Center for Community Service-Learning

1. Center for Community Service-Learning A Service-Learning Primer Prepared by Sandra Mizumoto Posey Interim Director, CCS-L

2. What is Service-Learning? Service-Learning as defined at Cal Poly: A pedagogy that provides students with structured opportunities to learn, develop, and reflect through active participation and thoughtfully-organized community involvement.

3. Why would you want to create a service-learning experience for your students? Service-learning is a key component of Cal Poly�s �learn by doing� philosophy because: Students are able to apply theoretical concepts to real-life situations And they make a real difference in the life of the community while doing so

4. From Service-Learning and the First-Year Experience: ��service-learning positively affects first year students in numerous ways�students expressed a greater sense of duty to serve others, a greater sense of civic responsibility, a newfound understanding that social problems are complex and in need of longterm solutions, and a belief that diversity altered their perceptions of the communities they served. . . .students have reported increased self-esteem and self-confidence. . . .once introduced to service-learning in the first year, are spurred on to seek out additional service-learning courses and opportunities voluntarily as they continue their college careers.� Gardner, John N. (2002). �What, So What, Now What: Reflections, Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations on Service-Learning and the First-Year Experience.� In E. Zlotkowski (Ed.), Service-Learning and the First-Year Experience: Preparing Students for Personal Success and Civic Responsibility (Monograph No. 34) (pp. 141-150). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. p. 148 Gardner, John N. (2002). �What, So What, Now What: Reflections, Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations on Service-Learning and the First-Year Experience.� In E. Zlotkowski (Ed.), Service-Learning and the First-Year Experience: Preparing Students for Personal Success and Civic Responsibility (Monograph No. 34) (pp. 141-150). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. p. 148 Gardner, John N. (2002). �What, So What, Now What: Reflections, Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations on Service-Learning and the First-Year Experience.� In E. Zlotkowski (Ed.), Service-Learning and the First-Year Experience: Preparing Students for Personal Success and Civic Responsibility (Monograph No. 34) (pp. 141-150). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

5. On a more practical level for students� Service-learning can provide students with with experience and/or connections that can help them find jobs after college As part of our in-class presentations, we demonstrate to students how they can incorporate their service-learning experience into their resumes

6. On a more practical level for you� Service-learning is strongly supported by Chancellor�s office, President Ortiz, and College Deans� Which means it looks great on your RTP documents

7. So let�s talk about RTP� There are, of course, three components that we are evaluated upon: Teaching Research Service

8. Service-learning enables you to weave these together so that life makes sense again� Teaching is meaningful and relevant to students, and consistently meaningful and fresh to you Service is integrated with teaching and what you are doing makes a real difference in the community you and your students belong to

9. Research Becomes integrated: With what you are doing in class With what you are doing as your service activity Ultimately saving you time Results are potentially doubled: Enriching traditional scholarly pursuits within your discipline Manifesting through the scholarship of teaching and learning Our pre and post survey measures the impact of service-learning in four areas: Academic, Civic Responsibility, Career Development, and Empowerment IRB approved and the data we collect can be used in your own scholarly papers and presentations

10. The Key: Pick your project and your service partner carefully Relevant to your course Relevant to your areas of scholarly interest and expertise And most important: Relevant to something you genuinely care about

11. So how does it work? Service-learning can take many forms, but there are six basic models?: Service-Learning Fundamentals Discipline-Based Service-Learning Consultant-Based Service-Learning Capstone Courses Service Internships Undergraduate Community-Based Action Research ?Adapted from models developed by Richard Cone (In Fundamentals of Service-Learning Course Construction by Kerissa Heffernan)

12. Service-Learning Fundamentals �These courses have as their intellectual core the idea of service to communities by students, volunteers, or engaged citizens.� Example: EWS 280 Community Service-Learning - Gil Cadena �This course is a participatory-action course familiarizing students with empowerment and social action. Our goal is to assess community needs, discuss them, analyze them, and act on those needs. In other words, we are engaging in a process of consciousness, analysis, and action. Everyone is required to work closely with a community agency or school site and volunteer about 30-40 hours on a specific project. This quarter we have the opportunity to work with an exciting CPP project in South Pomona. Using a Freirian approach to teaching we will discuss issues collectively through dialogue and participate in a number of group exercises. The primary purpose of the course is to work in the community through praxis, linking participation with theory.�

13. Discipline-Based Service-Learning Disciplinary content is tied explicitly to the service experience. Example: EWS 411 Education, Diversity and the Arts - Sandra Posey �This course provides hands-on, practical experience creating lesson plans that integrate arts content standards with language arts, math, science, and social science standards through a service-learning placement with the Cal Poly Downtown Arts Center. Specifically, you will be creating lesson plans for the Center to use with visiting student populations in conjunction with an upcoming exhibit by artist Marco Zamora.�

14. Another Example: GEO 351H, California Geography � Sara Garver

15. Consultant-Based Service-Learning �Students (or teams of students) relate to the community much as �consultants� working for a �client�� Example: ACC�434�Service Learning in Taxation - Hank Brock �Student are given training in preparation of simple state and federal tax returns and then use this knowledge to provide assistance to help low income, older and non-English-speaking taxpayers at sites located in the Cal Poly area.�

