Suchergebnisse

Presents several activities from a political science course, Human Rights/Human Wrongs, to demonstrate the value of a service-learning course that blends academic rigor with service & blends community-based experience into the political science classroom. Service learning challenges students to leave their comfort zones to accomplish hands-on work with people within the community. Students were required to apply theoretical knowledge to political asylum cases in the York County Prison, INS detention facility. Cases from Haiti, Nigeria, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Togo, & Liberia were studied with the assistance of the Coalition for Immigrants Rights at the Community Level. A successful program can help students to revisit their prejudices & stereotypes. To successfully carry out such a program, a strong working relationship between the faculty member & the community partner must be developed. 8 References. L. A. Hoffman

Service-learning is an approach to experiential education where students apply knowledge & skills that they learn in the classroom by providing needed service to the larger community in which they live. One goal of service-learning programs is to develop citizens who are engaged & involved in the political process. This paper examines the effects that service-learning programs have on students' political participation. The data we use come from the Civic Education & Political Participation Survey gathered by the Indiana Department of Education. This pre/post survey includes students from the 5th through the 12th grades from five states. The survey allows us to examine the change in political participation for students involved in service-learning programs. Using a political socialization perspective on participation & education theory that draws from Dewey, Piaget, & Kolb, we use an expansive definition of political participation that includes much more than the simple act of voting. Specifically, we examine whether students, through their involvement in service learning, (1) engage in political communication, (2) will participate in acts of civic support, (3) will contact public officials, & (4) will vote. We find that service-learning does appear to make students more likely to participate in the future. The effects of service-learning are even greater when students had leadership in the project. 2 Tables, 7 Figures, 50 References. Adapted from the source document.