WHERE’S THE LEARNING IN SERVICE LEARNING?
Service Learning and Academic Learning
- A majority of service learning students report that they learn more and are motivated to work harder in service learning classes than in regular classes.
- A majority report that a deeper understanding of subject matter, understanding the complexity of social issues, and being able to apply material they learn in class to real problems are among the important benefits of service learning.
Understanding and Applying Knowledge
- Students find that they remember and can use material that they learn from the rich and complex community context.
- Students report that service learning is powerful because it is rooted in personal relationships and making a difference in people’s lives that helps them connect their learning to personal experience.
Stereotyping and Tolerance
- Service learning students develop a more positive view of the people they work with over the course of the semester.
- Students report that their service learning contributes to their sense that the people they work with are “like me” and demonstrate their growing appreciation for other cultures.
- Service learning is a predictor of tolerance over the course of a semester when service learning students are compared with those who do not participate.
Personal Development
- Students report that service learning contributes to greater self-knowledge, spiritual growth, and finding reward in helping others.
- Service learning is a predictor of an increased sense of personal efficacy, increased desire to include service to others in one’s career plans, and increased belief in the usefulness of service learning in developing career skills over the course of a semester.
Interpersonal Development
- Students report that service learning contributes to their ability to work well with others.
- Service learning is a predictor of increased leadership skill over the course of a semester when service learning students are compared with those who do not participate.
Community and College Connections
- Service learning is a predictor of feeling connected to the community over the course of a semester when service learning students are compared with those who did not participate.
- Service learning creates opportunities for developing close personal relationships among students.
Excerpted from “Where’s the Learning in Service Learning” (1999) by Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles, Jr.; San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
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