Making the Connection to your Academic Class

Service Learning is intended to enhance your academic courses through experiential learning. However, sometimes it can be difficult to see the connection between your coursework and the service you are doing. Here are some tips for helping you to get the most learning out of your experience:

With your Professor:

• Find out what exactly your professor wants you to be doing and seeing and experiencing while in the community. Ask him/her what he/she wants you to get out of your learning.
• Take a close look at the syllabus, and see what the professor wants you to get out of the course.
• If you continue to struggle with making the connection, ask to talk to your professor about it, either in class or in a private meeting. Don't forget the rest of the class learns when you share your questions and experiences. Encourage your faculty member to allow service learners to discuss their community experiences throughout the semester, and not just at the end.

With your Agency Contact:

• Communicate your course objectives and your own learning objectives to the site contact so s/he can help to place you in the best learning situation.
• If you are doing something that does not seem to be a fit with your class- speak up and let the contact person know. However, also realize that sometimes doing service offers you an exposure, or a foot in the door, or even a chance to be an observer. So although the service you are performing may not have to do with your class work, it is allowing you an opportunity to learn from a context. For example, you might not be enrolled in an education class, but you might be doing tutoring in order to learn about gender roles in children for your Sociology class. You might need to do a little searching, because the theories, concepts, and philosophies may not jump out at you right away.
• Your contact person has agreed to serve as a co-educator so schedule a meeting with her/him to discuss your observations, asks questions, etc. Site contacts are great resources for filling in the gaps in your knowledge about the agency, the issues it addresses, or the population being served.

With the Service Learning Program Staff:

• Attend the Service Learning Reflections. These reflections are a chance to meet with other service learners and our student staff, most of whom have been service learners, many more than once. You will have the opportunity to talk about the connections you have observed between your class and the community. Our veteran Student Coordinators can also help guide you to make some of these connections if you are struggling.
• Always feel free to call the Service Learning Program office and speak to someone if you are having difficulty. We are more than happy to help, but we won't know what you need unless you tell us!

For yourself:

• Even if your professor does not require it, keep a journal. In most cases, service learning papers and reports will not be due until the end of the semester, and chances are you will forget a lot of the things that happened throughout the semester. Be thorough with your journal, and as introspective and reflective as possible. Do not just focus on the fact that you read a book to a elderly woman, but reflect on your thoughts about the agency, the services provided to the people, the lives and cultures of the people you meet, what you have in common with the people you serve, and what are the unique differences etc. Make notes about ways your community experience relates to specific material from the course. A thorough and well thought out journal will help you when you produce your final paper or project. Remember: you do not get a grade or credit for the service you perform. Your grade is based on how well you demonstrate to your professor that you learned something about the course from your participation in the community.