12 / 40
10
3. Correlate the required duration of service with its role in the
understanding of academic and civic learning objectives (e.g.,
one two-hour shift at a hospital will do little to contribute to
academic or civic learning in a course on institutional health
care).
4. Assign community projects that meet real needs in the community
as determined by the community (e.g. Tutoring at risk children).
Principle 5: Provide Educationally Sound Learning Strategies to
Harvest Community Learning and Realize Course Learning Objectives
Learning in any course is realized by an appropriate mix and level of
learning strategies and assignments that correspond with the
learning objectives for the course. Learning strategies must be
employed to support learning from service experiences and enable their
use toward meeting course learning objectives. Learning interventions
that promote critical reflection, analysis, and application of service
experiences enable learning. To be sure that service does not
underachieve in its role as an instrument of learning, careful thought
must be given to learning activities that encourage the integration of
experiential and academic learning. These activities include classroom
discussions, presentations, journal, and paper assignments that support
analysis of the service experience. Clarity about course learning
objectives helps identify educationally-sound learning strategies.
Principle 6: Prepare Students for Learning from the Community
Most students lack experience with both extracting and making
meaning from experience and merging it with other academic and civic
course learning strategies. Without sufficient support, even an
exemplary reflection journal assignment will yield uneven responses.
Faculty can provide: