Assessment & Evaluation
Assessing service-learning involves
The process of examining the overall partnership and service experience for if the reality of the intended partnership and service outcomes were satisfactory for all parties involved (faculty, students, community partners). Related questions can include, “How well did the service roles with this organization allow the students to understand and practice or learn about their course material? And, did partnering with this course allow the organization to adequately address their needs/interests is the way intended? Why or why not? How can we improve on our partnership to be more mutually beneficial?
Evaluating service-learning involves
The process of examining how well the student(s) were able to incorporate their service experiences into the class room learning, and express through the variety of utilized reflective tools what each student learned and how each student met the overall course objectives. Reflective tools can be used to evaluate students at different points in the semester, and the overall final learning outcome.
Type of reflective tools can encompass "traditional" as well as more unique ways to determine how student experiences translate into the desired learning outcomes. The evaluation which becomes a letter "grade" can be determined from a culmination of such tools are journals, presentations, class discussions, research papers, role playing, video documentation, visual arts, etc. The write tools to use should be determined by what the will be most effective given the discipline and learning styles of your students. Students in courses that utilize service-learning should not be given grades for the simple completion of their service "hours" or "activities", but instead the grade should be given for their fulfillment of the learning objectives of the course. The more effectively the service and learning objectives are integrated, the easier it will be to evaluate student learning. Community partners should also participate in the evaluation process as one way to assess and evaluate if the service and learning objectives have been met based on the partners assessment of how well their service objectives were met.
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