16. Capstone Courses Designed as culminating experiences in which students draw upon knowledge gained throughout their education and apply it to a relevant service project. Example: FST 421 Food Product Development � Maria Botero Omary �This is a capstone course that applies food science and technology principles to research and development industrial practices. By working with the community partner students will be reinforcing the concepts learned in class and helping the partner in the different aspects of the class that could potentially promote growth to the business. Included among the activities of the class is the participation in a product development competition, locally sponsored by the Southern California Chapter of the Institute of Food Technologists. The theme for this year is Food Ingredients for Health promotion. Among the products considered for participation are gluten-free baked goods, which have become more relevant in recent years and would potentially benefit people with Celiac disease and patients diagnosed with autism.�

17. Service Internships Example: AHS 443 Externship in Animal Health Science II - Michelle Rash �Every AHS student should be made aware of the importance of the �Human-Animal� bond. To incorporate this awareness, students will be given the opportunity to participate in the Animal Assisted Activities and/or Animal Assisted Therapy programs. Students participate in a training program and their pets will go through a screening process to ensure that they have the temperament for this type of program. The targeted community members chosen to participate in this program will be convalescent homes, children�s villages, and veteran�s centers.�

18. Undergraduate Community-Based Action Research �Students work closely with faculty members to learn research methodology while serving as advocates for communities� Example: URP 331/L Quantitative Methods for Planning/Lab Gwen Urey �Service will be provided to a local community by the class as a whole, in the course of doing field research. A commitment to serving the community is a core value in planning and is also a value articulated at the institutional level by both Cal Poly Pomona and the CSU. Thus the lab activity involves �learning by doing� as a way to learn about service and as a way to learn about conducting research.�

19. Regardless of model, all service-learning courses should fit three basic criteria: Enhance student academic and civic learning through explicit connections to course content and structured reflection Provide relevant and meaningful community service Be conducted in a manner that is responsible to both our students and the community.

20. Enhance student academic and civic learning through explicit connections to course content and structured reflection: Accomplish this by: Planning the experience well, connecting it explicitly to outcomes in the syllabus, in your lectures, and assignment prompts Utilizing reflection to reinforce connections to course content and deepen understanding Journals Research papers Class discussion Online discussion forums

21. Connecting to course content through discussion: From Education for What? Learning Social Responsibility. Providence, RI: Campus Compact, 2004.

22. Provide relevant and meaningful community service Accomplish this by: Working closely with your community partner to make sure the project meets their needs Keeping lines of communication open throughout the quarter Recommended: Get involved with the community partner beyond just the scope of the class

23. Be conducted in a manner that is responsible to our students: Accomplish this by: Informing them about what s-l is, why they are doing it (course connections, personal benefit, benefit to community) and any potential risks they face Having them read, reflect upon, and complete the learning plan form Making sure worker�s compensation agreements are in place

24. Be conducted in a manner that is responsible to the community: Accomplish this by: Having them participate in the planning process Having students sign a learning plan acknowledging their responsibilities Having the service-learning agreement in place so they understand Cal Poly�s responsibilities to them

25. How do you make service-learning practical for students with jobs, families, and other obligations? The Key is Flexibility Example One: IGE 120 and the Pomona Oral History Project Example Two: MHR 405 and Wildrose Elementary School Example Three: EWS 202 and the Chicano/Latino Experience The key is flexibility: creating service-learning opportunities that either can be scheduled according to the student�s unique needs or creating multiple service-learning options that take into account the diverse demands on our students Example one: Oral History Project and IGE 120 Service in the field was limited to 1 or 2 hour interviews that were scheduled in consultation with the interviewee. The other service component was to log and transcribe the interviews, which could be done at home like regular homework. Example two: Monrovia Elementary and MHR 405 Joe Duncan�s class worked with Wildrose Elementary in Monrovia in three teams: one team met with site representatives to discuss their needs and volunteer recruitment strategies, another team created a manual as a resource for teachers to consult to understand how to best make use of volunteers, another created a video to air on public access as a way to educate the public about what volunteer opportunities were available. In this way, students who had difficulty with scheduling could work on other aspects of the project Example three: EWS�202�Chicano/Latino Experience� Terri Gomez� class, which meets on MWF, allocates one session a week as time when they do not meet in class but meet at their service-learning site The key is flexibility: creating service-learning opportunities that either can be scheduled according to the student�s unique needs or creating multiple service-learning options that take into account the diverse demands on our students Example one: Oral History Project and IGE 120 Service in the field was limited to 1 or 2 hour interviews that were scheduled in consultation with the interviewee. The other service component was to log and transcribe the interviews, which could be done at home like regular homework. Example two: Monrovia Elementary and MHR 405 Joe Duncan�s class worked with Wildrose Elementary in Monrovia in three teams: one team met with site representatives to discuss their needs and volunteer recruitment strategies, another team created a manual as a resource for teachers to consult to understand how to best make use of volunteers, another created a video to air on public access as a way to educate the public about what volunteer opportunities were available. In this way, students who had difficulty with scheduling could work on other aspects of the project Example three: EWS�202�Chicano/Latino Experience� Terri Gomez� class, which meets on MWF, allocates one session a week as time when they do not meet in class but meet at their service-learning site

26. So how do you create an �S� course? Define the outcomes you would like students to achieve Identify a partner and collaborate to find a project that suits both your needs Create your syllabus Submit your syllabus and the designation form In subsequent quarters, your department scheduler can add the designation

27. How we can help you: Providing you with discipline-specific resources such as scholarly articles and sample syllabi Identifying and contacting appropriate community partners Facilitating risk management procedures Speaking to your class about service-learning Administering assessment surveys Faculty Mini-Grants Reading groups, Summer Course Development Workshop, and more