PROPOSING SERVICE-LEARNING IN

HIGHER EDUCATION: A FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATION

2009 University Honors Symposium 2009 University Honors Symposium DuBois Center, NAU

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Session 2a 1:00 PM

Presenter: Hesham Elnagar

What is Service-Learning?

Service-learning is an experiential and active teaching and learning pedagogy that fuses academic study with collaborative service experiences through critical reflective processes.

This presentation will address the following: Context

Implementation

Issues and Challenges

Resources

Context:Why at NAU? Why in my course?

Given the goals of Northern Arizona University and its strategic planning strategies, service-learning can be fostered and welcomed by various academic units to promote a liberal education.

Learner-centered, active, and experiential education

When thoughtfully integrated, service-learning works to achieve learning goals and desired outcomes of both the university and individual course- enhanced experiences for critical thinking, reasoning skills, reflection, emotional intelligence, and practical application.

Benefits include those for the student, faculty/instructor, community, and university.

The goals of the NAU Faculty Development Teaching Academy, listed below, directly align with the goals and desires of service-learning.

Teaching & Learning: The Academy aims to advance teaching and learning practices that support meaningful engagement and deep understanding by learners.

– Examples: All implementations of service-learning including, but not restricted to, discipline-based service-learning, problem-based service-learning, service-learning internships, capstone courses, and first-year courses.

Research & Teaching: The Academy aims to encourage integration of teaching and research including the scholarship of teaching and learning.

– Example: Community-based service-learning research

Service & Learning: The Academy aims to foster teaching that enhances student learning and stewardship through community involvement (campus, local, national, and global).

– Examples: All implementations of service learning including, but not restricted to, classroom service-learning, international service-learning, and experiential service-learning trips (http://www.partnersintheparks.org/)

Context continued

Cress’ Tripartite form of service-learning.

Context continued

“The epistemology of service- learning is a promising revolution that has sparked an instructional evolution where access andsuccess are equated with teachingand learning practices thateffectively link students with eachother and with their communitiesas critically engaged learners.”

- Cress’s Defining a Service-Learning Pedagogy of Access and Success p.2

Context continued

Internships

Service-learning

Civic Courses

CommunityService

Essential Elements of Service-learning, Adapted from Campus Compact 1999.

Service-learning can be expressed from many

perspectives. This figure displays a pedagogy that

includes a critical integration of progressive

educational techniques with both academic objectives

and community relations. It uniquely incorporates a range of ideas such as

internships, community based research, service

fundamentals, engagement, and academic focus.

Late Adopters – Visit compact.org to familiarize oneself with the efforts and programs that use service-learning.– Review Campus Compact definitions of service-learning and the Presidents’ Declaration on the

Civic Responsibility of Higher Education. – Read and review Cress’ Defining a Service-Learning Pedagogy of Access and Success.

Mid Adopters– Read and review Cress’ Defining a Service-Learning Pedagogy of Access and Success.– Consider new perspectives to approach service-learning techniques in the classroom, framed

around learning outcomes.

Early Adopters – Assess the relationships between your service-learning definition and its execution in your

course. Do the fundamentals match with the goals of the Teaching Academy? Engage in dialogue addressing these questions and begin to compile recommendations for future adopters.

Context Recommendations

Applications of service-learning– Benefits for all those involved – Nonrestrictive– Creativity- multiple classroom setups and ways to create community partnerships – New levels of engagement for community, instructor, student, and university

Any setup and level– Seminar, research, first-year, senior capstone, independent study, internships,

problem based (favored in hard sciences), discipline based (favored in humanities)

Focus and execution– Research, theory, fieldwork – Reflection- fundamental element to integrate ideas of learning and service towards

critical engage students’ thinking. Various methods of reflection- group discussion, candid writings (sometimes called journaling), reflective essays integrated with content, photo/video journaling, and directed writings.

Implementation: What and How?

