Q: What are the components of a service learning course?
There are two required components:
- Service of some kind that is related to your course content; and
- Reflection on the service, which can be through a journal, writing assignment or presentation where the student connects classroom ideas to the experience she or he had in the community.
Q: Does the service learning component have to be mandatory for all students?
No, you can choose to make it voluntary, either a substitute for a required project or paper or as an extra credit option.
Of course, it can be a required portion of the class as well.
Q: Are there different ways to structure a service learning project?
Yes. You can choose to do a group project where students work together for one partner. These can be one day events where your class travels to the partner to help on a specific project (for example, working on forest restoration or helping pack food at a food bank). They could also be group project where students work over many days from the classroom (for example, students can work on designing an educational flyer on the importance of getting enough sleep).
Another option is to have students work individually for a community partner or partners. Students can sign up on their own time to serve onsite with the community partner (for example, we have had faculty in the past work with Wonder Works Children’s Museum in Oak Park as well as a variety of senior assisted living centers).
Q: Does the service component require a minimum number of hours?
No. Faculty can select what works best for their students and the community partner they choose to work with.
Q: How do I find a community partner?
Wright has a list of community partners under faculty resources tab. You can email them directly to see what their current needs are and let them know about your own expectations for your students’ learning.
Q: Do I have to choose one community partner to work with?
No. Depending on your course’s service learning SLOs, you can let your students choose their own (with your approval) or have a set list of ones you have already approved.
Q: Do I have to work with an outside community partner?
No. In addition to direct and indirect service learning, you can also design a service project that is focused on advocacy or research. See below for descriptions of the four types of service learning.
Additionally, you can work with Wright College as your partner. Is there a need at the college that your students could help with?
- Direct Service – What most people think of when they think of “service” or “volunteering”, involves person-to-person activities. Example: tutoring young children.
- Indirect Service – Activities where students do not interact directly with recipients. Examples: stocking a food pantry, creating a newsletter for a senior center, or cleaning up a playground.
- Advocacy- Activities to create awareness of a problem in the community. Examples: sponsoring a town meeting, designing posters, putting on a play that draws attention to the issue.
- Research – Activities in which students collect data or do research and report on information in the public interest. Example: completing an energy audit of your college and then suggesting ways to reduce energy usage.
(Kaye, 2010)
Q: Are there any administrative details I need to be aware of in making my Wright course service learning?
Please let Wright’s Service Learning Coordinator, Merry Mayer (mmayer2@ccc.edu), know what course and section will include service leaning and if it will be mandatory or voluntary.
If your project is required of all students, please request that a “6” be added to your course’s section code, this will designate it as a service learning course.
There are also pre- and post- service student surveys, as well as community partner surveys (if applicable) that will be provided to you by the service learning coordinator.
Near the end of the semester, if you wish, you may provide the names of those students who successfully completed the service learning project to Wright’s service learning coordinator, and students will then receive certificates of achievement.