Outlining steps for planning, implementing, and assessing a service-learning project
Abstract
This effective practice offers an outline that includes the planning, implementing, and assessment phases of a service-learning project, using materials excerpted from the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's Service Learning Toolbox: Work Pages and Checklists to Help You Get Started and Keep You Going (October 2000).Issue
Oftentimes academics and administrators would like to institute service-learning in their schools, colleges or universities, but may feel overwhelmed about how to go about doing so.
Action
- PLANNING
- Project Identification: Conduct a needs assessment to determine what kinds of service will benefit the community and what skills students can learn in this context. Brainstorm with students, businesses, personal contacts, community groups, and public agencies. This phase includes establishing a community partner and communicating mutual expectations.
- Preparation:
- Budget Requirements — Sources of funding may include community partner sponsorships, grants, business partnerships, and fundraising.
- Celebration and Demonstration — Celebrating the accomplishments of the project is important as it allows for reflection on what has been achieved. Questions to ask include:
- "What will be demonstrated/exhibited?"
- "Who will be invited?"
- Curriculum and Assessment — Service-learning provides an alternative context for existing curriculum. Include the following in development:
- Activities that stimulate the acquisition and application of course concepts/skills;
- Promotion of high levels of thinking and the construction of knowledge;
- Communication of information and ideas;
- Assessments that are integrated with instruction (journals, oral presentations, essays, products, research papers, and self-evaluations).
- Goals and Objectives — Whether starting with a service idea and seeking learning objectives to match or vice-versa, develop goals for both service and learning components of the project. Consider what students already know and what they need to know to accomplish the project.
Course competencies (how students connect) include:- Resources (identifies, organizes, plans and allocates;
- Interpersonal (works with others);
- Information (acquires and uses information);
- Systems (understands complex interrelationships);
- Technology (works with a variety of technologies).
Learning objectives include:- Basic Skills (reads, writes, performs math, listens and speaks);
- Thinking Skills (thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn and reasons);
- Personal Qualities (displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, integrity, and honesty).
- Liability Issues — Talk with school administrators about all liability requirements such as permission slips, drivers insurance for those providing transportation, site/agency insurance for community partners, and developing an emergency binder with home contact information.
- Media Coverage — Decide if local media will be involved during and after the project is in action, and/or seek alternative ideas, such as writing letters to the editor of the local newspaper.
- Participant Roles —Roles may differ from those in a traditional classroom setting. Students may be cast as planners and collaborators and teachers may be seen as community resource experts or public relations directors.
- Scheduling — Figure out how much time is needed for each component of the project. Plan each session carefully to make sure the students' time and that of the community partner is well spent.
- Structure — Questions to consider include:
- "How will the project be implemented into class(es)?"
- "How many teachers are involved?"
- "How does this affect scheduling?"
- "Is this a stand-alone project, or is it part of a larger project?"
- Supervision — The ideal number of students for each adult varies with the age range of the students, complexity and difficulty of the project, and the service site. Consider if the student to teacher ratio is sufficient to carry the goals of the project.
- Timeline — Map out a timeline for the project. Include start and end dates, onsite activities and any classroom instruction or reflections related to the project.
- Training — Pre-service training is a good idea for all participants because it gives participants a better understanding of expectations and procedures, and may signal other needs. Tailor the general training needs to the project. Formal or informal training can take place in the classroom, on site, or in smaller meeting spaces, if appropriate. Prior to starting the project, a preliminary meeting for all participants, where students can ask questions or raise concerns, is advised.
- Transportation — If the service project takes place outside school, the issue of transportation needs to be addressed. Options include school buses, public transportation, walking (if appropriate), or volunteers.
- Prepare for Reflection — Questions to ask include:
- "What are strong points in the service-learning project?"
- "What needs more development?"
- "What are some possible solutions?"
- IMPLEMENTING includes reviewing plans for each session to keep on track with goals, reflecting on progress and problems, and continuing to strive for solutions.
- ASSESSING
- Student Learning — Linking assessment of the service and learning components of earlier goals and objectives presents the best picture for evaluations. Using rubrics allows for linking outcomes and objectives. If rubrics are used, be sure to include a section for written comments so that students and the community partner have a chance to express additional thoughts or to refer to a tangible outcome. Assignments or portfolios that are submitted for course credit can be evaluated in accordance with normal procedures.
- Student Service — Design an instrument to collect information from the community partner. Ask about perceptions of students' willingness to participate and the extent to which students met expectations. Share and discuss the information received with the students.
- Student Experience — Design an instrument to collect information on students' attitudes about the project. Ask about what they learned, what they contributed to the community, attitudes about service-learning, ideas for other projects, their perceptions of the community partner and their involvement.
Context
Service-learning combines service objectives with learning objectives with the intent that the activity changes both the recipient and the provider of the service. This is accomplished by combining service tasks with structured opportunities that link the task to self-reflection, self-discovery, and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and knowledge content.
Because of its connection to content acquisition and student development, service-learning is often linked to school and college courses, and inspires these educational organizations to build strong partnerships with community-based organizations. Service-learning can also be organized and offered by community organizations with learning objectives or structured reflection activities for their participants. Whatever the setting, the core element of service-learning is always the intent that both providers and recipients find the experience beneficial, even transforming. (From the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse website, September 2002.)
Citation
Service Learning Toolbox: Work Pages and Checklists to Help You Get Started and Keep You Going. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001.Outcome
The National and Community Service Act of 1990 established that service-learning:
- Promotes learning through active participation in service experiences
- Provides structured time for students to reflect by thinking, discussing and/or writing about their service experience
- Offers an opportunity for students to use skills and knowledge in real-life situations
- Extends learning beyond the classroom and into the community
- Fosters a sense of caring for others
Posted On
September 30, 2002For More Information
LEARNS at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
101 SW Main Street, Suite 500
Portland,
OR
97204
Phone: 1-800-361-7890
Email: learns@nwrel.org
Resources
The following item is available from the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse library.Service-Learning Tool Box: Workpages and Checklists to Help You Get Started and Keep You Going
Call Number: 110/G/GEI/2001
Standards and Indicators for Effective Service-Learning Practice, National Service-Learning Clearinghouse K-12 Fact Sheet