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Principle 3: Establish Learning Objectives
It is a service-learning maxim that one cannot develop a quality
service-learning course without first setting very explicit learning
objectives. This principle is foundational to service-learning. While
establishing learning objectives for students is a standard to which all
courses are accountable, in fact, it is especially necessary and
advantageous to establish learning objectives in service-learning
courses. The addition of the community as a learning context multiplies
the learning possibilities. To sort learning objectives of greatest priority,
as well as to leverage the bounty of learning opportunities offered by
community service experiences, deliberate planning of course
academic and civic learning objectives is required.
Principle 4: Establish Criteria for the Selection of Service Placements
Requiring students to serve in any community-based organization as
part of a service-learning course is tantamount to requiring students to
read any book as part of a traditional course. Faculty who are deliberate
about establishing criteria for selecting community service placements
will find that students are able to extract more relevant learning from
their respective service experiences, and are more likely to meet course
learning objectives. Four criteria are recommended for selecting service
placements:
1. Circumscribe the range of acceptable service placements around
the content of the course (e.g., for a course on homelessness,
homeless shelters and soup kitchens are learning-appropriate
placements, but service in a hospice is not).
2. Limit specific service activities and contexts to those with the
potential to meet course-relevant academic and civic learning
objectives (e.g., filing papers in a warehouse, while of service to a
school district, will offer little to stimulate either academic or civic
learning in a course on elementary school education).
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