Guidelines for effective Academic Service-Learning (ASL)
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identified by the community
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Clear expectations should
exist for students, faculty, and community agencies. What work will
students be completing? How will this work connect to course objectives?
What do agencies need from faculty members? What do faculty members
expect from agencies?
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Whenever possible ASL,
involves an active partnership between faculty member and community
agency (members of community agencies become co-teachers).
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ASL activities are linked
directly to the learning objectives of a course.
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ASL rewards students for the
learning arising from service, not the service itself.
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ASL engages students in
structured reflection about their service-experience. Structured
reflection is crucial and should be designed to create a bridge between
service and course concepts and theories.
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ASL should be integrated into
a course, not simply added on.
Academic Service-Learning is "a credit-bearing educational
experience in which students participate in an organized service
activity that meets identified community needs and reflect on the
service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of the
course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an
enhanced sense of civic responsibility. Unlike extracurricular voluntary
service, service-learning is a course-based service experience that
produces the best outcomes when meaningful service activities are
related to the course material through reflection activities such as
directed writings, small group discussions, and class presentations.
Unlike practica and internships, the experiential activity in a service
learning course is not necessarily skill-based within the context of
professional education." (Bringle/Hatcher)
