ENG 204-002

http://www.has.vcu.edu/psy/undergraduate/service-learning.html
The service learning project that I found was offered at a university, in the psychology department. Since I am a Psychology major, I thought it would be more interesting to research a service learning project that I would enjoy partaking in myslef. This service learning project is a requirement of a specific class. It involves students volunteering with youth in their community and acting as mentors to these youth. This way, the Psychology students can see the effects first hand of mentoring youth, in either High school or Middle school. The Psycholody students must go once a week to the children's schools and mentor them, or help them with any homework or just spend time with the individual. Once a month, the Psychology student is required to attend one social event with the individual they are mentoring.A higher-level Psychology class involves a service learning project of the same nature but with children who are in Juvenile correction facilities. The skills that the Psychology students obtain or learn from this project is mainly experience, that can not be taught in the classroom. Psychology majors will get to work in settings similiar to settings they will work in in their future careers. They get hands-on experience and gain knowledge that they will use in the real world. They also will learn strengths and weaknesses they have personally when dealing with a client(the individual they are mentoring) and if they truely want to go into that area of study. The community bendits greatly from this project in that their youth has mentors or people the youth can rely on and look up to. The youth will have role models. Service learning is a hands-on experience in a specific areas of interest, usually involoving volunteering in the community. All service learning projects provide the indivual with real life experiences and knowledge that can not be obtained from a lecture or notes.

http://www.ecfs.org/fieldstonupper/academics/cs/cslp/coursedesc.aspx

The service learning project that I chose, the Ardsley Program, at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School benefits young homeless children, ranging from ages 3-13. The students working in the service-learning project met with the children once a week, and spent the rest of their time creating recreational and educational activities that were designed to empower and teach the children in the program.

The skills that the students of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School gained were obtained by organizing these activities involving community resources such as aspects of safety & health, sports activities, arts programs (arts & crafts, theater, dance), & a lending library. They were required to put together schedules and workshops they believed would benefit the children they were helping. These skills the students obtained will be carried with them throughout their life, where they can use them in organizing future events that benefit their surrounding community.

The homeless children in the community benefitted most from this project, as the students spent one on one time with them. As a result, the children were empowered and educated by the personal connections they gained with the students; which hopefully will translate into their adult life where they will create more positive personal connections with those around them. Service learning gives back to the community, while educating its participants in real world situations where they work with people in their community.

http://www.ipsl.org/defaultIPSL.aspx

My example comes from the International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership (IPSL). The purpose of their organization is to encourage students to study abroad for educational purposes in addition to volunteer service. They claim their mission is to "promote the theory and practice of service-learning" in order to promote education and leadership skills.

IPSL sponsors conferences around the world, researches the ways in which service-learning affects students, educational institutions, and communities, publishes service-learning materials, holds workshops and training seminars for faculty and administration who guide students through their service-learning experience, offers a membership to IPSL which opens doors for networking and education, and develops partnerships with various institutions, agencies, and organizations internationally throughout all of it.

Not only will students learn and gain leadership skills during their work with IPSL, they will be given an opportunity to immerse themselves in a culture different from their own. They are able to work in order to make a difference in the lives of those they are helping, which makes way for personal growth for individuals as well.

For example, one upcoming opportunity is a program in Siena, Italy. Highlights of the program include: Italian language and Socio-Anthropological Studies (14-17 credits per semester/6 credits per summer), a homestay with an Italian family, guided field trips through Tuscany, and service opportunities ranging from teaching English, medical ambulance, alternative medicine, community development, immigrant and refugee assistance, and organic farm and restaurant work.

I would define service-learning as work committed to and completed by an individual or group that allows for personal growth in addition to provide a beneficial service which betters the life of a larger group of people.

1. Paste the project's link.
Project: helping seniors access the Internet
See: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech134.shtml
2. Summarize the project.
Students from a New Jersey elementary school shared their computer know-how with senior citizens by helping them use computers and teaching them the most basic and useful skills so that they would be able to access the Internet, use a search engine or bookmark Web pages.
3. Explain what skills and/or knowledge students obtain from the project.
Obviously, students gained a strong knowledge about Internet and its main services. Since service-learning implies being/working with others, students were able to obtain/improve their citizenship skills, team-working skills, listening skills and communication skills (be it oral and written). These were the key factors to effectively help seniors understand how to use the Internet services and perform what they have been taught by the students. Moreover, since the project implied "bringing learning to life" (i.e., applying concepts and theories in real-life situations), it allowed the students to obtain/improve their critical-thinking skills and problem-solving skills.
4. Explain how a community or organization benefits from the project.
Some senior citizens were having their first computer/Internet experience so all of what they learnt was completely new, revolutionary, and welcomed. Plus, some of them did not have grandchildren. Therefore, this experience helped them compensate this "lack of bonding" with youngsters. Finally, they were able to use a search engine and planned on using it at home.
5. Provide a definition of service learning. What commonalities do all service learning projects share?
Service learning is "a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities" (see: www.servicelearning.org/what-service-learning). All service learning projects help providers improve their skills related to teamwork, community involvement and citizenship in real-world situations, where both providers and recipients find the experience beneficial. Also, those projects generate emotional consequences.

1.Paste the project's link.
http://www.bryanisd.org/default.asp?pageID=66

2.Summarize the project.
The HOSTS (Helping One Student To Succeed) is a mentoring program that employs volunteers to have a one-on-one session with a student and work with a lesson plan designed specifically for that student. Each lesson plan is designed around the child’s age, assessed needs, reading level and learning style. The volunteer has a 30 minute session once a week with the same student that will help to build a common ground between them which contributes to the success of the student’s learning of the material.

3.Explain what skills and/or knowledge students obtain from the project.
Students are able to learn how to effectively communicate with someone who is not on the same level that they are within the learning curriculum. It, in effect, allows the student to assume the role of a teacher for 30 minutes a week and develop the necessary skills to relay information that they already know by heart to someone who is brand new at this. It also allows the student to develop critical thinking skills through situations in which the student has to think on his/her feet to come up with a way of understanding the information that makes sense to their pupil.

4.Explain how a community or organization benefits from the project.
The school that is sponsoring the project benefits from this by allowing a one-on-one session with the students that are having difficulty with the material, something that a teacher is not always able to do in a larger classroom. This project will help supplement whatever the teacher is instructing them in during the other days of the week and also give the student being mentored their own unique method of learning that they develop with their mentor.

5.Provide a definition of service learning. What commonalities do all service learning projects share?
Service learning is the act of a student/person providing a volunteer service to their surrounding community and benefitting from this by either a moral or social growth. All service learning projects help the community at large by performing sometimes small, or sometimes large, deeds at no monetary cost to the community/receiver of the service but to great personal gain for the volunteer.

http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/servicelearning/docs/...

Sixth, seven, and eighth graders in Maryland completed this service-learning project to help raise awareness about domestic violence issues. They decided to get involved after a classmate was killed in a domestic dispute. The students developed an advocacy campaign, supported and fundraised for a local domestic violence shelter called the Heartly House, wrote advocacy letters to government officials, and created a public service announcement.

The students gain valuable teamwork and leadership skills. Every student chose a committee to serve on (fundraising, public relations, etc.) and was responsible for completing their assigned tasks together as a group. An adult oversaw these committees, but the three student leaders were largely responsible for most decisions so they could learn how to be responsible leaders. The students also went out into the community to solicit donations for The Heartly House, which helped to develop their public speaking and communication skills.

The local community as a whole is benefited because they are made aware of the dangers of domestic violence. The Heartly House, the shelter the group chose to support, was greatly benefited because the students were able to raise $40,000 on their behalf.

Service learning is a way to reach out and benefit the community while providing students with an enriching learning experience.

1. http://bostonteachnet.org/troxell_lamothe_syms/sigproj.htm

2.This project is intended for art students looking to help the homeless community. The students will use their basic abilities as well as artistic abilities to better the lives of those staying in homeless shelters and hopefully learn a little about themselves in the process.

