Service-Based Learning Activity
Application: Service-Based Learning Activity
Service-based learning is where the academic learning from the classroom is combined with some meaningful service to an external organization or to the community. This concept has its roots in the National and Community Service Act of 1990. Such services are intended to make a contribution to the external organization in resolving an issue, answering a question, providing some analysis, or performing other tasks. Service-based learning may include a formal agreement with an external agency, and it may also include a broader context of service rendered to the community.
The National and Community Service Act of 1990 define service-based learning as follows:
A method under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that is conducted in and meets the needs of a community; is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community service program, and with the community; and helps foster civic responsibility; and that is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students, or the educational components of the community service program in which the participants are enrolled; and provides structured time for the students or participants to reflect on the service experience.
The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse defines service-based learning as “. . . a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” In explaining exactly what this means, the Clearinghouse notes:
Service learning combines service objectives with learning objectives with the intent that the activity changes both the recipient and the provider of the service. This is accomplished by combining service tasks with structured opportunities that link the task to self-reflection, self-discovery, and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and knowledge content.
In this course, we will explore the concept of service learning in the online environment. You will create an environmental health related educational presentation via slides. If your presentation meets the quality criteria for public information, you will be asked to share your creation on a public environmental health website called Environmental Public Health Today (see Course Info area for more instructions on how to post to the site). As part of the development process, your topic will need to be approved by the instructor, and you will identify some stakeholders which you believe would have an interest in the presentation. You will post your creation in class for discussion, and prepare a personal reflection. Instructions follow-please read them all carefully and ask questions if anything is unclear. There are four phases to this activity, which include Part 1: Topic Approval; Part II: submission of a Final Draft; Part III: Submission of the Final Product; Part IV: submission of a personal Reflection to the Week 12 Application submission link. Detailed instructions for each step follow:
Part I: Topic Approval Download the Topic Approval Form and the Service Learning Project Topic document. Choose one of the topics and list as many potential stakeholders as you can think of. These are organizations and entities that you feel would have a vested interest in the content of your project, and may even represent diverse views on the topic. Please try to include contact information if using a specific organization or entity (including their website, if possible). Your particular audience is drawn from this group of stakeholders but most likely will not include them all. Note that you will need to focus and define your audience in your final draft, because different stakeholders will have different needs and learning levels.
Fill out the Topic Approval Form and submit this to your instructor by day 7 of Week 3. Save the Topic Approval form as a “.doc” or “.rtf” file. Submit your form by Day 7 of Week 3. Note that you must receive approval from your instructor for your topic.
Part II: Final Draft
You may use existing tool kits that you can find to assist you in creating a presentation, but originality and creativity is required. Note that copying existing presentations is not allowed, and if it is discovered that significant portions were copied from another source, the penalty will be severe. Sources utilized must be referenced at the bottom of each slide in APA format and again in an APA formatted reference list at the end of the project. Careful attention to accuracy and scholarship is expected. As these projects may be shared with the public and potential stakeholders, it is essential that they are done carefully and with utmost adherence to scholarship and copyright laws. With this in mind, you are required to submit a final draft to your instructor for review in week 7, and your instructor may ask for any changes deemed necessary to improve the accuracy and quality. It is expected that all changes asked for by the instructor will be done prior to receiving approval for posting in Week 9 for grading, and possible posting to the website.
Develop an original, educational slide presentation using PowerPoint or other presentation software. While you have suggested some stakeholders in your topic approval stage, your presentation must be aimed at educating a particular audience, which you will identify in the notes for the title slide. This may be one or more of the stakeholders you identified, and keep in mind that some types of audience may have very different needs than others depending on their level of understanding and expected use of the topic. Important: It is required that you include in the slide note area under each slide your written out transcript of exactly what you would say if you were presenting this. If you wish, you may add audio clips of you presenting each slide. However, audio files may make your project very large, leading to difficulty posting.
Your presentation must make clear who the audience is and the purpose of the presentation in the notes under either the title slide or the agenda slide. You must include expected learning outcomes at the beginning, references in APA format must be on each slide where appropriate, there must be a complete reference list in APA at the end, and after your reference list, you must include a separate list of sources for further reading at the end.
