What are some of the pros and cons of service learning projects and service learning placements?

Project Pros

  • Highly customizable to specialized course topics
  • Students get to work together, which may be good for team building
  • Agencies get a defined "deliverable" at the end of the project
  • Partner agencies don't need to invest in regularly hosting on-site volunteers (many agencies are not equipped to handle this)
  • Students can self-schedule much of their work
  • Students have a more uniform service learning experience

Project Cons

  • Students may not feel connected to the agency or its clients, particularly if little time is spent at the agency
  • Requires lots of advance planning, including a collaborative project description (check out some examples on our course list)
  • Requires a higher degree of personal investment from faculty members and agency staff
  • You don't have a lot of backup options if agency connections fall through or problems emerge
  • Students have less variety in their service learning experiences
  • Projects generally require customized procedures (for example, a customized evaluation process)
  • For some highly specialized projects, it can be difficult to find a partner agency with matching needs

Placement Pros

  • Placements can be largely facilitated by the Office of Service Learning through standardized procedures
  • Placements require less advance planning and less personal investment
  • Regularity and duration of service are two keys to positive service-learning outcomes for students
  • Students get a variety of service experiences
  • Students may feel more connected to the agency or community group
  • You have more backup options if problems develop
  • Semester-end "deliverables" don't need to be pre-defined

Placement Cons

  • Helping students figure out scheduling and transportation details can be chaotic, especially at the beginning of the semester
  • Professors have fewer controls on the nature of students' tasks at agencies
  • Less customizable (although professors can choose a short list of selected agencies)
  • Monitoring student performance on an ongoing basis throughout the semester can be more difficult
  • Because students in a single class may serve at several different agencies, there may be less of a sense of teamwork
  • Semester-end "deliverables" aren't pre-defined