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iCED Faculty Academic Service-Learning: Getting Started - Faculty

 

Connect On Your Campus

Contact your campus’ iCED staff or faculty facilitator. They can provide assistance with designing and implementing AS-L.

 

Get Certified

Take AS-L pedagogy FPD. AS-L combines academic learning and community engagement to enhance student learning and development while contributing to communities locally and globally. This workshop will provide an introduction to service-learning pedagogy.

 

Be Informed

This guide is based on national best practices and was designed to help you create a high quality, high impact experience for your students.

 

Design Your AS-L Experience

Complete the AS-L Course Development Worksheet with assistance from your campus iCED Staff and Faculty Facilitator(s).

 

Review Best Practices

AS-L is a proven high impact practice when it includes the elements listed below.

 

 

Key Component Key Element
Meaningful Service                                       
  • Service activity must meet iCED’s Standards for Service.
     
  • Service activities must be completed through, with, or for a service partner, and must provide a clearly identifiable benefit to a community.
Relevant Academic Study
  • Syllabus provides a rationale for why AS-L is an important component of the course and provides clear expectations for how to complete the AS-L component of the course.
     
  • Service activities are incorporated into course design and linked to one or more of the course’s learning objectives and MDC Learning Outcomes.
     
  • Critical reflection is ongoing throughout the course’s AS-L experience and connects to course learning objectives and MDC Learning Outcomes.
     
  • Critical reflection is continuous, connected, challenging and contextualized. Academic credit is given for demonstrated learning, not service.
Purposeful Civic Learning
  • Experience includes a critical exploration of the nature of ‘service’ and the role of education in the health of our democracy.
     
  • Critical reflection addresses at least one of the eight elements of Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (e.g., developing informed perspectives on social issues; working through controversy with civility; participating actively in public life, public problem solving, and service; developing a sense of social responsibility, etc.).
     
  • Course contributes to the development of student skills and/or attributes that can support them in becoming changemakers. MDC’s Changemaker attributes are: Reflection, Resilience, Action, & Empathy.