Structuring the Reflection Process

Connecting Service and Other Coursework

One of the goals of reflection is to connect the reflection to coursework.

The intended learning outcomes for service activities and the associated reflection activities must reflect and reinforce established course goals.

Frequent reflection may be necessary to create strong linkages between the service activities and coursework.

Accordingly, faculty should consider the use of certain forms of reflection (e.g. journals, portfolios, logs) in addition to end of semester reports or presentations.

Faculty may also have to provide adequate structure to help students connect the service experience and other coursework.

Large group discussions of service activities that involve the whole class can also help in better integration of service and other coursework.

Faculty may need to provide frequent feedback to facilitate reflection and to help students connect their service activities and other coursework.

Grading methods must be consistent with reflection. If frequent reflection is required then the time and effort spent on reflection activities versus time spent on other course activities must be weighed in deciding on grading methods. Further, service activities and reflection emphasize higher order problem-solving skills. Students may not see service-learning as well integrated if their other exams are objective tests of factual knowledge and do not address the types of learning objectives addressed through service-learning.

Context factors related to students, course, and service characteristics must be considered in making these decisions. A few examples were presented above to illustrate how these factors affect the ability to connect service and other coursework through reflection. Faculty should also consider other factors discussed in the previous section. While frequent reflection and feedback may be desirable, the frequency of reflection and feedback may be limited by factors such as class size and the overall weight assigned to service-learning in grading. Also as noted previously, the extent and nature of large group discussions of service activities is dependent on the nature of service activities. If different teams are involved in complex service projects that require considerable technical knowledge with a variety of organizations, instructors may have to discuss service activities individually with each team. Creating opportunities for involving the entire class in such discussions is challenging since other students may not have enough information to engage an in-depth discussion of a particular team's service activity.