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Definitions

Civic Engagement Service-learning and civic engagement are not the same thing in the sense that not all service-learning has a civic dimension and not all civic engagement is service-learning. For definition’s sake, civic engagement is the broader motif, encompassing service-learning but not limited to it. One useful definition of civic engagement is the following: individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern. Civic engagement can take many forms, from individual voluntarism to organizational involvement to electoral participation. It can include efforts to directly address an issue, work with others in a community to solve a problem or interact with the institutions of representative democracy. Civic engagement encompasses a range of specific activities such as working in a soup kitchen, serving on a neighborhood association, writing a letter to an elected official or voting. Indeed, an underlying principal of our approach is that an engaged citizen should have the ability, agency and opportunity to move comfortably among these various types of civic acts. (Source: Michael Delli Carpini, Director, Public Policy, The Pew Charitable Trusts.)

Service-learning is a credit-bearing, educational experience in which students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility. (From: Robert Bringle and Julie Hatcher, "A Service Learning Curriculum for Faculty." Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall 1995, pp. 112-122.)

Service-learning combines service objectives with learning objectives with the intent that the activity change both the recipient and the provider of the service. This is accomplished by combining service tasks with structured opportunities that link the task to self-reflection, self-discovery, and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and knowledge content. (Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse)

What makes a course a service-learning course?

1. The course integrates academic objectives with service experiences to facilitate student learning, personal and social growth, and civic responsibility.
2. It utilizes community-based service experiences with clear expectations and responsibilities to address a community need determined in partnership with the community. Participants include faculty, students, community-based organization, and clients.
3. Oral and written reflection on the service experience is incorporated into the course.
4. Learning outcomes are clear, explicit, and structured to maximize the achievement of course objectives.
5. Assessment of learning and evaluation of service experiences by both faculty and students are integrated into the course.
   

Action Research seeks both to understand and to alter the problems generated by social systems by combining theory and action in one's studies.

Community Service is the engagement of students in activities that primarily focus on the service being provided and the benefits that service activities have on the recipients (e.g., providing food to the homeless during the holidays). The students receive some benefits by learning more about how their service makes a difference in the lives of the service recipients.

The Engaged Campus is a college or university which emphasizes community involvement through its activities and its definition of scholarship. The engaged campus is involved in: community relationships, community development, community empowerment, community discourse, and educational change. Some of the benchmarks for the engaged campus include: campus-community partnerships, careful reflection, and sustained impact.

Field Education programs provide students with co-curricular service opportunities that are related, but not fully integrated, with their formal academic studies. Students perform the service as a part of a program that is designed primarily to enhance students' understanding of a field of study, while also providing substantial emphasis on the service being provided.

Internship programs engage students in service activities primarily for the purpose of providing students with hands-on experiences that enhance their learning or understanding of issues relevant to a particular area of study or career path.

Reflection describes the process of deriving meaning and knowledge from experience. Virtually all thought entails some level of reflection. Effective reflection engages both teachers and students in a thoughtful and thought-provoking process that consciously connects experience with learning.

(Sources: Caron, Barbara, ed. Service Matters: The Engaged Campus. Providence, RI: Campus Compact, 1999. Furco, Andrew. "Service-Learning: A Balanced Approach to Experiential Education" in Expanding Boundaries: Serving and Learning, B. Taylor, ed., 1996.)