Connecting Service to Learning: How Students and Communities Matter

Colleges and Universities Across the United States historically have been concerned about how to prepare students for the world outside the classroom. Although internship and cooperative education programs provide work experience for students, another approach has been to develop programs in which students volunteer to perform service in local communities. Called service-learning, chis form of experiential learning combines volunteer work with course content; it is a strong pedagogical tool chat can be used in a variety of courses and community settings.