Planning to Teach a Course via Service-Learning

The type of SL course I will advocate in the remainder of this series is the one established Purdue's Service Engagement Advisory Board that states it should be …”integral to higher level learning objectives and connected directly to course content such that learning can be identified, charted, supported, and assessed….In the Service Learning pedagogy, Service or Learning is not the goal. Rather it is Service and Learning; they are not separate.”

1. Establishing Learning Goals and Objectives

It should come as no surprise to you that a course that is taught with a SL requirement begins as it does with any course you have taught with establishing learning goals and objectives.

Learning goals and outcomes are broad statements that identify the general educational accomplishments or outcomes you want students to possess when the course is completed.
Some examples of SL learning goals include:

1. To better prepare students for their careers / continuing education

2. To enhance student learning by joining theory with experience and thought with action.

3. To fill unmet needs in the community through direct service this is meaningful and necessary.

4. To give student greater responsibility for their learning.

5. To help students know how to get things done!
(See more examples at: www.fiu.edu/~time4chg/Library/goals.html)

Separate from goals and outcomes, is the development of learning objective that are geared toward SL. Learning objectives should be written to so that it is clear as to what is expected of students during or after completing the SL project. They also put the faculty member in a position to properly assess or evaluate student performance on each of the objectives. Some of the action verbs that can be included in a stated learning objective include list, identify, state, describe, define, solve, compare and contrast, evaluate, operate as found in Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.

(Benjamin S. Bloom (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Company, Inc.)

Examples of SL Learning Objectives

1. Students will evaluate their own commitment to making meaningful contributions in their communities, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of their roles as citizens.

2. Students will identify course concepts as they emerge in the "real world" and compare what they are learning in the classroom to what they observe and/or experience in the context of their service activities.

3. Students will work with students in other disciplines to prepare and defend a proposed nonprofit foodbank.

Tomorrow, I will provide ideas on how to select a community partner to help you reach the learning goals and objectives for a course taught via SL.