For many service-learning efforts, the biggest obstacle to assessing student impact is that they have never established what impact they intend to have. Articulating goals from the outset is a simple, but vital, step. Azusa Pacific University in Ontario, California, asks students to articulate their goals for the semester in a learning contract. This helps to set uniform expectations for service while lending professional credibility to the service experience. The stated goals form the basis for reflection later in the course and can be used by faculty to assess student learning and by community supervisors to assess student service.
From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy
Contact: Judy Hutchinson, director of service learning, at 626.815.6000 Ext. 3780, Fax : 626.815.3801
E-mail: jhutchison {at} apu(.)edu
