Library of Resources

Service-Learning Planning

• Service-Learning Syllabi Examples
  • A searchable database of service-learning syllabi provided by Campus Compact
• 101 Ideas For Combining Service and Learning
  • A list provided by Florida International University of service-learning projects that have been used successfully in higher education; projects are conveniently sorted by discipline for (anthropology, business, art, etc.)
• Practical Guide for Integrating Civic Responsibility Into the Curriculum
  • Gives instructions on how to integrate civic responsibility into the curriculum. It provides a number of lesson plans and activities that incorporate service-learning and other related themes.
• How Service Learning Affects Students
  • Compares the effects of service-learning and community service on the cognitive and development of college students

Best Practices

• Research University Engaged Scholarship Toolkit
  • A compilation of resources for faculty members at research universities included the importance of community engaged scholarship and how to document community based scholarship for tenure, reviews, and promotions
• Critical Service Learning with International Students in the United States
  • Discusses ways to develop a service-learning program that teaches international students the underlying causes of inequity in the United States
• Equity Based Service Learning
  • Emphasizes the importance of a critical service learning which draws attention to the societal factors that led to the need for service

Reflection

• Reflection: Intercultural Border Crossing, Power, and Privilege
  • Provides reflection activities related to inter-cultural relations and awareness
• Do All Students “Get It?”: Comparing Students Reflections to Course Performance
  •  Focuses on what students “get” from the service-learning experience, with a particular focus on differential outcomes reported by students

Assessment

• Measuring the Impact of Project Based Learning
  • Provides a broad review of existing project-based service learning programs, assessment methods used, and the impacts on students with a specific emphasis on engineering programs
• An Assessment Approach to Project-Based Service Learning
  •  Presents a strategy of assessing a  Project Based Service-Learning program

Service-Learning Impacts

• How Undergraduates are Affected by Service Learning
  • Measures the impact of community service programs on 3,450 students across 42 higher education institutions
• The Effect of Community Service Work on the Moral Development of College Ethics Students
  • Tests the effect of community service work on college ethics students which concludes a positive impact on ethics and other areas of student development
• The Role of Service-Learning on the Retention of First-Year Students to Second Year
  • Shows a relationship between enrollment in a service-learning course and higher intentions to continue on the same campus
• A Meta-analysis of the Impact of Service-Learning on Students
  • Determines students participating in SL programs demonstrated significant gains in five outcome areas: attitudes toward self, attitudes toward school and learning, civic engagement, social skills, and academic performance.
• The Influence of Community Service Learning on Student Engagement, Retention, and Success: A Review of the Literature
  • Reviews literature on the influences of service learning on student engagement, retention, and success
• Assessment of High Impact Practices: Using Findings to Drive Change in the Compass Project
  • reports on the trends in student participation in high impact practices (such as service-learning) and the associated learning outcomes
• Civic Learning and Democratic Engagements: A Review of the Literature on Civic Engagement in Post-Secondary Education
  • A survey of the implementation of “civic engagement” across universities, and suggest it is not enough for students to engage in the community; they must also engage in the skills, values, and knowledge development that educate them to be better citizens  
• Outcomes of Service-Learning in an Introduction to Sociology Course
  • Compares service-learning with traditional classroom techniques as a teaching method, using Sociology as a case-study
• Integrating Community Service and Classroom Instruction Enhances Learning: Results From an Experiment
  • Reports higher success rates of students in a service-learning section of a political science class than those in a tradition section of the same class
• Linking Traditional and Service-Learning Courses: Outcome Evaluations Utilizing Two Pedagogically Distinct Models
  • Reports students in service-learning course gain an enhanced ability to apply course concepts compared to students in traditional course in psychology
• Service-Learning Effects on the Academic Learning of Rehabilitation Services Students
  • Completed a controlled experiment on the success of students in a service-learning course in Rehabilitation Services versus those that were in a traditional course
• Service-Learning: Enhancing Student Learning Outcomes in a College Level Lecture Course
  • Discusses effects of infusing a 20-hour per semester service-learning requirement into a large Introductory Child Development course
• City College Report to Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education
  • Examines the results of a three-year project that connected New York City public university undergraduates with second graders in Harlem
• Post-College Civic Engagement Among Graduates
  • Reveals engagement within the community declines sharply during the years immediately after students graduate from college
• Reflections Upon Community Engagement: Service-Learning and Its Effect on Political Participation After College
  • Demonstrates service-learning has greatest impact on political participation after college compared to organizational involvement, campus leadership, and volunteering
• Service-Learning and the First Year Experience: Preparing Students for Personal Success and Civic Responsibility
  • This monograph documents the congruence of two powerful educational concerns: the success of first-year students and the potential of service-learning as a teaching-learning strategy
• Service-Learning and Persistence of Low-Income, First Generation College Students: An Exploratory Study
  • Presents findings from a qualitative study of the service-learning experiences of six low-income first generation students, with the aim of generating an in-depth understanding of how these experiences may have contributed to the students’ persistence in college. Implications for future research are discussed.
• The Civic Promise of Service-Learning
  • Explores the connections between service-learning and the development of civically-engaged students.
• To Hell with Good Intentions
  • Outlines the dangers of paternalism inherent in any volunteer activity but especially for international volunteer work.