Faculty FAQs
I would like to incorporate a service learning experience into my course. What do I need to do?
What's the difference beteen a service learning project and a service learning placement?
Where can my students do service learning?
How will I measure my students' performance at their service learning site?
Should service learning be factored into my students' grades?
How will my students get to their service learning sites?
How can the service learning office help me?
What is community based learning?
How is SL different from practicums, internships, and field education?
Why should I care about service learning and community based learning?
I would like to incorporate a service learning experience into my course. What do I need to do?
Before the semester in which you intend to teach the class:
- Decide which course you'd like to target for service learning and submit the title of the course to the Office of Service Learning. You can use this handy form, or just email Kelly Brotzman or Adam Robinson. Check out current and past service learning courses here. Ideally, course titles should be submitted the semester before you intend to teach them, when you submit your course titles to LORA and your department. Why? Find important deadlines for submitting SL course titles here.
- Consider what kind of agencies you want to work with. Learn more about this topic here!
- Decide the question: "project or placement"? Learn more about the difference between service learning projects and service learning placements. Also, consider the pros and cons of projects and placements.
- Decide whether the service learning will be optional or required for students. Check out some pros and cons.
- Decide what sort of time commitment you'll expect from students. Can you justify this as part of the overall workload for the class?
- Decide on a grading procedure. How many points or what percentage will the service learning be worth?
- Review your syllabus and course materials (texts, assignments, articles, discussion topics). Determine key points where you can integrate students' SL activities into the class.
Click here for a complete Step-by-Step Course Planning Guide.
There are other things will need to happen later, once the course begins. Click here for an overview.
Where can my students do service learning?
Check out our list of current service learning agencies. These agencies have agreed to host Loyola service learning students. In consultation with the service learning office, you can select which site or sites match your course. You can also work with the service learning director to establish new community partnerships or draw on your own contacts in the community.
How will I measure my students' performance at their service learning site?
If your students are doing service learning placements, the Office of Service Learning will have agency staff evaluate each student at the end of the semester using this evaluation, which is submitted online. Results are forwarded to faculty members in time for grading. If your students are doing a service learning project, you should develop a collaborative evaluation process with your partner agency. Ideally, students should have an opportunity to receive agency feedback directly and in person.
It's helpful to distinguish between measuring the quality of a student's work at a service learning site and measuring a student's learning. Both are important! The best way to assess the latter is through written or verbal reflection (essays, reflection papers, blogging, discussion groups, creative projects, etc).
Should service learning be factored into my students' grades?
Yes. Whether service learning is optional, extra credit, or required, the quality of a student's work and learning should carry some weight in a student's overall course performance. The exact percentage or point value is up to you.
How will my students get to their service learning sites?
There are several transportation possibilities. Learn more by checking out our Service Learning Transportation page.
How can the service learning office help me?
The service learning director can:
- consult with you one-on-one to develop the best SL/CBL options for your class
- visit your class
- facilitate discussions with students about their service learning experiences
- administer and collect paperwork (waivers, evaluations, placement confirmation forms, project descriptions)
- record service learning data in LORA
- troubleshoot problems at service learning sites
- work individually with students to find suitable service learning sites
- participate in your service learning project
- help you formulate reflection questions or assignments
- help with transportation arrangements
The service learning office may be able to defray some expenses associated with your project. Contact Kelly Brotzman about this. Also, the service learning office has a storage closet where equipment and supplies for service learning projects can be stored.
What is service learning?
Service learning is the integration of community service with academic study to enrich the educational experience and strengthen communities. Ideally, the benefits are mutual: students and faculty gain valuable experience and understanding, and community agencies get meaningful contributions.
In accord with Loyola's Jesuit heritage, service learning can also be seen as a way of forming students toward social responsibility, solidarity, and a concern for justice and the common good.
What is community based learning?
Community based learning is a broader category than service learning. Any situation where students work and learn in a community environment is a form of community based learning.
How is SL different from practicums, internships, and field education?
Internships, practicums and field education are forms of community based learning. The emphasis is usually on the acquistion or development of particular professional or disciplinary skills. While service learning frequently helps students acquire skills, the focus is usually on the student's overall formation and the enhancement of disciplinary content in an academic course. Internships and practicums often are not attached to a full academic course with disciplinary content.
Why should I care about service learning and community based learning?
A growing body of data shows that service learning and community based learning has a dramatically positive effect on:
- student learning outcomes
- faculty and student engagement in the field or discipline they are studying
- faculty satisfaction with teaching
- innovation in faculty and student research
- students' understanding of complex problems
- students' satisfaction with their college experience
- students' likelihood of graduating
- the clarity of students' career discernment
- campus-community relations