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Document SL

Faculty can highlight SL in all categories: teaching, research, and service.  Below are tips on how to showcase your SL materials in a way that strengthens your portfolio.

(Adapted from CSU Service-Learning Faculty Manual, Fourth Edition; courtesy, The Institute for Learning and Teaching at Colorado State University.)

Principles for Integrating Service Learning with Scholarship

  • Structure service-learning activities to address larger questions related to instruction
  • Effectiveness and/or appropriate outreach models for specific populations
  • Measure the effectiveness of service-learning and discuss results in the context of a broader subject matter
  • Give visibility to your efforts

How to Increase Visibility of Your Efforts

  • Present professional papers at state, regional, and national meetings
  • Publish your findings in higher education publications or in applied academic journals, particularly those that report teaching innovations
  • Serve the university community by volunteering to lead discussions or give presentations to campus-wide audiences
  • Make your work visible and emphasize quality
  • nominations for college or university teaching awards as well as other forms of recognition
  • Submit grants for external funding related to service-learning activities
  • Seek publicity for you and your students’ efforts through the Communications and Marketing Department (426-1557)

“Rules” for receiving departmental support

  • DO integrate service-learning with teaching goals and department, college, and university priorities
  • DO document the impact and outcomes of service-learning activities on the student learning and community intervention
  • DO use service-learning as a tool to refine and expand your instructional skills
  • DO discuss your teaching successes and challenges with departmental colleagues soliciting their input and taking the opportunity to discuss pedagogical issues
  • DO experiment with different models and approaches, carefully assessing the effectiveness of each; be innovative!
  • DON’T view service-learning as an “extra” activity
  • DON’T emphasize the effectiveness of service-learning by describing the activity
  • DON’T separate service-learning from teaching goals as stated in annual faculty evaluations
  • DON’T keep your service-learning activities a “secret” in your department
  • DON’T restrict yourself to tested methods and approaches

The Institute for Learning and Teaching. (2007). CSU Service-Learning Faculty Manual, Fourth Edition. Colorado State University. https://tilt.colostate.edu/teachingResources/guides/serviceLearning/.