Definitions of Service-Learning
(and related concepts)
Service Learning
- “community service on college and university campuses — service outside the curriculum — to emphasis on service that is integrally connected to course content in a wide variety of disciplines.” (College Compact - http://www.compact.org/initiatives/service_learning/)
- “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” (Learn and Serve - http://www.servicelearning.org/what_is_service-learning/index.php)
- “Service-learning is a teaching method whereby students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that is integrated into discipline-based academic curricula.” (Service Learning Research and Development Center UC Berkley - http://www-gse.berkeley.edu/research/slc/faq.html)
- “A way that students can provide service in the community on a voluntary basis to public, nonprofit agencies, civic, charitable and governmental organizations.” (Murray State University - http://campus.murraystate.edu/school2career/glossary.html#top)
- “A course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets a community need and (b) reflect on their service activity as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, an enhanced sense of civic responsibility, and/or a greater interest in and understanding of community life. (Northern Kentucky University - http://www.nku.edu/~nkuope/definitions.html)
Community Based Learning
- “…a broad framework that includes service-learning, experiential learning, School-to-Work, youth apprenticeship, lifelong learning and other types…the broad set of teaching/learning strategies that enable youth and adults to learn what they want to learn from any segment of the community. Our definition provides for learners of all ages to identify what they wish to learn and opens up an unlimited set of resources to support them. By community, we are including the schools, formal and informal institutions in one's neighborhood, and the entire world through such resources as the Internet.” (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory - http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/10/t008.html)
- “The Community-Based Learning Initiative is the collaborative effort of students, faculty, administration, and community experts working to provide students with opportunities for community involvement and hands on research in the classroom. Community-based learning enriches coursework by encouraging students to apply the knowledge and analytic tools gained in the classroom to the pressing issues that affect local communities.” (Community Based Learning Indicative, Princeton University - http://www.princeton.edu/~cbli/)
Experiential Learning
- “Emotionally engaged learning in which the learner experiences a visceral connection to the subject matter. Good experiential learning combines direct experience that is meaningful to the student with guided reflection and analysis. It is a challenging, active, student-centered process that impels students toward opportunities for taking initiative, responsibility, and decision making.” (Learn and Serve - http://www.servicelearning.org/what_is_service-learning/glossary/index.php#e)
- “You could say that experiential learning is a learner centred approach which starts with the premise that people learn best from experience…utilises participants own experience and their own reflection about that experience, rather than lecture and theory as the means of generating understanding and transferring skills and knowledge.” (The HDR Group - http://www.teamskillstraining.co.uk/articles/exp_learn.htm”
- “It includes learning that comes about through reflection on everyday experiences. Experiential learning by yourself is also known as "informal education" and includes learning that is organised by learners themselves” (Wilderdom Outdoor Education - http://wilderdom.com/experiential/ExperientialLearningWhatIs.html)
Internship
