For your consideration-- : suggestions and reflections on teaching and learning [1993 : January, no.13]

umber 13 January 1993 Combining Service & I have done community service before, but it was always “band-aid" work or fundraising. Now that I see what a difference one can make on this level, and how crucial knowledge of the issues i 5 I will definitely continue this type of work. SPCH 61 Student Service-learning, the newest name for a teaching strategy that has been used successfully by some UNC faculty for many years, integrates community service into a traditional academic curriculum. Courses that have a service component can help students connect material learned in class and experiences acquired in ther placements Ideally, this should be a two-way process: students should apply what they learn in class to their placements; they should also use their place¬ ment experiences to gain a deeper understanding of the material covered in class and readings. In addition, service-learning introduces students to a community outside the university, which might otherwise remain invisible to them. Successful incorporation of service¬ learning into a course will enable: instructorsto accom¬ modate different learning styles; studentsto acquire practical experience; the universityto serve the needs of the community. This monograph is based on discussions with instructors who have used service-learning successfully in their courses. They reveal the basic steps necessary for integrating community service into a course: • Define how service-learning relates to course goals • Develop placements • Integrate service and learning • Develop an evaluation system • Establish criteria for selecting students In addition, they discuss the difference between service¬ learning and simple vounteer work and some of the pitfalls they have encountered along the way. Learning at UNC Define How Service Learning Relates to Course Goals The goals of your course represent the knowledge, thinking skills, and practical skills students should acquire by the end of the semester. Keep in mind that goals and objectives should focus on what students are expected to learn. When writing goals, also keep in mind whether service-learning is required for all stu¬ dents or is optional. One way to establish goals isto ask yourself how students should be different after taking your course. Do they need to master a clearly defined body of knowledge? Do they need to apply theories to particular situations? Should they be able to evaluate a situation or set of ideas? Or should they acquire skills that they will need in their professional careers? At the same time you should determine and articulate the degree to which participation in community service relates to these goals. The nature of the relationship between class goals and service can be divided into three main categories: • the placements allow studentsto share the experi¬ ences of groups they would otherwise know only from lecture materials or readings: Gerald Unks, Education, wants students to understand how a child's economic background can affect his or her ability to succeed in the school system: "Many UNC students live in an insulated world. Throughout their school experience, they seldom meet kids who aren't academic winners I was looking for a way for them to encounter kids who were having difficulty rather than success with the school system. I believe that students who have tutored have more insight into what we've been talking about in class, and more insight into themselves, than students who have not tutored.” It is impossible to understand the actual problems of the elderly and the mentally ill without taking a firsthand look. We discussed schizophrenia vs. dementia and actually saw the difference in patients. PSYCH 152 Student Center for Teaching and Learning •University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill