Service Learning Report
See Calendar for due dates
Expectations
In order to have experience with the things you are learning in this course, you are being asked to volunteer 5 hours in a diverse setting throughout the semester. This means you should choose a school, child care, church, hospital, or other place where you can help with people who have diverse backgrounds. Diversity includes varying ethnicity, values, ability, and language. Pick a facility or agency in your area and request permission to volunteer. When you go, be professional and respectful. Be willing to do whatever supports the programs you will be working at.
At mid-term and at the end of the course you will submit a 600-700 word paper reflecting on your experience.
The paper should include the following:
- A description of your setting and the tasks you have been asked to fulfill.
- What you have specifically done.
- What differences you have observed that impact effective communication or learning (positively or negatively).
- How individuals in your setting could respond to and understand each other better.
Your volunteer setting can be used to apply concepts learned in class for your application assignment, but make sure it is in harmony with your volunteer purpose.
Note about volunteering hours
You are encouraged to spread your volunteer hours throughout the entire semester in order to have the perspective of all the things you are learning in the course. You should complete at least two of your service hours before you submit your first report. However, if you complete your hours before the deadline you can submit your "final" paper at midterm.
Doing so will excuse you from submitting a second paper at the end of the course. However, it will also only give you one opportunity to report on your experience. You will not be able to improve your grade by incorporating your instructor's feedback into the second paper. Additionally, a final write-up submitted at midterm will also be expected to exhibit deeper reflection, and greater insight than students are expected to have at midterm. There is no penalty for volunteering more than 5 hours for this project.