The Society for Experiential Education defines service learning as, “any carefully monitored service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience” (Staton 1). Service learning is a great opportunity to get extra learning experiences while also experiencing the community around the universities campus. “Service learning allows students to apply what they are learning from their instructors, peers, and readings to genuine tasks that occur outside the four walls of the classroom while simultaneously helping others” (Staton 1). Universities are using service learning to expand beyond the classroom and provide students with experiences that will benefit them in the future. Service learning provides students with some fundamental aspects of life that can simply not be taught in the classroom. Service learning is a very beneficial tool in expanding on class room topics in the real world.
There are numerous reasons why universities should incorporate service learning into their curriculum. One way that service learning is so beneficial to college curriculums is that it will cheapen the price of credit hours. Many universities have made the service learning free credits, which will appeal to students when they are making the decision to attend school. And trust me, as a college student, the cheaper the credit hour the more appealing the school is. Another very beneficial aspect of service learning in curriculums is that it gives students a taste of the “real world”. “Service learning allows students to apply what they are learning to real-world problems, become more involved in the community surrounding the campus, and develop career g...
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...nication” (Staton 3). The students in these classrooms really benefit from the extra communication skills that are taught by the college students.
Service learning is a program that many universities around the country have turned to in order to improve their curriculum. It provides students with many excellent opportunities to go out in the community and get more then just a typical “college education.” The students who have been involved in service learning feel that they have become well-rounded human beings and have a taste of what it is like to function in the real world. Another great part of service learning is that not only the students benefit from it. The university, as well as the surrounding community are both rewarded by the program. Service learning is a great program that can be incorporated into any subject matter that a university offers.
Service; there are many different things that come into mind when you think of the term service. I use to think of the term as, in something needs to be serviced, something needs to be done or helped. PSL has changed my view on the term service and that their are many different things about service, its not just helping. Throughout my service experiences and resources I have learned its not about helping at all. Naomi Remen, author of In the Service of Life states “serving is different from helping. Helping is based on inequality; it is not a relationship between equals.” Serving is all about having that connection with someone and going in with an open mindset.
There were quite many relations made between my service learning experiences and themes addressed in the course. Some of the connections were about human self-respect, unity, and fairness. The social ties hold people together and can support the people who do not have the power to help each other. It was interesting for me to employ my skills and knowledge I learned in the classroom to serve those who need help.
The functional area of service-learning is currently emerging as an acknowledged department at an institution of higher education. The theoretical roots of service learning go back to John Dewey, and the early twentieth century. However, current research on service-learning pedagogy dates back only to the early 1990’s. Best practices for the field are still being created as more and more new offices are springing up on campuses throughout the United States and institutions internationally. The reason this functional area is becoming ever popular is due to the positive impact it has on students and most all educational outcomes.
Weigert, K. (1998). Academic Service Learning: Its meaning and relevance. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 73, 3-1
important issues, gain new perspectives and provides learning experiences for volunteers as well as individuals from underserved groups. Because of the numerous benefits, college students should enroll in the Service Learning courses or service learning based programs. These programs allows students to move away from the dualism versus unity point of view and focus on reciprocity and provides the skills necessary to approach future service experiences with a service learning perspective.
To summarize my service learning field experience with the Houston Food Bank (HFB) we must be first understand what service learning is and how it relate and differ from volunteering and community service. Service learning is structured learning that focuses on the benefits and learning of both the service-leader and the agency. It is also coordinated with an institution of higher education and the community. Its primary goal is intentional learning and the service itself is secondary. Service learning involves an academic curriculum in which students apply the learning from the engagement in reflection activities and in real life. Volunteering and community service are similar but different from service learning in several ways. Just like
The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse describes Service-learning (SL) as, “a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” SL is nothing new, dating back to The University of Cincinnati founding of the Cooperative Education Movement in 1903; although, service-learning in pharmacy is a relatively new concept (NS-LC). SL is a way for educators to provide real-life learning experiences to students through providing provision to communities or underserved populations. The major benefits to students of S.L. programs are offering experience, an expansion of knowledge, and personal growth; and can be beneficial to a student’s career and resume. Most all of the requirements of the competencies in Pew’s 1998 competency of practice proposal, including thinking ability, communication skills, valuing and ethical decision making, social and contextual awareness, social responsibility, social interaction, and self-learning abilities, are met through service-learning (Drab, Lamsam, Connor, DeYoung, Steinmetz, and Herbert 44).
