Connecting Theory to Practice through Civic Engagement & Service Learning Part-time Faculty SymposiumAugust 13, 2011

Introducing …

Mary Elizabeth Tyler, Service Learning Coordinator

Kevin Schwemmin, Service Learning Coordinator

Sean Brumfield, Executive Director, ACCESL

Overview• Overview of Atlanta

Center

• Service Learning Defined

• Benefits of Service Learning

• Best Practices

• Civic Responsibility

• Faculty Examples

• Q&A

Services Provided

Assisting faculty in creating SL opportunities

Providing faculty training

Facilitating reflection sessions when requested

Conducting community partner workshops

Developing relationships with community agencies

Visiting student placement sites to ensure quality

Maintaining a service library & resource center

Assessing service learning activities

Directing students to available service opportunities

Matching faculty members with community partners

Impact

“I can honestly say that I’ve learning more in this class than I’ve learned in many others. I have learned so much, maybe because I found something that I’m really passionate about, and it makes you care more to learn about it—and to get involved and do more. You’re not just studying to take a test and forget about it. You’re learning, and the experiences we have are staying with us. It’s not cram for a test the night before. I know when I take the test that I just want to get it over with. That doesn’t happen with service learning.”

—Nursing Student

Impact

“We learn these theories in school and ideas, but until we really apply them or see them in action, they’re not real. And we come out of school, if we haven’t done something like this, not understanding.”

— Sociology Student

Service Learning Defined

American Association of Community Colleges

“Service learning combines community-based service with classroom instruction, focusing on critical, reflective thinking as well as personal and civic responsibility. Service learning programs involve students in activities that address community-identified needs while developing their academic skills and commitment to their community.”

Service Learning Is …

A teaching method that can be used in any curricular area as long as it is appropriate to student learning outcomes

About students helping to determine and meet real, defined community-identified needs

Reciprocal in nature, benefiting the community and the student

An effective way to encourage and foster active citizenship

Service Learning is not …

A volunteer or community service program with no ties to academics

An “add-on” to the existing curriculum (SL is not extra credit)

Logging a certain number of hours to graduate

Free or convenient labor

Compensatory service assigned as a form of punishment by the courts or college administrators

If students simply remove trash from a stream bed, they are providing service to the community as volunteers.

But, when students…

• Remove trash from a streambed,

• Analyze what they found,

• Share the results and offer suggestions for the community to reduce pollution,

• And then tie the experience back to the classroom through reflection…

That’s Service Learning

Benefits of Service Learning

Benefits to Students

Service Learning …• Engages students in

meaningful experiences that lead to greater understanding of course materials

• Fosters civic engagement

• Encourages critical thinking

• Provides career exploration opportunities

• Enhances a student’s appreciation for diversity

Benefits to the College

Service Learning …

• Strengthens ties between the college and the community

• Helps fulfill college mission & vision

• Creates a positive public image

• Increases retention of students

Benefits to Faculty

Service Learning …• Enhances & reinvigorates

teaching• Complements traditional

classroom instruction by providing students with experiential learning opportunities

• Allows faculty to develop a stronger rapport with students

• Develops an awareness of societal issues relating to academic areas of interest

• Increases professional recognition and reward opportunities

Benefits to the

CommunityService Learning …

• Strengthens campus-community relationships

• Provides substantial human resources to meet existing community needs

• Helps community organizations become “educational partners”

• Increases awareness of community needs

Examples of Service Learning

Beth Wallace (ESL) Project SHINE

“I found out that the word ‘communication’ is not simply talking to the students at the Clarkston Community Center, but explaining and showing examples of any kind so they can be able to understand that communication is happening. This gave me a better understanding of communication.”

Rolando Sanchez 

“Students usually only study the plain academic material and forget that it is very important to apply what they learn to real life. It is a benefit for students to have a required service-learning project since they can practice what they learn and remember it. . . . In addition, students get to know more about the society not just the school environment.”

Thien Tu Nguyen

Pamela Gore (Geology)

Teaching in the Schools Project

Goal: To get college students to work with K-12 students to spark an interest in teaching science.

Students develop and present a Georgia Performance Standards-based lesson to elementary students.

Documenting Rock

Carvings• Stone

Mountain Park• Part of a

partnership with Stone Mountain Memorial Association

Trash Pick Up at Stone Mountain Park

Best Practices

Service Learning Best Practices

1. Understand the needs of your community

2. Encourage “student voice” in activity / project development

3. Identify which needs your students can address

4. Match needs to course objectives / SLOs

5. Identify an assignment for service learning to replace

6. Determine how service learning will be offered (group/individual; mandatory/alternative assignment)

7. Design the service learning opportunity, including number of hours to be served, pre-service assignments, and reflection and civic responsibility activities

8. Add service learning to the syllabus

9. Recognize your students and celebrate with students and community

Reflection• Reflection is the

process through which students make meaning of the service experience

• Reflection connects course work to the service experience

• Reflection is the graded component of service learning

• Civic responsibility

For More Information

Atlanta Center for Civic Engagement & Service Learning 678-891-2305 http://engage.gpc.edu

National Service Learning Clearinghouse http://www.servicelearning.org