Service-Learning: Why Bother?

Jeffrey Howard - Director of Faculty DevelopmentMarisol Morales - Associate Director

Chad Williams - Assistant Director for Community Development

Steans Center for Community-based Service-LearningDePaul University

April 16, 2010

Workshop GoalsWorkshop Goals1. Introduce the Steans Center and its

purposes

2. Clarify the conceptualization for service-learning (aka, community-based learning)

3. Discuss service-learning’s benefits and challenges for the three primary constituencies: students, community organizations, and faculty

4. Identify the Steans Center’s challenge/impediment reduction strategies

5. Identify faculty interest for follow-up 1:1 meeting

About the Steans About the Steans CenterCenter

Support for service-learning courses at all DePaul schools and colleges

Community service studies minor

Programs such as JumpStart

Student community service fellowships

Egan Urban Center

Case Study #1

Two weeks into a new quarter you bump into one of your campus’ new faculty members. She excitedly tells you that she is using

service-learning in her Intro to Psychology courses by (1) asking students to do 20 hours of community service, and (2) asking them to write a one-page summary of their experiences at the end of the semester. She tells you students can earn up to 10 points toward

their final grade by satisfying these two assignments.

Conceptualizing Academic Conceptualizing Academic

Service-LearningService-Learning (p. 12) (p. 12)

Distinguishing Academic Service-Learning Distinguishing Academic Service-Learning

from from

Other Student Community Involvement Other Student Community Involvement

(p. 13)(p. 13)Relevant and

Meaningful Service with the

Community

Enhanced Academic Learning

Purposeful Civic

Learning

Volunteering or Community Service Yes No No

Co-Curricular Service-Learning

Yes No Yes

Internships Yes YesNo

(instead, socialization into the profession)

Academic Service-Learning Yes Yes Yes

Service-Learning is Service-Learning is Different…Different…

For students relative to traditional courses

For faculty relative to traditional courses

For community organizations relative to traditional volunteers

Challenges for Challenges for StudentsStudents

Unfamiliar way of learning (integrating classroom and community learning)

Unfamiliar communities (many grew up in middle class, homogeneous communities)

Unfamiliar with how to enter another’s community respectfully and sensitively

Benefits for StudentsBenefits for Students New way of learning – integrating theory and

practice, academic and experiential learning

Potential for a transformative learning experience

Development of civic/social justice knowledge, competencies, skills, values

Growth of self (more likely in the real world than in a classroom)

Learn about a community, population, etc.

Opportunity to challenge stereotypes about those in unfamiliar communities

Challenges for Challenges for Community OrganizationsCommunity Organizations

Often unfamiliar with volunteers who have a learning agenda in addition to a service agenda

Determining how best to utilize college students on behalf of the community organization’s goals/needs

College students can present a lack of professionalism

Quarter system limits volunteer time (e.g., 20 hours/quarter)

Training and supervision takes time away from other staff responsibilities

Benefits for Community Benefits for Community OrganizationsOrganizations

Peoplepower (for usually understaffed community organizations)

Can undertake projects previously unable to get to

Opportunity to “educate” college students

Undertake research to support, for example, grant-seeking

Develop a mutually beneficial relationship with a University

Build student investment in the organization

Expand potential volunteer/donor base

Potential future staff hires

Challenges for FacultyChallenges for Faculty• Unfamiliar pedagogy

• Determining and realizing both academic and civic learning outcomes for students

• Integrating academic and real-world learning

• Identifying appropriate community partners for one’s academic course

• Developing relationships with community partners

• Facilitating reflection about students’ real-world experiences/learning

• Determining how to address difficult issues such as stereotyping, isms, etc.

Benefits for FacultyBenefits for Faculty Students more engaged in their learning

Academic learning enriched

Student learning beyond academic learning

Contribute to the development of the next generation of active community members

Add to one’s pedagogical repertoire

Offers a platform for research and publication

Enhances positive university relationships with communities

Provides opportunities for faculty to use skills and knowledge for the benefit of communities

Contributes to the Vincentian mission of DePaul University

Address students’ stereotypes, isms, etc.

Challenges and Challenges and BenefitsBenefits

For each of the three constituencies there are important benefits and challenges.

Research indicates that the additional effort necessary to teach a service-learning course relative to a traditional method often discourages faculty use of service-learning

(Research also indicates that teaching a service-learning course enhances student academic learning)

But what if many of the challenges previously identified could be addressed?

Steans Center Steans Center

Challenge/Impediments Reduction Challenge/Impediments Reduction

StrategiesStrategies

To minimize challenges and maximize benefits, the Steans Center

offers:

• Faculty development (e.g., course development workshops, course implementation workshops, individual faculty consultations, syllabus review, etc.)

• Grant funding (www.steans.depaul.edu)

• Custom-tailored community partner identification and development for each course

• Reflection sessions led by trained undergraduate facilitators

• Orientation for students to community-based learning and respectful community entry and exit

• All communication with community organizations, including tracking students’ community service fulfillment (quality and quantity)

Asset-Based Asset-Based Community Community

DevelopmentDevelopment

Service-Learning: Service-Learning: Should You Bother?Should You Bother?

Do the benefits outweigh the challenges?

Does the Steans Center offer sufficient services to address the challenges?

Would you consider meeting 1:1 with a Steans Center staff member to discuss the possibility of integrating service-learning into one of your academic courses?

National Service-Learning National Service-Learning

ResourcesResources

(pp. 61-62)(pp. 61-62)

National Service-Learning Clearinghouse

Published and unpublished material related to service-learning

www.servicelearning.org

Campus Compact

Many syllabi, conference announcements, publications

www.compact.org

Service-Learning in the Disciplines

24 discipline-specific monographs

International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement – annual conference (October 2010 in Indianapolis)

www.researchslce.org

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning

www.umich.edu/~mjcsl/ http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mjcsl/

Discussion

Q & A

Next StepNext Step

Sign-Up for Meeting with Steans Center Staff to Explore the

Possibility of Integrating Service-Learning into One of Your Courses