3.Students learn how to get out f their own comfort zone and work with people they might normally avoid. They get to experience life as a homeless person, which might inspire a new feeling or emotion which can influence their art. They will learn how as artist they can also be social activist.

4.Homeless individuals in shelters will greatly benifit from the human connection with other caring individuals, and those artist being activist will help the homeless in there moment for social awareness and the need for more programs, and help for those persons left without a place to lay their head and call their own

5.Service learning is a form of project based learning in which academic goals are accomplished through community service. Service learning is neither an add-on nor a diversion from the curriculum. It is a powerful approach to teaching that provides kids with authentic learning experiences in which they learn academic content in a real-life, real-world context. Properly implemented, service learning develops citizenship, responsibility, and many other positive character virtues, making it a highly effective character education program in and of itself.

• Project's link: http://www.news.wisc.edu/15229

• Summary of the chosen project

This service learning project is a multimedia campaign created by college students from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The project aimed at raising general awareness of the spread of aquatic invasive species in the State’s inland lakes and encourage behavior change on the boat owners’ part (i.e. inspect and wash their boats after each use). Their client was the local non-profit organization Clean Boats, Clean Waters.

• Skills and/or knowledge students obtained from the project

Thanks to this experience, students were able to apply their knowledge and skills to tackle a real-life issue. This project enabled them to enhance:
-their oral and written communication skills
-their ability to work in teams
-their problem-solving skills
-their command of basic softwares
-their knowledge and awareness of human activities' impact on their local environment

• Benefits of this project for the organization and community

According to the client organization Clean Boats, Clean Waters, the work provided by the students was substantial. They dealt with the issue in a new way, putting the campaign's emphasis on emotion rather than information. This new approach to communication was considered effective. As a volunteer coordinator for the non-profit organization states it, the latter just has to "pick and choose" from all the proposals.
The community at large also benefited from such a project as the issue is local. Thus, the impact of the campaign should have been felt by the community.

• Definition of service learning

Service learning is an educational hands-on experience that can take place in a wide range of settings and benefits all participants (recipients and providers alike). The students interact with the community to tackle real-life issues and provide valuable and tangible solutions; thus putting in practice their knowledge and know-how for utilitarian purposes.

• Commonalities shared by all service learning projects

They address real-world problems. They entail visible and immediate results. Involvement is tangible. Learning from this method is more meaningful than knowledge gained through lectures.

http://www.goodcharacter.com/SERVICE/primer-10.html

The project that I looked at was a project that children in the Hudson public schools of Massachusetts participate in. The children are introduced to projects and continue to engage in different ones all the way through 12h grade. This one in particular is generally assigned to the first graders: each first grader is said to have a relationship with Senior citizens at the Senior Center. The children talk with the elderly people and read to them-it is an activity that they say helps the children with their literacy and it gives them practice with socializing with adults. The community benefits from the project in that every child who goes through the school system is made familiar with the concept of elderly people in the community who live in assisted living. I can imagine that this also creates a base from which future volunteers may come, and if anything else it creates awareness of all parts and ages of society (diversity).
In researching, I came across a definition from which I derived my own definition for service learning: It is a form of project in which, through service to the community academic goals are accomplished. Commonalities that may be shared run along the lines of: 1) service learning projects are not necessarily add-ons to the curriculum, but a way to apply it. 2) It puts the students into real-life situations. 3) Service learning helps develop not only academic skills but character: Examples of these are: citizenship, responsibility, respect, selflessness, integrity, and personal courage.

1.http://www.mssa.sailorsite.net/fea_03_08.html
2. This project was about Sunderville middle school students erecting Wooden boxes for birds. Each year they are taught something about ecological pratices and they document them.Students learned about mapping data, collecting data, and analyzing data.
3.Students learned much about mapping our region, compiling data, analyzing that data, using measurements accurately, predicting amounts of materials needed, using tools, working together, learning how to help others, appreciating the talents and needs of others, and many other skills.
4.This project has seen donations provided by: Schauber Sawmill in supplying free lumber; Chesapeake Bay Trust in supplying funding for materials; parent volunteers to help with aspects that require power tools and in supervision; and the Afterschool Program local partnership who has provided tools and other supplies.
5. Service learning in its rawest form is just helping the community buy by doing so you end up learning something. You usually do it for school and it benefits your in class learning. Like for spanish class we had to go out and tutor other spanish kids so we could benefit from their spanish and them our english.

http://www.nylc.org/pages-resourcecenter-projectexamples-Safety_Prepared...

