Brunner/Health

Service Learning Project

TOPIC:______

Name:______

  1. Service Learning Interest Inventory-Due September 15th
  2. Research Paper – Research the Issue DUE FRIDAY OCTOBER 28th
  3. Conduct TWO interviews from different perspectives – Friday November 18th
  4. Outline your Service Plan- DUE FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18th
  5. Implement Community Service- Complete by MONDAY DECEMBER 5th
  6. Personal Essay – Reflection – Due WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 14th
  7. FINAL EXAM- Present your service learning project to the class

Consider Advocacy-Oriented Activities

Advocacy means conducting public education in order to change public behavior. A community educational forum can influence the way members of the community understand an issue and how they respond to it. Advocacy-oriented activities can take many forms: Reflection or evaluation components can encourage discussion about the causes of problems; training components can suggest techniques or explain actions to take in a specific issue area. Advocacy can take the form of public service announcements, writing letters to the editor of the local newspaper to describe experiences or make suggestions or role-modeling activities such as devoting one day to pick up trash in the community.

Local Advocacy

Advocacy is primarily an educational activity. There are four basic phases to community advocacy: 1) Identifying an issue; 2) getting organized; 3) carrying out your plans and 4) follow-up planning.

  1. Service Learning Interest Inventory

Directions: Please fill out the form with as much detail as possible. Your answers will help us decide your role in our class service-learning project.

  1. How do you spend your spare time?
  2. What extra-curricular activities are you engaged in?
  3. What are your favorite school subjects?
  4. Name a few skills you have:
  5. What issues or causes matter to you?
  6. What issues or causes would you like to learn more about?
  7. What concerns do you have about your world?
  8. How would you address these concerns?
  9. What do you think you could learn about yourself, your community, and others by volunteering?
  10. What skills do you wish to gain through volunteering?
  11. In what ways do you want to impact your world?
  1. SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT: RESEARCH PAPER (MLA or APA Format)
  1. Introduction:
  2. Statement of the social problem. (Accurately portray the nature of the issue.)
  3. Thesis statement/sentence.
  4. WHY IS THIS TOPIC IMPORTANT TO YOU! Why did you chose this topic?
  5. Body:
  6. History of the social problem.
  7. You may also discuss past attempts at solutions.
  8. Body: State the extent of the problem. This is where you explain what makes our topic an issue of social relevance.).
  9. Body: State the possible causes of the social problem.
  10. Body:
  11. Future solutions.
  12. You can discuss some of your own solutions utilizing the various sociological paradigms; however, be sure to utilize what others have written
  13. Conclusion:
  14. Summarize your findings.
  15. What specific changes do you want to see?
  16. What did you learn from your research?
  1. SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT: 2 PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
  1. Compose Questions specific to the person you are interviewing (your questions should be different, since you are getting two different opposing views, example: A Victim, A perpetrator, a doctor/veterinarian, first responder, teachers, student, principal, parent, leader of an organization, etc.)
  2. Conduct your interviews and record your answers
  3. Submit an outline of your interview – questions and answers
  4. You may email the person, interview in person, or interview them over the phone.
  1. SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT: OUTLINE OF YOUR ACTUAL ADVOCACY
  1. What will you be doing?
  2. What types of advocacy (levels of service – see below) will you be doing?
  3. Who will participate?
  4. What is your goal?
  5. How will you measure your success?
  6. Use the information below to help you plan:

Levels of Service

Direct Service: Students have face-to-face contact with the service recipients. For example: tutoring; serving meals at a homeless shelter; working with the elderly in a nursing home, etc.

Indirect Service: Students perform a service without having face-to-face contact with the recipient. Usually resources are channeled to help alleviate a problem. For example: food & clothing drives; walk-a-thons or fundraisers; environmental projects, etc.

Advocacy: Students educate others about a particular issue with the goal being to eliminate the cause of a particular problem. For example: writing letters to legislators or editors; preparing and displaying posters, plays, or other educational materials for others, etc.

  1. Implement Community Service
  1. You must deliver your service prior to December 5th! VOLUNTEER!
  2. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  3. MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  4. MAKE AN IMPACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  5. LEAVE YOUR MARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  1. Personal Essay – Reflection

Post-service reflection questions: (at least 3 questions must be answered in this section)

  • What have you learned about yourself?
  • What have you learned about your community?
  • What have you contributed to the community?
  • What values, opinions, beliefs have changed?
  • What was the most important lesson learned?
  • What impact did you have on the community?
  • What are the best things you discovered about your community?
  • What new ideas or insights did you gain?
  • What knowledge or skills did you learn from this experience that you will apply in the future?
  • How were you different when you left the service location compared to when you entered?
  • How are you similar/different to others (others in your service group? others seeking services? etc.)?
  • In what ways did being different help/hinder the group?
  • If you were one of the people receiving services, what would you think of yourself?
  • How does this experience compare to other service experiences you have had?
  • How has your service contributed to your growth in any of these areas: civic responsibility, political consciousness, professional development, spiritual fulfillment, social understanding, and intellectual pursuit?
  • How did this experience challenge your assumptions and stereotypes?
  • Do you think these people (or situations) are unique? Why or why not?
  • What public policies are involved and what are their implications? How can they be improved?
  • Describe an internal or external conflict that has surfaced for you during your service work. Explain the factors that contribute to this conflict and how you might resolve or cope with the conflict
  • Discuss a social problem that you have come in contact with during your service work. What do you think are the root causes of this problem? Explain how your service may or may not contribute to its alleviation
  • What could this group do to address the problems you saw at the service site?
  • How can society better deal with the problem?
  • How can this experience apply to other situations in your life?
  • How can your solutions apply to other situations in your life?
  • How can your solutions apply to other problem(s) of other groups?
  • How can society be more compassionate/informed/involved regarding this community?
  • What is the difference between generosity, charity, justice, and social change?
  • Where do we go from here? What's the next step?
  1. Final Exam: Present to the Class your Service Learning Project
  1. Why did you chose your topic?
  2. What is your issue?
  3. Why is it an issue?
  4. Who did you interview?
  5. Tell us about your interviews
  6. What did you decide to do for your service?
  7. What did you learn from completing your service learning project?
  1. What to include in your portfolio:
  2. Service Learning Interest Inventory
  3. Research Paper
  4. 2 interviews with Answers
  5. Outline your Service Plan
  6. Personal Essay – Reflection