Service Learning Tips

During Summer 2015, fulltime faculty experienced in service learning practices were asked to share their thoughts on best practices to help future faculty seeking to integrate service learning into their curriculum.
1. What overall advice would you give to a faculty member thinking about incorporating service learning? In terms of developing the service learning project(s), selecting and working with a community partner and facilitation of reflection assignments.

Start planning at least a semester in advance! Start by doing some background research. Read about what service learning is (and is not). Talk with at least one other faculty member who has done service learning. Work with the Experiential Learning Department to locate resources (access the website but also have at least one in person visit). Think about what kind of placement best suits the needs of your course-- what is it that you really want students to learn from the experience? Think about connecting the work to the student learning outcomes of the course. Consider whether you want: all students to go as a group somewhere during class; students to go to the same placement but on their own time; or students select their own placement with approval from you, with guidelines.

Develop two or three solid, reciprocal, sustainable partnerships that students can collaborate with (versus letting students choose their own partners). You may need to meet with each partner multiple times to establish when students will serve and discuss how the project links up with the student outcomes.The project needs to be established together.

Establish your expectations for maintaining communication with your community partners. Set up meeting dates/times in advance to be sure both parties are available.

Make the assignment instructions as clear as possible-- have a separate handout rather than putting it all in your syllabus. Students need to understand that service learning is another form of pedagogy. Sometimes students feel it is going to take up too much time. But, once they learn that service learning is just another way of learning the material but in a more hands on approach they have all appreciated it.

Conduct some type of orientation to service, service learning, and the community partner (their mission, values, and expectations). Whether this takes places during class or via a take-home assignment, on-line assignment. Students need guidance because the majority have no idea what to expect or what the expectations are for them. Students need to know your expectations, rules, protocols, procedures for them to be successful.

I cannot stress "guided" reflection enough! A few students just innately understand why service learning is such a valuable experience and how the experience is tied back to course outcomes, their lives, and the community with little to no prompting, however, most students (in my experience) even with significant prompting often still miss making the connections.

When you finish your first semester, talk over what went well and didn't go well with a colleague to make changes for next time.

2. What experience should a faculty member have if they are to consider facilitating a service learning experience?

Knowing how to cultivate a strong community partnership as well facilitate the reflection component effectively.

I found familiarity with the community partner to be helpful. I had worked with my partner in the past so I was somewhat familiar with the structure of the organization.

Faculty must dive in at some point. They will tweak things along the way as they learn what works and what doesn't. However, having some initial training would obviously be helpful.

3. What are two 'must have' skills faculty should have in order to facilitate a successful service learning experience?

Understand how to cultivate a reciprocal, sustainable partnership with a community organization.
Be knowledgeable in the significance of and various types of reflection.
Be flexible! When working with a community organization there is always the element of lack of predictability and something will get changed, canceled, moved up, fall through, etc.... and as the instructor you will have to be flexible and accommodating to both the community partner as well as your students. Service learning puts us in the less predictable world of nonprofits where our academic calendar is largely irrelevant so the ability to change as circumstances change proves invaluable.

Organization It is important to be very organized so that the service learning project goes smoothly for the students. It is also important to make sure students are completing the many aspects of the project by the appropriate due dates.

4. Describe two ways that leading a service learning experience helps you become a better teacher?

You get to know your students better! You often spend time with them applying the knowledge; either actually out in the community working alongside them or maybe back in the classroom engaging in reflection. It strengthens your relationships with the students and you get to know them more as individuals, strengthening that instructor-student rapport. It has also helped me know where the weaker concepts are in class and how to better help students understand those concepts. I have found that when they are called to apply that knowledge in community they take more ownership of it and learn it far better than just simply for an exam or quiz.

I think any sort of stretch activity helps you become a debtor teacher and the various challenges involved with service learning.

Service learning led me to restructure one of my large writing projects to focus on having students find examples of course learning outcomes within their service experience. I did an analysis of this for my faculty performance evaluation and the sections that had the newly revised assignment scored higher on particular items on the exams (in some cases statistically significantly higher) than students in the previous two semesters who had a different writing assignment.

Service learning allows for much more open dialogue in the classroom….increasing the opportunities for the students and myself to be more engaged in the learning process.

I was able to see the importance ofmy course from multiple standpoints. Not only is my course important for my students to take for their careers, but it can help the clients from my community partner as they are faced with real life situations.

5. What are the skills, abilities, knowledge and/or attitude students must have to be a successful service learning participant?

Students need to be respectful of each other, the instructor, and any community members they work with (appropriate language, behavior, and attitude).

They need to dress appropriately for the environment they will be working in (it may be more or less formal depending on the work environment; there may be safety articles required too: hair nets, gloves, etc...).

They need to follow any specific guidelines, instructions given to them by their instructor and/or community partner supervisor (don't enter this room, do not disturb X, please do Y, etc...).

This is a learning experience and I think service learning should be open to anyone! No special skills required. In fact, you should be able to gain some skills by the experience. I think that most service experiences should be able to accommodate as many individuals as possible (while maybe not all can). Faculty should keep in mind when designing service learning experiences what might be a universally designed community experience option.

We all want students to go in to the community with an open mind. Not all will. Some will have an attitude adjustment and it is all that we hoped for! And some will come out with the same opinion and yet with a totally different mind-set. For example- I once had a student that chose a project working with kids that told me she hated kids! Afterwards, she said she still didn't like kids, but she now had a greater respect for people (parents, teachers, guardians) raising our kids!

A willingness to be somewhat outgoing was required. A number of my students were somewhat introverted and struggled with the piece that involve face-to-face contact with the organization.

Obviously there will be individual differences in the skills and attitudes of students who participate in service learning and I believe ALL students have the opportunity to develop stronger skills/attitudes as a result of the experience. Students should be able (or develop the skills) to work with populations that differ from one's own, a strong sense of responsibility (to be on time, dress and act appropriate, etc.), and maturity.