Overview

Registered Service Learners

Benefits

Service Learning Pedagogy

Service Learning Courses

Community Partner List

Faculty Resources

FAQs

Institute for Service Learning
UW Milwaukee
Holton Hall G26
2442 East Hartford Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53211
414-229-2348
islinfo@uwm.edu

FAQs

How do I develop a service learning course?
The UWM Institute for Service Learning is available to answer your questions about service learning and help you with all aspects of developing a service learning course, including design, implementation and evaluation. We will work with you to identify community placements that are relevant to your course, handle service learning registration and provide student follow-up throughout the semester. We can also offer you access to sample syllabi and current literature on service learning issues, trends, and research.

How does service learning support academic standards?
This is an important and legitimate concern for all who are interested in quality higher education and it is the focus of much research on service leaning. If applied properly, this pedagogy can be more rigorous than traditional teaching strategies. Students are not only required to master the standard text and lecture material, but must also integrate their service experience into a context.
This is a high level skill requiring effective reflection techniques designed to accomplish academic outcomes. It is important to emphasize that service learning does not change what is taught, but how it is taught. With this change comes a new set of challenges for both the student and the teacher.

How is service learning different from fieldwork, internship and volunteerism?
Like service learning, field work and internships are academically based, but often require a much larger time commitment and may be geared to the development of very specific skills such as teaching, social work or nursing. Service learning, on the other hand, does not focus on the acquisition of particular career skills, but rather helps students deepen their understanding of course content through experiences in the community and reflection in the classroom. Service learning’s connection to academics and course goals, differentiates it from community volunteerism.

How can I fit something new into an already cramped curriculum?
Service Learning is not an add-on to your current course requirements. Instead, a part of the traditional classroom content activity is replaced with action and meaningful involvement in experiential learning.

How many service learning hours are students asked to complete?
Most UWM faculty requires 10-15 hours of service learning in a given semester. Some give students the option of replacing service learning with additional coursework.

How are students able to fit service learning into schedules that often include work and school?
Service learning should not add hours to course requirements, since it often takes the place of more traditional activities like a discussion section or a paper done outside of class. Faculty report that most students are willing and able to do service learning while students say the workload in their service learning courses is manageable.