Although service learning was established as a method for combining relevant student learning opportunities with community engagement, recent critiques highlight the shift from achieving community-defined goals towards a predominate focus on assessing student learning. Focusing on a community's decision-making process regarding a homeless shelter,…

This research examines the effects of an off-campus service learning program on the moral reasoning development of college students. A pre-post quasi-experimental design was employed with two groups of college students (aged 18-22), one that engaged in service learning and the other which did not. The intervention was an eight-week summer service…

Teachers created an after-school club called The Green Team and implemented an instructional strategy know as service-learning to teach environmental science. This article describes the transformation that occurred over a three-year period and illustrates how service-learning can provide a framework for environmental education. (Contains 1 figure,…

This study explored the perspectives of community organization representatives and community residents about a partnership between a College of Engineering and a rural municipality in Nicaragua. The intended community outcomes described by university participants during interviews corresponded with tangible project outcomes, such as access to…

A pedagogy of engagement links faculty and students to the needs of local communities while promoting academic success through higher retention and graduation rates in higher education. This work describes engaged scholarship and shares guidelines for documenting student engagement and critical reflection across the higher education curriculum.…

This qualitative case study investigates how service-learning may enable self-direction and the development of a critical consciousness for marginalized high school students by exploring the dynamics of service-learning through a theoretical framework of critical theory. Service-learning is theorized to counter the oppressive nature of schooling…

With this timely book, editors Les Lloyd and Gabriel Barreneche present an eye-opening look at projects that are innovating with technology to improve education and, indeed, the very quality of people's lives around the world. From collaborative learning communities and social networks to Web 2.0 tools, MOOCs, and mobiles, experts discuss an array…

Many academic departments are making efforts to increase faculty and student community engagement as part of a movement to revitalize the civic function of higher education. A case study of the development of a public sociology program provides examples of steps that can be taken to involve educators and students in communities in multifaceted…

Research on service-learning offers compelling evidence of the advances student learners make in moral development, orientation to prosocial behavior, and curricular content retention. But who are those student learners? Most studies focus on native, dominant-culture, dominant-language students serving marginalized populations. Studies of the…

This article provides an overview of current practice and essential infrastructure of campus community engagement centers in their efforts to establish and advance community engagement as part of the college experience. The authors identified key characteristics and the prevalence of activities of community engagement centers at engaged campuses…

Individuals engaging in recreational pursuits, education, work environments, and many other institutional settings are likely to be separated by age. This common practice is often considered an optimal way to facilitate programs. However, the separation of age groups has created societal consequences. It has encouraged a fear of aging and promoted…

International service by students is gaining greater attention at colleges and universities around the world. Some research has examined the effects of international service for students, but relatively few studies have examined outcomes for host communities and sponsoring organizations, including colleges and universities. Beginning with an…

A qualitative exploration of a service-learning program for high school students with disabilities is presented. Focus groups with (n = 15) students and interviews with (n = 3) service-learning teachers at multiple service-learning sites were conducted to explore the perceptions of students and service-learning teachers regarding the impact of the…

Institutional research questions provide an excellent source of interesting problems for service-learning projects for undergraduates in mathematics. This paper discusses how this model has been implemented at Point Loma Nazarene University and provides both examples and practical details. (Contains 6 figures.)

Ample evidence suggests that environmental problems, and their impacts to present and future generations, require our utmost attention. Education within schools "and" communities play critical roles in shaping the perceptions and relationships people have to their natural and social environments. However, few studies have examined the…