Faculty

Why Service Learning?  Get inspired. Increase engagement. Make a difference.  

  •  Allows faculty to be innovative and creative in their teaching approach
  • Enriches and enlivens teaching and learning by extending learning beyond the classroom
  • Strengthens relationships with students
  • Facilitates interdisciplinary ad collaborative projects
  • Builds reciprocal partnerships with the local community
  • Extends campus resources into the community
  • Supports the college's vision of "engagement with our community"

Faculty FAQs


Service Learning Showcase - Spring 2022

 

 


Offering a service-learning course this semester?  Here are some items to get you started:

  • Service Learning Request Form  - Let us know if you are offering a service learning course!
  • Mini-Grant Applications - If you need help funding your service learning projects, we can help. Awards can range up to $500 per semester (depending on number of applications). Apply!


 VIRTUAL SERVICE LEARNING: Ten sites to find easy ideas for any subject 

 

3. United Nations Volunteers

If you’re looking to take your online volunteering worldwide, this is the place to start. UNV connects you with organizations working for peace and development in need of skills like research, writing, art, and design. There are already over 12,000 volunteers from 187 countries lending their talents to organizations around the globe.

4Smithsonian Digital Volunteers

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, but even they could use a little help sometimes. Help make their collections more accessible by volunteering online to transcribe historical documents or edit Wikipedia articles related to their artifacts and research.

5Amnesty Decoders

Operated by Amnesty International, this network of digital volunteers helps conduct research into global human rights violations. Volunteers have used their phones and computers to verify the location of oil spills, find evidence of drone strikes, and flag abusive tweets to women politicians in India.

6Project Gutenberg

Founded in 1971, this may just be the virtual volunteering effort that started it all. The goal is to create the largest digital library, and so far they’ve amassed 59,000 free eBooks. Volunteer by donating eligible materials, transcribing books into a digital form, or proofreading others’ work.

7DoSomething.org

DoSomething empowers young people to enact social change both online or off. Volunteer online through one of our campaigns to help solve real-world problems. DoSomething members have used the internet to successfully urge Apple to diversify their emojischange the dictionary definition of “Black/black”, and create the largest crowdsourced anti-bullying guide.

8. Citizenscience.gov

Federal crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Catalog.  Dozens of projects from across U.S. federal agencies that students can jump into. 

9Translators Without Borders

For those fluent in more than one language, check out this nonprofit that combines language skills with humanitarian aid. Volunteers provide translations (10 million words a year!) to international organizations that focus on crisis relief, health and education.

10Catchafire

This volunteer search tool is exclusively for online volunteer projects. Each one has a timeline that can range anywhere from an hour to a few weeks. So whether you have an afternoon or several, you can help not-for-profit with tasks like writing thank you letters or editing photos.


Faculty Thoughts on Service Learning...

Faculty responses to the question, "what impact did you see among students who participated in your service learning course?" Responses include: "Lots of growth of community in the classroom" They apply what we're learning in more meaningful ways, and I think they learn more." "They are really worried about doing a good job because they know thier work is going to be used for a bigger purpose than just an assignment." "Many of the students comment on how the rotation changed thier point of view on the homeless.  Several have gone back on thier own after class to volunteer because they enjoyed it." "When their designs do not function as they had intended and they experience failure it opens my student's minds and allows me to engage them in a different fashion."

 

Faculty responses to the question, "what motivated you to buld service learning into your course?"  Responses were: "I wanted to make the student' work more meaningful." "We're a community college and taking part in service in our community seems like it should be a priority.  Our students are also very interested in service." "Having more authentic learning experiences for students beyond textbooks and lectures, and having them guide more of their own learning." "Having my students work on real world projects and recieve real feedback on their designs." "It gave the students the chance to interact with the populations we deal with in emergency medicine in a nonemergent setting so they could learn more about he lives of the underserved people in the community and hopefully treat them with empathy and respect when encountering them in an emergency."