Service-Learning Designation Application

ENVSTD 121SL Lab, Kara Brascia, FA 2012

  1. What do you want students to learn from the SL experience? (SL academic enhancement, personal growth, and civic engagement*)

Students will learn how they as individuals and as part of society interact with and impact the environment, and how they can make positive change.

  • Academic learning goals:
  • Outline how scientific principles (Environmental systems, natural resources, etc.) relate to students’ SL project/organization
  • Compare and contrast varying philosophicapproaches to managing humans’impact on the environment
  • Outline how technology, population, competing values has and can impact the issue addressed by their SL project/org
  • Personal growth: students will
  • practice communicating about science and environmental issues through class discussion, written assignments, and poster session
  • identify and think critically about their own values on perspectives regarding sustainability
  • Civic Engagement:students will also describe various ways they as individuals can be involved to promote sustainability, including daily behaviors, consumer decisions, career decisions, and advocacy.
  1. What service will students provide to individuals, organizations, schools, or other entities in the community?

Students will perform service with community organizations (public and nonprofit) which strive to

1) promote sustainable human impact on the environment through

2) reduce the negative impact of humans on the environment

Methods can include conservation field work, research, education, advocacy, etc. For example, students may work with the Boise Watershed to educate the public on water use, USDA to reseed native plants, or Boise Park and Rec to survey greenbelt use.

  1. How does the service relate to the subject matter of the course?

The lecture course “explores 1) the various processes that contribute to the functioning of the environment as well as 2) the ways people interact with and impact it” (lecture syllabus, S. Mcilroy). The SL Lab focuses on the second part, but also includes discussion of the connection of scientific processes with humans. The Lab is an opportunity for students to think about how they themselves interact with and impact the environment. The readings and discussions help student find ways their impact can be positive.

  1. What reflection methods will you use to help students make a deliberate connection between academic content and the serviceexperience (assignments, journals, discussions, and other mechanisms detailed in syllabus)?
  2. Students will reflect through class discussion, written assignments (bi-weekly- when not meeting), and poster session. Poster session will include scientific principle, philosophical approach, and personal reflection.
  3. Students will meet every other week to reflect on the following (will include reading, prompts, and journal:
  4. Identify environmental issues that they care about, discuss range of local issues
  5. Scientific principles at work in their service site

-focus on their site (describe mission, issues, values, strategies)

-what natural resources and scientific principles are at work at their site

  1. Interpretation of science / science literacy impact on issues
  2. Role of populations and technology (David Bower, Erlich)
  3. Philosophical approaches (Leopold)
  4. Tragedy of the commons
  5. Human dimensions: Socio-political: Power and players
  6. Efficacy: social change wheel,
  1. How will you evaluate the learning derived from the service? Provide examples of evaluation criteria. Note: the evaluation or assessment should focus on learning, not just completed service hours.
    Student learning will be evaluated by:
  2. Discussion: attendance and participation points
  3. Writing: rubric for each assignment (to get 5 points, students must include these in each components in the journal): (DEAL)
  4. Describe experience (What happened? Where did it happen? Who was and was not involved? When did it happen?)
  5. Examine (the experience in light of the intended learning goals and objectives)
  6. Articulate learning ((a) What did I learn? (b) How did I learn it? (c) Why is it important? and (d) What will I do because of it?)
  7. Poster: application of scientific principle to issue/org, explanation of philosophical approach of org, and personal reflection (DEAL)
  1. What resources will you use (articles, links, course material, etc.) to help the students learn about the community issue?
  2. Readings and activities
  3. Orientation by agency
  4. Newspaper
  1. How does the SL experience foster civic responsibility?

The SL Lab guides students through the application of science to community issues, and focuses on individual and group efficacy in promoting sustainability.

  1. How will the service recipients (clients or community organization) be involved in the planning and evaluation of the service?

Instructor will contact each of the agencies by phone and email prior to the semester, will attend orientations with students (at least two agencies) and will check in with them monthly. At semester end instructor will invite them to meet at the mixer, as well as schedule and debrief.

Instructor will coordinate with lecture instructor to invite agency reps to class (and stay for SL Lab) to help facilitate reflection discussion.

  1. What course options will you allow to ensure that no student is required to participate in a service placement that creates a religious, political and/or moral conflict?

Student can propose their own SL site as long as the student can explain how it matches critercia described in #2 above.