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"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."
- excerpted from "A Service Learning Curriculum for Faculty" by
Robert Bringle and Julie Hatcher
The bottom line: "Service-Learning = Service + Learning"
Students perform a form of service and an instructor ties the experience to course objectives.
Service-learning is Win-Win-Win!
- Students win by gaining real-world experience with their classroom knowledge.
- Faculty win when the learning outcomes are actualized in real-life settings.
- The community wins by benefiting from the talent, energy and skills of MATC students and faculty.
What Service-Learning is Not
Service Learning is different from internships, volunteerism and community service.
Experience/
Method |
Focus of
Effort |
Time
Commitment |
Supervised By/
Graded By |
% of Grade
Involved |
Volunteerism/
Community
Service |
Volunteer services; meeting identified agency or community needs; any work may be done, as long as it helps someone |
Varies according to desires of volunteer and needs of agency |
Supervised by agency personnel |
None |
Service-Learning |
Both service and learning; meeting community needs while focusing on goals for learning in the course |
Averages about 2-3 hours per week, based on agency/ school needs |
Supervised by agency personnel; graded by instructor based on a tangible demonstration of learning submitted by service learner (i.e., paper, oral presentation, portfolio) |
Varies according to desires of instructor |
Fieldwork/
Clinical
Placements |
Learning; practicing skills for a profession, usually in helping fields such as nursing and social work |
Varies according to a discipline; almost always more hours per week than service learning |
Supervised and graded by clinical staff |
Usually clinical work plus some work and/or research equals 100% |
Internships |
Learning; practicing skills for future work, e.g., public relations, marketing |
Varies according to the department; usually at least 20 hrs/week |
Supervised by agency personnel; graded by supervising professor |
100% |
Adapted from Service-Learning at Marquette Faculty Handbook (1998)
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