Using Service-Learning in Writing Courses

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Back to Justification for Service-Learning

Public administration professor Thomas H. Jeavons identifies several ways in which service-learning is more effective than traditional presentational modes in supporting the goals of liberal education.

As an experiential and collaborative mode, service-learning:

• enhances critical thinking skills such as analysis and synthesis by involving students in identifying and framing problems in settings that transcend disciplinary boundaries.
• involves students in assessing outcomes in a way that reveals the practical implications of chosen theories, research tools, analysis techniques, and presentation modes.
• prepares students for life-long learning by connecting formal education more fully with real-world experience.
• prepares students for citizenship by engaging them in dealing directly with community problems, challenging their assumptions and requiring them to integrate multiple points of view.

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