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/.