Combines Community Service Research Articles

Critical Thinking in Students' Service-Learning Experiences

Service learning combines community service with academic learning. Students learn and develop critical thinking through active participation in organized service experiences. The purpose of this study was to describe the growth of 94 nursing students' critical thinking through service-learning experiences. Results revealed two major themes: development of both professional and community perspectives. Outcomes of the study provide a framework for developing service-learning experiences across the curriculum.

Family volunteering: Making a difference together

This paper discusses the implementation and evaluation of a family volunteering program. This initiative uses a broad definition of family working together to enrich the lives of others, strengthen family ties, and improve the quality of community life. Two families participated by volunteering together at a seniors’ centre. Summative evaluation of the pilot, and interviews conducted one year later, suggests that the participants experienced beneficial effects. Their experiences were described as enjoyable, meaningful, and integrative; as well, it inspired motivation to incorporate volunteering into the lives of others. This pilot confirms family volunteering successfully combines community service and leisure into a gratifying and worthwhile activity for participants of all ages, extending the customary boundaries of the concept of family recreation.

Book Review: Promoting Community Renewal through Civic Literacy and Service Learning

This is an optimistic, and useful, book written at a pessimistic time. In an era when the nation faces many social problems - including alienation from the government and work, the fragmentation of the family, and an expanding materialism - this book promoting civic literacy approaches to service learning and seeks to help educators in their efforts to redefine the role of civics in contemporary society. The civic literacy approach to service learning is defined as pedagogy that combines community service and academic instruction and that focuses on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsiblity. The editors challenge community colleges to act as catalysts for a national movement of community renewal, suggesting that they may be our best hope for finding ways to solve our social problems.

Book Review: Promoting Community Renewal through Civic Literacy and Service Learning

This is an optimistic, and useful, book written at a pessimistic time. In an era when the nation faces many social problems - including alienation from the government and work, the fragmentation of the family, and an expanding materialism - this book promoting civic literacy approaches to service learning and seeks to help educators in their efforts to redefine the role of civics in contemporary society. The civic literacy approach to service learning is defined as pedagogy that combines community service and academic instruction and that focuses on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsiblity. The editors challenge community colleges to act as catalysts for a national movement of community renewal, suggesting that they may be our best hope for finding ways to solve our social problems.