Sunday, August 5, 2007: 9:00 AM-11:45 AM
N, San Jose McEnery Convention Center
WK 12 - Academic service learning in ecology
Academic Service Learning in Ecology is designed to help faculty design and carry-out an academic service learning project at their home institutions. In Academic Service Learning, students integrate their classroom/laboratory experiences with community service related to the environment. Few ecosystems on earth are not impacted by human activity. Providing an opportunity for students to integrate abstract ecological concepts into a project benefiting the community helps to answer the question “Why do we do science?”, scaffolding student coursework with community action. Faculty often find the integration of service learning into traditional science courses to be a challenge. In this workshop, we will define Academic Service Learning, emphasizing the distinctions between Academic Service Learning and volunteerism. We will provide guidelines and assistance to faculty for planning and implementing a course-related service learning project, emphasizing the application of skills and knowledge gained through the traditional coursework to the service experience. Guidance for finding and building community partnerships will be discussed, providing a foundation for future partnerships and projects. Techniques for fostering reflection and the intellectual integration of the classroom and service experiences by the students will be included. The workshop will also provide time for questions and discussion between participants. Both instructors are experienced in the application and coordination of service learning in ecology at their home institutions.
Organizer:	Janet Macfall, Elon University
Co-organizer:	Karolyn Braun, American Samoa Community College

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See more of The ESA/SER Joint Meeting (August 5 -- August 10, 2007)