With help from AmeriCorps members, students participated in an two-hour age-sensitivity course. During this course, students learned how to better understand challenges faced by Florida's aging population. They then used this information to promote senior safety through several projects. Some of these projects included Emergency Kits, The Caution Zone Project, Nosey Neighbors, and Pets in Emergencies. The students learned how to understand and respect the senior citizens of Florida's population. This would greatly help the community by awarening the public about the challenges Florida's aging population faces. Service learning is a way to learn and teach the community important and meaningful information that helps improve the community.

1.Paste the project's link.
http://projectwild.org/learning.htm

2.Summarize the project.
The service project that I chose is Project WILD. With this project, children of all ages are able to explore/better understand wildlife and the environment. The students are involved in environmental projects that are aimed at benefiting the local wildlife. The program consists of 4 major components: Awareness, Participatory Democracy, Habitat Exploration, and Taking Action.

3.Explain what skills and/or knowledge students obtain from the project.
This project will also allow children and teens to work with hands-on activities while also encouraging problem solving. Also with this project, children will get the chance to see the results of their actions. They will gain confidence in believing that their actions truly make a difference.

4.Explain how a community or organization benefits from the project.
The community benefits because the children are not only working at this for themselves, but also to help the community. Although they are learning in the process, they are also helping.

5.Provide a definition of service learning. What commonalities do all service learning projects share?
Service learning is both a teaching a learning strategy that combines meaningful community service with instruction to teach responsibility and to strengthen communities.

http://www.nylc.org/pages-programs-initiatives-Project_Ignition?oid=4968

Project Ignition is a service learning project organized by the National Youth Leadership Council. Car crashes are the biggest killer of teens today, and Project Ignition is out to change that. Project Ignition lets high school students, teachers, and community program leaders work together to promote teen driver safety. Teams of students create safety awareness campaigns using their choice of media (TV commercials, print ads, radio spots, websites, direct mail, special events, performances, art exhibitions, publications, short films, etc.) and teams can focus on one medium or incorporate several into their campaigns. Each year, teams of students submit proposals outlining their plans for improving teen driver safety, and 25 are awarded $2,000 grants to turn their plans into action. A national panel of judges select the Best of the Best, earning that team an additional grant of $10,000 presented by the partnership of State Farm and NYLC.

Students learn valuable teamwork skills and learn how to effectively make a change in their community. Also, they learn how to take a campaign from just an idea, to an effective multimedia presentation. The whole community benefits from less car-accidents and fewer teen deaths.

Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. All service learning projects help students effectively make a change in their community.

1. http://www.unc.edu/apples/students/internships/summer/summersites.html
2.A Helping Hand: This organization helps those who are older, 80+ years of age. Younger adults help by transporting and tasks around the house that may be too hard for the elderly to do on their own. There are many opportunities that these adults can take on including working directly in ones home or assisting with grant research, writing and student recruitment.
3.One can learn to take care of those who are older. People will learn the responsibilities and work that it takes to care for others. If one decides to do the office work they will get experience in the work field.
4.People will benefit from this project by learning about their community and others who live in it. people will also learn about the eldery community in the area.
5.Service-learning involves students in community service activities and applies the experience to personal and academic development. There is "a balance between learning goals and service outcomes".
All service learning opportunities have to do with learning about the area that you live in and the surrounding people and places.

