Creative Alternatives for Service Learning: A Project- Based Approach

Turner, Roselyn M.; Grizzafii, Karen. (2003) Creative Alternatives for Service Learning: A Project- Based Approach. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Campus Compact National Center for Community Colleges (12th, Scottsdale, AZ, May 21-23, 2003).

The article seeks to explore how service learning has developed into the active civic engagement we oftentimes find today. The consummate goal of such learning is to create learners that demonstrate fluency in writing, speaking, listening processes, and public speaking. Turner and Grizzaffi also believe increased motivation on the part of both teachers and students to be a by- product of service learning. Students and Teachers see fist hand the affect they can have on their communities.

Turner and Grizzafi use two distinct methods in deriving their conclusions. First, they define Service Learning as an "education common-" a pedagogical meeting place whose origins and principals are shared by a wide range of American and cultural communities." (Kielsmeier, 2000, pg.262). This nebulous, generalized definition serves as a precursor for the scattered methods to come. The first method uses key icons to promulgate their emphasis on service learning. They quote Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and George Bush as all being advocates of service learning. The authors then utilize the method of observation. They note the effect service learning has on students' communication skills. Students after serving the community are said to improve in writing, speaking, listening processes, and public speaking. The participant demographics and sampling size are both left out of this study. The participants of the study are most likely "students" who took part in some kind of service learning.

The intended audience of the authors are teachers looking to conduct service learning projects of their own. The article uses persuasive elements to obtain this goal. Pulling on influential heads of state and Bloom's taxonomy for learning, Turner and Grizaffi make you wonder why you have never considered such wide scale service learning yourself. However, these over generalizations and emotional pleas at the same time paradoxically inhibit you from taking that first step forward. The benefit of service learning projects are "vast and significant," and "many educators and government leaders" believe it should be a "required component in the educational career of all students," yet not one of these students or leaders are included in the appendix. This kind of over generalization begs the question,
Who in the hell actually participated in this study?"

The conclusions are both rushed and poorly researched. The authors cite the benefits of service learning to be:

a. Increased fluency in communication
b. Improvement in "Math course concepts"
c. A greater ability to Problem Solve
d. Improvements in "self- concept" and "self- esteem"

The article seems all too emotional and all too un- substantiated. What is even more disappointing is the fact that at one point they actually did conduct a study. However, even when I traced that study (through the website provided) back to its origins, I found more generalizations and cliches.

Hopefully through my discourse you got a sense of my fascination with service learning. Overall I was disappointed with this article. I was hoping the article would allude more to the methodology and enactment of service learning projects; instead, it overstated the theory behind such projects. Here are my questions: What service learning projects could I take part in that teach students civic responsibility while also emphasizing civics education? What is the procedure/ timetable for completing a service learning project? What are some good community contacts/ resources? How is service learning different than community service?