Faculty/Staff Daily Digest

Service Learning—Teaching at a Glance University of Connecticut Institute for Teaching and Learning

Aug. 2014 Vol. 6

Weekly Teaching at a Glance: Service Learning

Have you thought about including service learning in your teaching?

Service learning actively engages students in the community.  As a form of experiential learning, it provides direct experience and hands-on learning to develop skills useful in future careers, family life, and community involvement.  It can help develop critical thinking through involvement in situations conducive to creative, effective problem-solving, and it can enhance students’ social responsibility by expanding their compassion, civic awareness, and desire to be engaged in the community.

Service learning projects are developed by connecting student learning objectives and community need. As such, the resulting partnership is mutually beneficial for all parties. The project activities and deliverables can vary widely as service learning can take on many forms. 

Links:

• Contact the Office of Service-Learning (http://service-learning.uconn.edu/) for more information or for help getting started on developing your service learning course or project
• To learn more about the faculty benefits of service learning, visit Faculty Overview (http://service-learning.uconn.edu/news/overview-for-faculty)
• Visit National Campus Compact (http://www.compact.org/) for models of service learning across disciplines and institutions.
• Spring 2015 SL Course Designation Applications are due by Wednesday, Oct. 1 at noon.  To submit a course, please click HERE.

For more information, contact: Stacey Valliere at stacey.valliere@uconn.edu