Service Learning
What is service-learning?
A teaching method that combines structured learning opportunities with active participation in the community, service-learning enhances the academic experience by relating the content and objectives of a course to issues in the community. Service-learning courses combine meaningful service for a community agency with critical reflection on the ethical, intellectual, and civic aspects of students’ experiences.
A wide variety of activities can meet this criteria, including: oral history research, grant and proposal writing, information management, video production, organization and management analysis, translation services, performances, publicity, statistical research, opinion research, and financial consultation.
Why use experiential placements?
Learning occurs through a continuous cycle of abstract conceptualization, active experimentation, concrete experience, and reflective observation. Effective teaching engages learners at multiple points in the cycle. (D.A. Kolb, Experiential Learning)
What are the benefits of service-learning?
- Fosters civic competence and engagement
- Enhanced academic learning
- Better understanding of course content
- Relevant and meaningful service provided to the community
- Livelier, increased student participation in class discussions
- Improved relationships between faculty and students
- Collaborative research opportunities
Positive outcomes associated with community service documented by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA include: increased critical thinking skills, increased academic self-confidence, increased understanding of national and community problems, increased sense of civic responsibility, higher retention rates, and higher grades.
SMU Service-Learning Results
In SMU service-learning courses, a majority of students completing evaluations reported that their service helped them understand the basic concepts and theories of the subject, made them more interested in the class, made them more aware of community problems, exposed them to races and cultures different from their own, and helped them to feel more at ease with people different from themselves.