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For Service Learning Faculty
Elon Academic Service Learning Courses
Academic Service Learning Resources
What is service learning?
 Service
learning is a pedagogy in which students learn and develop through active
participation in thoughtfully organized community service. The service experience
is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the student.
Modified from the Corporation for National Service
Elon University's Academic Service Learning program integrates service experiences
into the course curriculum. Incorporating a hands-on service activity into
the class provides students with a practical application of the theories
they are learning in the classroom. Concepts and models discussed in the
classroom can be examined in detail through personal observation during
the field experience.
How academic service learning affects students:
- Deeper understanding of subject matter
- Increased reported learning and motivation to learn
- Improved ability to apply material learned in class to real problems
- Deeper understanding of the complexity of social issues
- A reduction of negative stereotypes and an increase in tolerance for
diversity
- Development of leadership skills
- Enhanced ability to work with others
- Increased feeling of being connected to a community
- Closer ties to students and faculty
Adapted from Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles. Where’s the Learning
in Service-Learning? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
What Elon Students Say About Academic Service Learning
Characteristics of effective service learning:
- Faculty members engage students in reflection to help them process
their field experience and relate it to course material.
- Students feel connected to the mission of the organization through
on-site orientation and meaningful service projects with human interaction.
- Agencies receive valuable support for community needs.
How to use service learning with your class:
Contact the Kernodle Center to discuss your goals for your course and how
a service project can help achieve those goals. We can offer ideas for activities,
integration and provide sample syllabi from other colleges and universities
if requested. We can coordinate the logistics of identifying appropriate
service agencies for your students' placements and will assign your students
accordingly.
We will tailor our process to meet the needs of your class, but our typical
process includes two class visits at the beginning of the semester to explain
service learning, gather information about students' placement preferences
and return with information about their assignments. We will provide them
with contact information for their agencies, information about expectations
and responsibilities, and validation forms to track their hours for their
Elon Experiences Transcripts. At that point, students are responsible for
contacting the agencies directly to schedule their visits. Throughout the
semester, we will serve as a resource for you, your students and the agencies
as necessary.
To register as a service learning class with us, please fill out this form
and send it to us at Campus Box 2999 with a copy of your syllabus.
Be sure to check our list of service learning resources. |
"Universities cannot afford to remain shores of affluence, self-importance and horticultural beauty at the edge of island seas of squalor, violence and despair. Emphasizing service has the potential to enrich learning and renew communities, but will also give new dignity to the scholarship of service."
--Ernest Boyer, 1994
"Service, combined with learning, adds value to each and transforms both."
-- Honnet and Poulson, 1991
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