Service Learning Research Paper

The service learning project for ForKids organization was organized to analyze the existing data and information concerning the performance of the beyond-the-bell (BTB) tutoring program. During the semester-long project working for ForKids, I observed and now better understand the best practices of nonprofit organizations. Additionally, although most best practices are universal in nature, there must be considerations for the unique characteristics of a nonprofit organization such as organization culture and the community it serves.

An experience I had during my Service Learning that pushed me outside my comfort zone was when I had to privilege to work with a class that had an autistic student. My Service Learning teacher was absent from school one day and she allowed me to observed the art teacher at Pick Elementary. I am thankful for this because I got to experience what it is like to work with a little boy with Autism. The little boy’s name is Elliot. Elliot is in the third grade and does not have an aid to help him during class time. The art teacher explained to me that he used to have an aid with him, but the aid was needed in different areas of the school, so she does not work in the classroom with Elliot anymore. It became Elliot’s teachers’ responsibilities

A situation our clinical group encountered at our service learning project involved working with other volunteers at Ronald McDonald House to get a task done more efficiently. During our volunteer time, organizing boxes of donations and cleaning up any leftover boxes in the building’s basement was one of our tasks. During this, we accumulated a large quantity of boxes and trash that needed to be taken out to the dumpster. Instead of attempting to carry all these boxes up a small stairwell, and possibly create a disturbance for the house residents, we communicated with the lead volunteer staff and were able to load the boxes on a utility lift. This simple situation shows the type of active communication and mindfulness our group utilized during our time at our service learning project.

Over the past 16 weeks I have had the opportunity to volunteer in the learning experience and growth of a young child. The environment I was able to be involved with was one of the many elementary schools within the Oceanside School District, San Luis Rey Elementary. This school is a Kindergarten through fifth grade school consisting of approximately 350 multicultural, multi-language, lower socioeconomic students with fully credentialed instructors providing education. There are no more than three classes of each grade with some grades only having one class. I had the privilege to provided help within one of two second grade class consisting of approximately 24-28 students, mostly boys. Several of the students were English as a second language learner, which presented difficulty in their learning process. Within this reflection paper I hope to present my personal connections and growth through the process of service-learning, along with how this impacts the relationship of social justice.

Service-learning is an educational involvement that balances the academic development and a personal experience with the opportunity to serve the community. During this second semester I have the opportunity to experience again what a service learning is. I did my service learning at the Gladys Porter Zoo here in Brownsville, which give me a significant experience by having learned how important the zoos are, specially the Gladys Porter Zoo. Brownsville have this great opportunity of having a Zoo, which plays an important role in education, recreation and conservation of animals. In fact, during this 8 hours that I offer my service, by having dealt with animals, the Gladys Porter Zoo show me how they make the life of the animals go easier than

A service-learning project would be amazing to have in Crawford County High School. New things are what make a great county. This county needs a service-learning project. The service-learning project that Crawford County High School needs is to tutor younger children.

Before I start my first Service-Learning experience, I predict that it will be educating and exciting to do. The location where I plan to do most of my Service-Learning hours will be with Mobile Nursing Unit. The knowledge I expect to receive while doing my Service-Learning hours would be to learn how to give vital signs; being aware of the communities’ medical needs, and learning to collaborate with others. By learning to give vital signs and being aware of the communities’ needs, it will provide me the opportunity to excel what I may lack at.

1. What learning theory is it based on - if any? Is the learning theory appropriate for the program? Why or why not? If you cannot identify a learning theory, discuss which one you would use and why you would use it for this specific program:

My completed my at the VITA site two hours on Saturday, April 9th, from 9am -11am. Being, that it was the last Saturday they would be open for service I figured it would have been busy while I was there. When I got there Ms. Silver seemed to be really busy. The tasks she gave me was to file the papers documents by last name that were filled out by those who were getting their taxes done and to greet people when they arrived.

So, what is service learning? According to Ejiwale, “Service learning as an educational method by which participants learn and develop through active participation in service that is conducted in and meets the needs of a community” (2013, p. 188). This allows students to take the academic and leadership skills they’ve learned in the classroom and apply them to real-world problems involving their own communities. This not only reinforces the student’s area of study, but forces critical thinking and hands on action beyond the classroom. In addition, it allows the student to examine their own career path and gain a better understanding of who they are.

The University of Houston-Downtown along with the Houston Food Bank have given the opportunity for students to participate in a service learning experience by volunteering and engaging in community service in order for students to gain personal and academic development. Students volunteered at the Houston Food Bank as they made the choice to spend unpaid time completing numerous tasks that will benefit their community by feeding thousands of people each year. Such actions also qualify as community service as students volunteered through the Marilyn Davies College of Business which provided services to benefit the Houston Food Bank and the communities it serves. This experience made students be involve in service learning as they applied skills learned in classes such as communication, networking, and team work. As a result, students saw ideas and theories from the classroom being applied and explained further while reflecting on how they can apply such concepts to their learning objectives. Community service, volunteering, and service learning may be different in the manner they are accomplished; however, they are similar as the end goal is to learn from and help communities and people in need.

What is service learning, and why do we have to do it? These are questions I asked myself when given this assignment. To be honest, I always thought of service learning as forced volunteerism, but only because no one ever really told us why we had to do it. With that being said, I decided this paper was going to be a search for the answers to these questions as well as a reflection of the experience. While researching for this paper I established a new-found appreciation for service learning.

While I’m taking stock of what I’ve achieved and given over the past weeks, I know I’ve gained a better understanding of what service learning is. For me it’s important to engage I service learning because it goes far deeper than community service and requires a person to really analyze what they are doing. Adding the goal of learning makes the experience more focused and beneficial for both parties. It’s also important I personally practice the idea of service learning, because I often volunteer without thinking critically about why I’m there. Service learning, for me, requires me to dig deeper than “this is good for the

Service learning helps you learn in different ways, and can enhance your academic experience. I believe this to be very truthful myself. As do many professors from the Higher Education Research Institute at University of California. Students can gain so many things from service learning. Self-efficiency, values, and leadership are characteristics that can be enhanced for an induvial that is involved. Having first had experience with this I find being required service hours is quite important. I recently handed out doughnuts with Millikin’s

With our American society continually changing, the knowledge and practice of our human healthcare and environmental relationship is being challenged. That is, our higher education needs to educate the students by the real-world experiences and not just by the textbook in the classroom. One method that is becoming more popular at the collegiate level is service learning. “Service learning holds the potential to provide a deeper, more transferable meaning of course material for students” (Fisher, 2017) .This teaching strategy gives a great opportunity for students to go in the communities around them and realize the needs and effects of the jobs that are in that community. An excellent example of how service learning would benefit a undergraduate student would be working with the elderly people in a community. “Through service learning, first-year undergraduate students engage in activities that address human and community needs, together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development” (Tam, 2014). Not only does the students get to understand how to treat the elderly but most of the students retain life lessons from the elderly patients that have been in their shoes and have wise knowledge of how different situations should be handled. With “the success of service-learning projects and their ability to foster student engagement, leaning, and the civic development is in part determined by the presence of key elements in the