Service Learning aims to teach students beyond textbooks and outside the classroom through volunteer opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a strategy of teaching that faculty can use that\u2019s very engaging for students,\u201d David Bodary, Service Learning coordinator and associate professor in Communication said. \u201cThey become actively involved in the process of service in some capacity, that then helps to reinforce, or even deepen, content from their courses. Sometimes the best understanding comes from an example.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project the students participate in becomes part of their graded work for the class.<\/p>\n
Service Learning begins when the teacher offers the opportunity for the class to participate in a Service Learning project. Students engage in the project, then they are asked to complete an essay about the experience afterward.<\/p>\n
He said this is beneficial, because it gives the students the opportunity to reflect on their involvement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make those connections between the book that we read in class, and then the experience that they\u2019ve had, and it\u2019s critical that they have those moments to reflect and make those connections,\u201d he said. \u201cLike anything, if you don\u2019t reflect on what you\u2019ve done on why it did or didn\u2019t work, you\u2019re not going to learn anything from it. In the same way, if we don\u2019t reflect on our learning, we can\u2019t necessarily repeat it and we can\u2019t necessarily benefit from the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Service Learning can take shape in several forms, such as students in the Automotive department servicing a vehicle for a non-profit agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done it all across campus \u2026 We have Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) students actually involved in habitat for humanity housing, so they often install ductwork or the heating system in the habitat homes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During the fall semester, a developmental reading class was granted the opportunity to participate in a Service Learning project by writing and illustrating their own original books for the Early Childhood Education lab.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we were all intrigued by the idea of doing it; getting out of class and helping out the little kids by making books for them,\u201d Justice Thomas, a Nursing major who participated in the project said.<\/p>\n
Most of the students said they created books that could teach the children something.<\/p>\n
\u201cMine was about counting shapes. I was in [early childhood education] in high school, so I kind of knew what to do,\u201d Randi Robinson, an Early Childhood Education major said.<\/p>\n
Upon beginning the project, students searched through existing children\u2019s books for inspiration, then they began to create their own. Another class then read the created books to the children in the lab. The project took a week to complete.<\/p>\n
Overall, the students in the class said they felt good about participating in the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just so much fun,\u201d Donch\u00e9 Collins, an undecided major said. \u201cI loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A computer engineering class also participated in a Service Learning project during the fall semester, by repairing computers that were kept in a warehouse that was owned by a retired Sinclair professor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a hands-on experience, repairing computers \u2026 I thought it was great, because we got to see a lot of things we didn\u2019t see in [the classroom] it was definitely a good learning tool for me,\u201d Eric York, an EETCET major, said.<\/p>\n
The students said they saw the benefits in participating in the Service Learning project.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a good experience, it was good to go out there and see the warehouse, make it our own workspace, try to fix things,\u201d Brad Bateson, a ETC major said. \u201cIn the lab, it\u2019s controlled; we already know everything we have. [In the warehouse], we were finding things we had never seen before. It was a really good team-building project too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students agreed that what they learned in the classroom was reinforced by engaging the Service Learning project.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a strategy to use in teaching and learning that puts the students in an active learning mode,\u201d Bodary said. \u201cHighly engaged, highly involved learning, and it results in more memorable learning activities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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