Community-based Service learning intentionally integrates meaningful community engagement with academic learning and purposeful civic learning
DePaul Academic Service Learning Models
At DePaul, we support a variety of approaches to integrating service learning pedagogy into courses:
Direct
Service
Students engage in service that directly benefits a community organization's clients and
programming (e.g., tutoring, providing health screenings)
Project-based
Service
Students assist in the community by consulting or creating tangible products (e.g., creating a website, drafting oral interview reports, PR plan, assessing organizational recruitment strategies).
Community-based
Research
Students contribute to a research effort defined and driven by a community partner.
Advocacy
and Solidarity
Students support an on-going campaign to address a critical social, economic, and/or environmental issue in Chicago or internationally. This involves valuing the dignity of all people and respecting them as individuals in the pursuit of justice, community-building and peace. For example, the Center supports the Inside-Out Program, through which DePaul students study side-by-side with incarcerated students at correctional facilities.
Build Relationships with Communities
Collaboration with communities
lies at the heart of effective service learning practice. Building authentic relationships with
community residents, organizations, and groups can raise such questions as
- Who or what is “the
community” and “the university?”
- What is “service” and
who is being “served”?
- Who has the power to
create legitimate knowledge and solutions to address pressing issues in
communities? How can an ABCD approach
help to address this question?
- How can faculty and
community partners manage the work of mentoring/supervising students as
co-educators?
“As
a result of this partnership, our community partner, Erie House, benefitted
from increased public awareness and news coverage. For example, one student had several articles about DACA recipients and Rohingya refugees published in a local magazine.”
- Professor Robin Hoecker, Journalism
Reflection
There are as
many different types of reflection as there are courses, community sites, student
learning styles, and faculty teaching approaches. Successful reflection assignments are
intentionally designed with carefully aligned academic learning objectives and
they are integrated throughout the course, both in and outside the course.
The
room helped bridge the gap between those at the school with severe
autism, and those at the Theatre School who had never worked with people
who had autism.
Ben Raanan, Service Learning student, Theatre School
View the list of reflection activities from K. Rice, "Reflection and Student Learning."
Examples of reflection assignments/activities
include:
- Ethical Case Studies
- Self Portraits
- Class Presentations
- Personal Narratives
- Site Reports with
reflective commentary
- Experiential Research
Papers, researching a social issue encountered at a project or service site
Students can share their knowledge at the
annual Service Speaks conference through power point, Pecha Kucha, performance,
Spoken Word, etc.,
Professional Development
The CbSL Certificate Program allows DePaul faculty to:
- Identify
appropriate evidence-based best practices for teaching CbSL and project-based
learning
- Reflect on and articulate your assumptions and beliefs
about teaching and learning in the classroom and community
- Apply pedagogical strategies and methods discussed in
workshops to your teaching
- Create a course or other teaching strategy that
strengthens student learning and honors community partnerships
- Develop a network of colleagues to discuss and develop
pedagogical and career strategies
Through the Faculty Community Immersion Institute participants
will:
- Deepen their
understanding of cultivating and sustaining community partnerships
- Deepen their
understanding of Community-based Service Learning and Asset-Based Community
Development
- Deepen their
understanding of community history, current social justice issues, and assets
- Draft, revise, or
improve a CbSL course, internship, or project
Steans Center Breakfasts
The
Steans Center facilitates periodic informal conversations at the Center (2233
North Kenmore Avenue) on contemporary issues of interest in community-engaged work
and service learning to faculty, staff and community members. Non-violence,
social entrepreneurship, communications, gender, sustainability, your idea
here? Ideas welcome at servicelearning@depaul.edu.
One-on-One Consultation
Meet with a member of the Steans Center Staff to consult directly about a possible course, partnership, or project. Contact Helen Damon-Moore, Associate Director, hdamonmo@depaul.edu.