Tips: Use an attractive template. There are many to choose from, and you can try them out to see which one looks best. You may use live links in your presentation-there may be occasions where an item or phrase could be linked to a scholarly site for further reading. Don’t over clutter with clip art-use sparingly. Photos and other images can make a good impression-be careful to observe copyright laws. Keep your font color and style consistent-don’t change from slide to slide. Use correct writing and spelling in the notes area, but your tone in the notes should be just as you would present it aloud. Think of it as a transcript and practice saying it out loud to see how it flows. The notes should flesh out what is on the slides-the general rule is just key points on slides, with full ideas put in the “talking” portion. You may wish to revisit some key learning goals for the audience at the end of the presentation to sum up what you covered. Put the full APA reference in small font at the bottom of each slide where a citation is used. If there is only one source on a slide, you may skip the citations and just use the reference. Remember, aim your content appropriately for the intended audience. A youth audience differs greatly from a workforce audience, for example, so you cannot realistically aim the same presentation at both, even though the topic may appeal to both. The sources for further reading is meant to help the reader who wishes to know more, and this may include websites, books, research articles, review articles, etc. Make sure it is separate from your reference list. The length of this presentation is not specified because each project is unique and may have different needs. You are expected to approach this project as you would tackle such a task in the workplace. Your project needs to be as long as it takes to fulfill your stated learning objectives and convey a reasonable amount of information without being so long that it is boring, or so sparse that it leaves them confused. It should motivate them to want to learn more, and it should reflect well on you as a scholar and public health professional. Ask your instructor if you need advice on length. Since your goal for this project is to have it approved to go up on a public website as a service to the community, you should prepare this project with the highest regard for quality. Keep in mind that as it becomes public information, the public will be free to utilize your project once it is posted, and accuracy is crucial. The approval to post to the Website is up to your instructor, who will assure stringent criteria are met before allowing a project to become public information. The Environmental Public Health Today website administrators also reserve the right not to allow postings to their site that do not meet their standards.
Your final draft is not a rough draft. It must be in as final a version as you can make it. The purpose of the final draft is to allow your instructor the opportunity to point out errors and other problems that would reflect poorly on you and on Walden University. Please treat this very much as a final due date, and include the complete slide set in the form you would want it to appear on the website. The last two weeks before the final due date are allotted for you to fine tune and fix any problems noted by your instructor. They are not meant to be used for basic construction. Drafts which do not fulfill expectations of completeness will not receive full credit. You are strongly encouraged to share your draft with your peers using doc sharing, and seek input from each other prior to the due date.
Again, it is important you include in the slide note area under each slide your written out transcript of exactly what you would say if you were presenting this. If you wish, you may add audio clips of you presenting each slide. However, audio files may make your project very large, leading to difficulty posting.
Some technical tips to keep in mind: It is recommended that you save your PowerPoint project in compatibility mode 2003 (.ppt), so that those who do not have Office 2007, which uses .pptx, can still view it. If you have your computer set to open PowerPoint files with the PowerPoint viewer rather than your Microsoft Office PowerPoint program, you will not be able to see the slide notes when you look at yours or other presentations posted on the Web site. You can change the default program setting in your computer to remedy that. Use colors that are visible and easy on the eyes. Try out different templates for your slides to see how your presentation looks in each. You may be surprised at what a difference the template makes.
Part III: Final Product
Make any changes required by your instructor; return it for review if your instructor has required it. Upon approval, submit the finished product to the Week 9 submission link for grading. Note that you will be required to share your final product on the week 12 discussion board for your peers to review and discuss. You may post it there anytime after it is graded, and it must be there prior to day 1 of Week 12.
Again, it is important you include in the slide note area under each slide your written out transcript of exactly what you would say if you were presenting this. If you wish, you may add audio clips of you presenting each slide. However, audio files may make your project very large, leading to difficulty posting.
Posting to the Environmental Public Health Today website is a privilege, but one that we hope most students will strive for. If your instructor approves it for public viewing, post to the Environmental Health Today website (see instructions in Course Info area). You may receive comments from the public. All students are strongly encouraged to go on the website and review and post comments to any projects that are posted. Feedback and questions are generally well appreciated.
See the Service Learning Project Grading Rubric for grading criteria.
For approval to post to the Environmental Public Health Today website, your Final Draft Project must include the following:
a. A Topic Approval must be on record with a grade of Satisfactory.
b. The Final Draft must have received a grade of at least 7/8 points. Quality is essential for public documents, and the instructor makes the final decision for whether any project is approved to post to the website, regardless of the grade. Posting to the website is a privilege and is not linked to the grade for the assignment.
c. The presentation contains a clear title slide. