Project Purpose and Summary:  Service learning gives you the opportunity to provide a needed service in the community and to integrate these experiences with what you learn in the classroom. Specifically, I would like to help develop your desire for service to others and develop your self-insights and understanding of people; service learning is an excellent means for accomplishing these goals. This project requires you to serve at least 10 hours at a local agency/location, write regular journals, write a paper that reflects on your learning, and give a brief presentation to the class.

Site Selection & Expectations:  Consider what type of person/population or type of agency you would like to work with this semester.  Here are some examples: infants, young children, teens, adults, elderly; agencies that help people in poverty, broken or abusive home situations, drug- or alcohol-related addictions, learning problems, immigration, language barriers.  E-mail your top three preferences to me by January 23; Mrs Hengtes (Dordt's Service Learning Coordinator) and I will try to give you one of your top two choices. 

You should spend a minimum of 10 hours of service at your assigned agency/location over at least three visits; you are strongly encouraged to provide more hours. Some notes on this:

• Your hours should be spread over the semester (between February 1 and April 20), ideally serving approximately one to two hours per week; you must visit your agency at least three separate times.

• You do not receive credit for the service hours themselves but for your written reflections and insights as they connect to our course.

• You will need to arrange your own transportation to your assigned agency/location; time spent commuting to/from the agency does not count toward your service hours.

• If you already work or volunteer at a local social services agency, please let me know; you may not count paid hours toward service hours. 

Logging Service Hours & Writing Journals:  

To help keep you accountable, please track your hours and get a signature from your site supervisor after each visit to the agency; these signed logs should be submitted with each journal entry. 

Write a journal entry (about 2 double-spaced, typed pages) after each visit; these will be collected twice during the semester: March 6 & April 10; you should have at least 3 hours served by each date (in other words, don't bunch up all your service time). You may choose to have 10 hours done by April 10 or continue your service until April 24, when you can submit your final journals with your reflection paper. The following questions can guide your reflections:

• Describe your activities/responsibilities and the people with whom you worked (no identifying details, please).

• What specific aspects of your service did you enjoy on this visit? What specific aspects seemed challenging, boring, or unenjoyable?

• In what ways, if any, do you think your service had an impact on the people being served or the agency more generally?

• In what ways were your previous beliefs about this type of agency or population been confirmed or challenged?

• In what ways were your self-perceptions confirmed or challenged?

• How could things be improved at the agency?

• What connections do you see with our course material?

Journal entries will be graded based on your depth of insight into the agency/population and yourself.  Each set of collected journals is worth 15 points.

Reflection Paper (due April 24):  After completing your service hours, write a 4-5 page paper (APA-style) that reflects on your entire service experience. Re-read your journal entries and reflect on the following points as you write your reflection paper. 

• Describe some background on your assigned agency/location (e.g., mission, history, size, primary population served).

• Describe the needs of the population served by that agency (for example, rehabilitation, social interaction, physical care) and how the agency tries to meet those needs.

• Summarize how many hours you served and your primary tasks at the agency.

• Based on your experiences, suggest 2 or 3 specific strategies that would enhance the agency’s service to its target population.

• Evaluate how this experience influenced you personally and developed your self-insight and understanding of this population

  • For example: self-confidence, desire to serve, beliefs about this population, education/career motivation, etc.

  • Make explicit connections to our course (for example, biblical and psychological views of the person, career options, importance of communication skills, ethical standards).

• Attach an APA-style title page

• Attach your journal entries and signed log of hours

This paper will be evaluated based on the depth of content/insight and writing ability as shown in the rubric below; it is worth 70 points. 

Class Presentation:  During the last week of the semester, you will give a brief class presentation on your service experience. This presentation should include a description of the agency/organization, what activities/service you provided and the skills required, some highlights of your experience, and what you learned about yourself and psychology. The presentation should be approximately 5-10 minutes long, should engage the class through examples and stories, and allow time for questions at the end.  Presentations are worth 15 points based on the rubric below: