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About
Service-Learning
What
is Service-learning?
Service-learning
is a student centered teaching method that involves academic
instruction in partnership with MTSU and the larger community.
The primary focus of service-learning is to enhance critical
and reflective thinking and civic responsibility. Service-learning
programs involve students in organized community partnerships
that address local needs while developing their academic skills
and sense of civic responsibility and community.
Types
of Service-learning
Indirect
Action
Students in foreign language classes create English vocabulary
books for elementary ESL (English as a Second Language) students
and other local organizations like Adult Educational Centers
to help the community’s growing Spanish-speaking population
learn English.
The
students are not working directly with ESL students, but by
creating the books, they are providing resources for education.
Through the process of creating books, the students benefit
by increasing their knowledge of Spanish vocabulary and Hispanic
culture. This is Indirect Action.
Direct
Action and Advocacy
Students in Environmental Science or related courses take
samples of a local, polluted waterway. The students then analyze
the samples to determine the contaminants polluting the water.
This is a good way for the students to practice their laboratory
skills in an uncontrolled atmosphere. When the types of pollutants
are identified, the students search for the specific sources
in the waterway. Once found, the pollutants are cleaned up
by the students or a student organized activity.
The
students are solving an immediate problem through hands-on
activity. This is Direct Action. A follow-through project
could be for the students to write letters, including copies
of the results of their experiment, to the local government
and city officials to inform them of the problem and encourage
them to take action in stopping the polluting. This attempt
to prevent reoccurrence of the problem is Advocacy.
See
MTSU Courses with Service-Learning
Component for examples of service-learning at MTSU.
Benefits
of Service-learning
For
students, there are a number of reasons to be involved including
academic, professional and personal benefits.
Academic
Benefits
- credit
for the service-learning projects
-
fulfilling community service requirement
-
fulfilling internship requirements
Professional
Benefits
-
enhancing your resume
-
obtaining experience
-
exploring possible career options
-
improving critical thinking skills
Personal
Benefits
-
becoming a mentor
-
meeting people at the university and in the community
-
building relationships
It
has been questioned whether service-learning hinders academic
performance by taking students out of the classroom. As described
by Learning Indeed, “Service-learning generally
enriches a student’s educational experience. Service-learning
can boost academic achievement by helping students to learn
new concepts and skills through hands-on, creative, real-life
learning in and beyond the classroom.”
The
University of Michigan also studied the effects of service-learning
in a typical classroom setting. Half of the students in a
political science course performed 20 hours of service with
community agencies. After attending the same lectures and
having the same reading assignments and exams, the students
that participated in the service-learning portion of the course:
- believed
that they had performed to their potential in the course
-
had higher attendance rates than the non-service students
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and achieved higher grades
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