“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
-Mahatma Ghandi
Service Learning at Alabama State University Is:
An Academic Course that encompasses community-based learning activities. This course should be rooted in a formal academic curriculum and contain structured opportunities for service-activities that connect to the curriculum.
Or
Co-curricular service experiences wherein structured service-activities drive the topics that are discussed in a given Academic Course and frequently shape the curriculum that is offered.
Major Components for a successful Service-Learning Course:
. Sufficient preparation that includes setting objectives for skills to be learned.
. Putting in the hours to get the job done.
. For students, a typical component of Service-Learning is Reflection in the form of
a report that leads to a final project result or presentation.
. Forms will be made available for documentation of Service-Learning experience.
Examples of Successful Service-Learning Courses:
One:
(1) Delivering meals to people living with AIDS is Service.
(2) Sitting in classroom learning about how AIDS affects the body is learning.
(3) Learning about the nutritional needs of AIDS patients, designing a meal plan, packaging and delivering the meals, and reflecting on that experience is servicelearning.
Two:
(1) Picking up trash on a riverbank is service.
(2) Studying water samples under a microscope is learning.
(3) When science students collect and analyze water samples, document their results, and present findings to a local pollution control agency…that is servicelearning.
"Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) have advanced changes in connecting community service with service-learning, integrating service-learning into the academic curriculum, engendering a service-learning climate on campus, and cultivating authentic partnerships within the community. These efforts have contributed to the evolution of the service-learning movement in America." --- David Ray, National Project Director -UNCF/Ford Service-Learning network.