Implementation continued

Balances in Service-learning. Adapted from Sigmon’s Interpretations of Service-learning.

SERVICE service

LEARNING

learning

Robert Sigmon’s three principles of service-learning:

1) Those being served control the services provided.2) Those being served become better able to serve and be served by their own actions. 3) Those who serve also are learners and have significant control over what is expected to be learned.

Implementation Recommendations

Late Adopters – Review The Johnson Foundation’s Principles of Good Practice for Combining

Service and Learning. – Review Howard’s Principles of Good Practice in Community Service-learning

Pedagogy.

Mid Adopters– Review Howard’s Principles of Good Practice in Community Service-learning

Pedagogy. – Review cross discipline syllabi at http://www.compact.org/category/syllabi/– Apply experiences with new information to clarify goals.

Early Adopters – Review cross discipline syllabi at http://www.compact.org/category/syllabi/– Begin to compile materials from service-learning courses taught to begin a NAU

syllabi database for late and mid adopters.

Issues and Challenges

Integration- finding service collaborations that fit with learning and student outcome goals, how to set-up service and learning experience, what kinds of service, how much service

Collaboration- communication with community agency or business, safe environment for students, equal relationship where needs of all involved are understood,

Facilitation- use of reflection in and out of the classroom, students assessed on learning not service

Ethical- requiring service, connecting to learning

Superficiality- affirming stereotypes, service and learning connection not strong and understood

Issues and Challenges Recommendations

Late Adopters – Review service-learning handbooks, continue to compare sample syllabi, and

communicate with current instructors who use service-learning techniques.– Establish clear collaborations where all parties are aware of each others’ needs.– Remember students are not receiving credit or being assessed on their service, but

by the meaningful connections made in the course.

Mid Adopters– Establish clear collaborations where all parties are aware of each others’ needs.– Assess how collaborations effectively reach learning and service goals.

– Course evaluations, student surveys, community surveys

Early Adopters – Assess how collaborations effectively reach learning and service goals.

– Course evaluations, student surveys, community surveys– Contribute to database and offer suggestions to avoid future issues and challenges.

Spring 2009 Examples at NAU

PR 471C- Public Relations Projects and Campaigns– Senior Capstone – 16 junior and senior level students

HON 191- Seminar in Critical Reading and Writing– Freshman Seminar – 18 first-year Honors students

PRM 203H- Introduction to Whitewater Rafting– Trip Experience – 7 Honors students freshman-senior

Resources:Useful Handbooks for all Adopters

The following handbooks include chapters, articles, course examples, sample syllabi, recommendations, and sample forms which address important service-learning questions and issues.

Introduction to Service-Learning Toolkit: Readings and Resources for Faculty (Second Edition) by Campus Compact

– Available through DDS Civic Engagement Across the Curriculum: A Resource Book for Service-Learning Faculty in All

Disciplines by Campus Compact– Available through DDS

Combining Service and Learning in Higher Education by Maryann Gray– Available at Cline Library

Evaluating Service-learning Activities & Programs by David A. – Available at Cline Library

Higher Education Faculty Toolkit – http://www.servicelearning.org/filemanager/download/HE_toolkit_with_worksheets.pdf

Resources:Useful Websites

Campus Compact Faculty Resources – http://www.compact.org/faculty/

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning – http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mjcsl/

Maricopa County Service-learning Resources – http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/sl/resources.html

Maricopa County’s Journal for Civic Commitment – http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/sl/resources.html

Learn and Serve Service-learning Blog– http://servicelearningsolutions.blogspot.com/

Questions/Comments/ Concerns

For an online version of this presentation please go tofile:///Users/Hesham/Desktop/Thesis/Faculty%20Devpt.

%20S-L%20online.htmIf you would like a completed copy of this thesis titled

Service-learning and Civic Engagement in American Higher Education or more information on service-

learning please contact Hesham Elnagar at

HHE2@nau.edu