Service Learning in a Regional Urban Midwest University: An Overview of Five Projects

The use of service-learning courses has evolved in the United States in the
past three decades. While the most traditional approach to service learning
focuses on what universities and colleges can do for the community
(Speck and Hoppe 2004), a more contemporary approach has transformed
service learning into a holistic experience that engages educators, students,
and community partners in a dynamic process of mutual exchange.
Drawing upon the examples of other universities (Chupp and Joseph 2010;
Freire 2004; Pompa 2002), our department has recently created five new
opportunities for service learning in which service learning is viewed as a
system of interactions and exchanges among all agencies and partners
involved. This paper provides an overview of these five projects. Each
project employs service learning in a unique way and provides us with the
opportunity to reflect on the numerous aspects of learning (in both
undergraduate and graduate programs) that are often neglected in
traditional classroom courses.