Mahatma Gandhi once recited that, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”. Service projects help in projecting the giving that people do for the community.
I really think that having the service learning-project in the Unity and Diversity class is great. In class we have talked about minorites and disadvantaged groups, and volunteering in the minority places has everything to do with our class. The suggestions I have for revising the requirements of the service-learning component in a future class would be to require more theories and concepts into our papers. I think you should require more terms in our papers, so that we look more into our books and notes. Other than adding more concepts into the paper I don’t think anything else should be changed.
I heard about the Polar Bear Plunge through my peers. Every year many of my friends would take the plunge and I would call them crazy; going into the water being 30 degrees outside is insane. But that was before I did some research about the plunge and found out what the plunge was really about, helping raise funds for the Special Olympics. I was in school one day and heard that Broadneck had a team for the Polar plunge, this was my chance. Thousands of seemingly sane people across Maryland and beyond will strip down to their swim suits in 40 degree weather to help a special cause for extraordinary people. I am one of those seemingly sane people to donate and take the plunge to help raise funds for the Special Olympics.
Following participation in an Engaged Department Institute sponsored by Campus Compact, a service-learning requirement was instituted for all majors in the department studied beginning Fall 2002. All faculty were encouraged to incorporate service-learning in their courses. A training session on service-learning was the centerpiece of a departmental retreat in January 2002. In order to develop closer relationships with community agencies, the department hosted a faculty-partnership luncheon the following fall semester. Potential community partners were invited to meet with faculty in an effort to forge new relationships with the University. In order to institutionalize service-learning, all recruitment advertisements specifically mention service-learning and all new hires are expected to include service-learning components in their courses. As a consequence of these efforts, this department has gone from teaching only a few courses with service-learning components to offering twenty five different classes (thirteen courses) by Fall 2002.
A service learning experience is designed to enhance a student 's growth in personal and social development and to obtain an understanding of community involvement. For my service learning experience, I volunteered at Change Point Center. In this reflection paper, I will discuss in depth information about the services that Change Point provides, my goals while I was there,and what I ultimately learned from this experience.
There were several connections made between my service learning experiences and themes addressed in class. Some of the connections were about human dignity, solidarity, subsidiarity and equity. My service learning took place in a nursing home and the applicability of human dignity became abundantly clear. Teachings of solidarity and equity were directly exemplified. Social ties hold people together and are able to support the people who don’t have the power to help themselves. Subsidiarity is also a relevant issue; decisions for helping the elderly is best when done on the lowest level—the people who directly work with the elderly and know what troubles faces them.
A sort of culmination to my realizations through this service learning experience happened at the Fools’ annual Oscard’s Feast. This event was very eye-opening and stunning to me. Because I had never previously heard of this organization, I truly did not understand the true scope and the extent to which this organization, these people, truly help and inspired people; I was especially surprised by the amount of people they have
Service is a person giving up their free time to help the people or community around them. Participation in service activities is important for a person because the service allows them to give back to their community and it allows them to feel proud of what they have done. It is important for a community to have service projects because without them they may not improve as a society, service projects allow communities to improve themselves. I have been involved in a service project called seeds. Seeds is a service project through my church where we take kids ages three through six, and take them out of the mass. We take them to a side room, where we read them a story and try to teach the kids a lesson about the story in a way that they will understand. Then we complete a small craft and play games until the mass is over. To be successful with this service project and others, the people who run them must have some leadership