maximize ethical practice while minimizing risks. Provides a framework for further discussion and reflection. (MKA)

Students in teacher-education programs can benefit from the experience of working in a multiagency, urban school collaboration site. A case study of one site is presented in which students learn about the diversity of urban schools while completing a service-learning project connected to an educational-psychology class. (Author/MMU)

Provides background on civic education in the United States and differentiates between civic and citizenship education. Discusses content and reflective inquiry instructional approaches and their integration through national standards. States that national standards have the potential to refocus attention on civic learning. Addresses the future of…

Based on a teaching and learning experience that infused a service-learning project into a community college English as a Second Language (ESL) course curriculum, discusses the tangible benefits that ESL students gained as a result of participating in the service-learning project. (Contains 24 references.) (KS)

Increasingly, colleges and universities are engaging in service learning, but for service learning to be successful in rural communities, students and faculty must look beyond the stereotypes of rural life and see rural people and places for what they are. Rural stereotypes are discussed, and a "stay option" is identified as a common…

Discusses the process of creating a course that aims to strengthen in students the four central components of civic learning (motivation, skills, knowledge, and values) by employing three different types of instruction (service learning, collaborative learning, and problem-based learning). Describes the course and its success in fostering civic…

Examples from 10 Appalachian rural schools demonstrate how developing curricula around local interests builds on students' prior experience and makes education relevant, and how educational experiences that are intimately connected to one's community develop a sense of civic responsibility. Information technology enables students to see the myriad…

Service learning, which combines community service with curriculum objectives, has several components: preparation, collaboration, service projects, curriculum integration, and reflection. Although opponents of mandatory programs criticize service learning as detracting from academics, studies indicate positive effects on academic achievement and…

Describes the dispositions comprising decency. Discusses how children acquire a sense of decency through the learning cycle of caring and serving, and describes how serving and caring strategies in family and school can promote decency through caring for self, others, the environment, and through service to others. Emphasizes the importance of…

Investigates undergraduate students' development and sociological learning by comparing two classes of students enrolled in a Race and Ethnic Relations course in which one section utilized service learning and the other was a lecture-discussion course with experiential exercises. Reports that service learning improved student learning in areas…