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Show lessons, Fan 2006 page 9 often a divide occurs between modes and regular students. Those students are losing that opportunity to learn in a different way," Sansone said. Bradley echoes Sansone and Garrott that setting up projects and partners on top of traditional class methods is demanding. "It requires more energy from the teacher. There is a lot of set-up in finding a project, establishing relationships with a partner, making students understand the process. There are a lot of extra moves," Bradley said. Despite these demands, instructors know the method benefits stu- ---------------------- dents. "It is an advantage because students can pour their energy into something that makes a difference. It enhances the meaning as an application and benefit. It has the best effect on students' lives," said Bradley. "It gets them out in the community. The classroom can't touch that experience. You can talk about examples, but until you see it and get that real-life experience it isn't ---------------------- the same. They are making sense of the abstract, creating their own knowledge," said Garrott. Bradley is involved because as an activist, she finds teaching service-learning a reflection of her personality. Garrott has also always been inclined to link theory and practice, and this program is allowing him to have that opportunity. Sansone enjoys reaching the point where students are working with the concepts and making them personal. When students in her classes debate the theorists, they are internalizing the information and becoming passionate about the information. The style makes it more fun for her and her students. Shaver believes that service-learning could extend its influence, and become more of a required, rather than an optional, program citing departments that already require involvement. "Nursing requires it. Pharmacy requires it. There really is an extensive list. In Parks, Recreation and Tourism, for example, you are expected to be an active learner," Shaver said, but she does recognize other programs are more reluctant. "Other majors believe their students have to be in a lab all day, and that this program does not fit them. Their philosophy of learning is reflected because they don't have service-learning." Shaver at least hopes to educate the student population about this opportunity, since she recognizes the program is not really well known. A 1996-1999 Bennion Center study found that more seniors than any other class participated. Shaver said that it might take a few years on cam- "It is an advantage because students can pour their energy into something that makes a difference. It enhances the meaning as an application and benefit. It has the best effect on students' lives." pus before students even find out about service-learning. Right now, Shaver said most people hear about the program through friends who talk about some of the popular service-learning courses. The Bennion Center has put together a DVD about the program for faculty to have as a resource. Shaver hopes they will use it as they introduce the opportunity in the first week of the semester, so students can see what they could be doing as active learners. Bradley said service-learning works fine as an option for students, noting that when it is ---------------------- not fully integrated, they do have to pay more tuition. Bradley enjoys being able to pitch the opportunity in her class and getting the interested students involved. "The kids who do it are typically service-oriented - not that other people aren't good. They just haven't started thinking that way yet," Bradley said. Bradley also believes that the community-based style works better in different types of classes. She has found that service-learning's projects better fit the content of upper division and architectural theory classes. Despite these demands, Bradley said, "It's enormously gratifying work-knowing my students are satisfying a great need in the community. It is a feel-good thing." Bradley's experience with service-learning started out in Architecture 1615 and in a Service-Learning Scholar Seminar she taught a few years ago. She was a speaker at the 2005 Scholar Banquet for students who graduated with the Service-Learning Scholar distinction. Bradley remembers working with the Center for Documentary Arts on a project about the West- and East-side gap. After studying different city blocks, the students made a computer animation showing what buildings had been built and torn down over time. Called "Crossing the Tracks," the project is part of a display for the Leonardo Complex by the Salt Lake City Library. The University of Utah prides itself as a research institution. Service-learning complements that research mission, as it seeks to strengthen ties with the community and give students field experience. Students face decisions about the future every semester, some seemingly as small as whether they should take a service-learning class to enrich their learning experience. As professors strive to help a future generation, they could read a Chinese proverb from the Bennion Center's web site for inspiration: "Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand." |