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Fall/Winter 2002 page 11 University of Utah students read to children at the The Road Home shelter as one of the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center's programs. community component is new for the faculty members, we don't want this to be an additional burden," Welch said. The Lowell Bennion Center provides technical assistance from beginning to end. Service learning assistants meet with professors and decide how their existing course can be adapted into a service learning course. They help professors find non-profit agencies to work with and help to build a relationship with the community. The assistants support faculty in creating lasting relationships with the agencies in the community. The Bennion Center even provides a teaching assistant for the first semester that a service learning course is being implemented. Student leadership skills are acquired in various ways with a service learning class. Students work with their fellow peers in presenting ideas from the class lecture, then directly apply their knowledge to their community agencies. Through service learning, students develop superior problem solving skills, communication skills and organizational skills that will enhance their abilities to become better leaders. Welch believes that developing good leaders should be the mission of the University, and service learning should play a crucial role in this development. Service learning is also a way for professors to gain or expand on their own leadership skills. The program gives the faculty a way to bring their expertise and rich resources into the community and to become real partners with these agencies. Welch believes this will allow professors to act as leaders both in and out of the classroom. When students are faced with real-life problems, it takes them away from the abstract realm of the classroom and gives them the opportunity to try new experiments and ideas. "This is when they can apply their problem solving, leadership and organizational skills to a real-world project," Welch said. Service learning students agree. "I was able to learn and retain the information that was taught in lectures, and then practice it in my service learning project," said Ali Johnson, a communication major. The community projects help students gain a better understanding of citizenship and help them become much more invested in their schoolwork. Service learning combines theory and professional skills together, which helps foster leadership skills. The exercise and sport science department has taken service learning to heart. Doris Watson, an assistant professor in the department, has been applying the service learning pedagogy for the past few years. Watson explains that service learning students have to be actively engaged with their coursework and apply their knowledge firsthand. "Learning is about successes and failures, allowing students to wrestle with real issues of what it means to be working, which contributes to their sense of being a leader, which is a lot different than just lecturing about an issue," she said. The service learning projects completed by each student are displayed by the department of exercise and sport science in an open house held for all students and staff. Students have the opportunity to explain the research that took place in their projects and discuss problems and progress within their community agency. Service learning courses ultimately facilitate leadership. By using the service learning pedagogy, professors can help foster important leadership abilities within their students. |
