CIDR - Service Learning

Through Service Learning, instructors can draw on community resources to provide students with enhanced learning opportunities. By engaging with their communities beyond the classroom, students cultivate a sense of civic responsibility, learn actively and connect their coursework to life experiences.

In order for students to fully benefit from Service Learning programs, instructors find that it is important to set clear goals, coordinate with community programs and develop effective methods for measuring the students' learning progress. Effective academic integration, accountability and self-reflection are some key elements in a well-planned Service Learning curriculum.

CIDR Resources

	CIDR Teaching and Learning Bulletin Teaching a Service Learning Course CIDR Teaching and Learning Bulletin, 3(2)

	Consult with CIDR CIDR consultants are available to meet with you and discuss your questions about using service learning in the context of the classes that you teach. See our Consulting pages on exploring teaching issues, designing courses and assignments, and collecting student feedback for more information. To schedule a consultation, call 206-543-6588, or contact us by email to arrange an appointment.

UW Resources

	Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center The Carlson Center for Leadership and Public Service coordinates Service Learning at the University of Washington. This site includes Information for Faculty, Information for Students, and Information for Community Agencies.

Additional Resources

101 Ideas for Combining Service and Learning
This site offers service-learning course ideas in fifteen different disciplines.

Campus Compact
"Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 900 college and university presidents committed to the civic purposes of higher education. To support this civic mission, Campus Compact promotes community service that develops students' citizenship skills and values, encourages partnerships between campuses and communities, and assists faculty who seek to integrate public and community engagement into their teaching and research..."

Engineering Projects and Community Service (EPICS)
"Community service agencies are increasingly relying upon the delivery, coordination, accounting, and improvement of the services they provide. They need the help of people with strong technical backgrounds. Undergraduate students ... will be expected to work with people of many different backgrounds to identify and achieve goals. They need educational experiences that can help them develop these skills. The challenge is to bring these two groups together in a mutually beneficial way..."