Describes a program to reinforce the art-history curriculum; establish a volunteer habit; and impact students' self-esteem, communication, and leadership skills through service learning. Discusses student training and service as docents at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Texas), and comments on the skills that they acquire through the…

The Francis Parker School in San Diego, California has a long history of unstructured service learning. The school's focus is on the whole student and the principle of individual responsibility. (SK)

Summarizes seven recent ERIC documents and six journal articles on service learning in the middle grades. Subjects of documents include descriptions of service learning in various areas and the national Indian Youth Leadership model. Topics of journal articles include descriptions of particular service-education opportunities, implementation of…

Study seeks to determine the effects of an Illinois mandate on publicly supported universities forming and promoting community service corps. Interviews were conducted with personnel at all 10 four-year public universities in Illinois. Data were gathered about the history of the programs; definitions, roles of students, faculty, student…

At the University of Missouri, A Way with Words uses work-study students as literacy tutors under an AmeriCorps grant. Service learning and critical reflection are incorporated into the program. (SK)

Surveyed college students about the quality of feedback they received at their service-learning workplace, their personal dispositions toward feedback, and the extent to which their key service learning goals were attained. Found evidence supporting the proposition that both the quality of feedback and students' dispositions to approach or avoid…

The Make a Difference model transforms community service from free labor and low-level tasks to efforts yielding genuine community improvement and enhanced academic performance. Students study the organization they work for and/or the chosen problem. California middle-school students conducted interviews, located primary sources, and created a…

Maintains that Montessori education of adolescents (Erdkinder) should prepare them to exercise a self-disciplined will and judgment. Notes the importance of preparing children through Cosmic Education and through community service. Maintains that the logical focus of study for the third plane is the cosmic plan and the adolescent's place in it.…

Recommends bringing practitioners and researchers together to strengthen future service learning research, suggesting a more empirically based approach to practice and more practical approach to research. The empirically based approach would help practitioners strengthen programs and influence the direction of research. The practice oriented…

In the Caring for the Community Initiative, a nursing school provides five community-based health programs for underserved populations, which serve as clinical practice and service learning sites for students. The programs provide faculty opportunities to integrate their research, teaching, and service roles. (SK)

Shares insights and successful practices of creating relevance through applied academics, community service, and creative fundraising activities for business education student organizations. (Author)

Presents a continuum of service learning projects in higher education that has four dimensions: amount, duration, and type of experiences; degree of student choice; type and amount of supervision; and amount of internal/external oversight. Offers considerations for faculty involved in organizing, managing, and evaluating service learning projects.…

A survey of 230 students in intergenerational service learning courses identified their motivations for involvement. Younger women were interested in relationship-related benefits; older women in altruism and knowledge gains. Males were interested in gaining credits and opportunities to work in areas of potential career interest. (SK)

Service learning, practiced effectively in Sharon (Massachusetts) Public Schools, should connect with learning topics that are already part of the curriculum, perform an ongoing service meeting a recognized community need, involve indepth learning, balance service with learning, and involve collaboration with community organizations. (Contains 14…

Introduces service learning for those who teach health or the methods of health promotion, tracing the development of service learning, identifying two schools of service learning practice (the service-first orientation and the learning-first orientation), and proposing a definition of service learning that is broad enough to include both schools.…