http://www.paservicelearning.org/Project_Ideas/English.html
I found a service learning project online that was targeted towards gifted high school students in english, but I can see how it could be carried over to a college campus as well. The service learning project's goal is to target the issue of illiteracy. Highschoolers with strong reading and writing skill are encouraged to volunteer their time in their local libraries or literacy centers to help adults with learning to read and write. These students can also be trained by a local representative at a literacy center to help them get their tutoring skills involved. The project states that although middle schoolers may be too young to tutor adults, they can gather and circulate information about illiteracy in community venues like grocery stores, pharamacy's, etc. Students should be begin this project with researching the state of illiteracy, and they should begin to familiarize themselves with the issues regarding illiteracy and the reasons why adults are illiterate. They should learn that it has nothing to do with them being "dumb". They are encouraged to even start up an illiteracy tutoring center at their schools if they gain enough traction with it. Students gain a plethora of knowledge on their communities and the illiterate population. They learn why illiteracy is an issue, they learn how to apply their gifts at reading and writing, and they learn how to tutor others who are not as gifted. The community would highly benefit from this project by turning the illiterate population in the community to a literate one through working with the students at the illiteracy centers. A service learning project is a project through with you gain personal knowledge through providing help and service to some population of the community. All service learning projects have the same goal which is to learn about your community through serving it.

http://www.mssa.sailorsite.net/fea_04_09.html

1. Summarize the project.

For this Student Service Learning Project,a Student Court Class ran two events to benefit a Children's Hospital in Washing D.C. A student that was hospitalized there informed the class that there was a lack of materials and entertaintment. The students decided to run two events. The first of which was a mini walk-a-thon in which the students walked 6 laps around the track each day. The second project was an entertainment drive which collected VHS, CDs, and DVDs for the children.

2. Explain what skills and/or knowledge students obtain from the project.

Numerous skills and or knowledge were gained from these two projects. The projects incorporated english skills by creating posters, flyers, and fundraising announcements. Also, technological skills were used employed in their uses of digital cameras for pictures as well as having to make a powerpoint presentation at the end.

3. Explain how a community or organization benefits from the project.

The community benefits from these events because it raised important money for a children's hopsital as well as provided entertaintment to keep the kids that are sick as happy as possible.

4. Provide a definition of service learning. What commonalities do all service learning projects share?

Student Service Learning is taking part in an activity that not only benefits the community and betters the lives of others around you, but also teach you valuable lessons. The projects always benefit a group of people/community and while doing this teach you valuable lessons.

http://charityguide.org/volunteer/vacation/community-infrastructure.htm

IMPROVE COMMUNITY SERVICES IN IMPOVERISHED AREAS

People go to areas that lack basic needs such as electricity, clean drinking water, sanitation, and housing. Depending on a person’s skill level, people may help build a house or paint a classroom. Most of the projects are physically demanding and teach people labor skills that can come in handy in the future for one’s own home. Groups travel with a team and learn important communication and labor skills.

Communities will greatly benefit from this type of work because once basic needs are taken met, the community can flourish in other areas and continue to grow. Other skills that may be practiced and acquired are, repairing roofs, constructing chairs, clearing brush, fixing window frames, landscaping a garden, installing a water system, or building a walking bridge.

When things as basic as clean water are not present in a community it affects almost everything else such as sanitation, construction, health-care, etc. These service projects are extremely important in delivering the most critical elements of successful living.

Service learning is when a person goes out and serves some part of a community and learns life skills along the way. After one has served a community they then reflect on what they have learned and possibly implement the skills learned in his/her own life.

http://www.mssa.sailorsite.net/fea_04_04.html

Summarize the project.
The american chestnut society was looking for schools to grow trees. The trees were a result of genetic engineering and were made to produce blight resistant trees. Blight is a disease that affects trees. These trees were thought to have a positive effect on the environment.

Explain what skills and/or knowledge students obtain from the project.
The students didn't have to be skilled prior to the project. The project was connected to the curriculum and initiated a development in the ecology and research department.

Explain how a community or organization benefits from the project.
The need that this project met for the community was the data gained about chestnuts and the blight. By planting thousands of trees there was a greater chance of blight resistant trees.

Provide a definition of service learning. What commonalities do all service learning projects share? It is a course based educational experience in which students participate in organized service that meets community needs.
All service learning is usually done for the community or a certain group. It is a learning experience for the individuals involved.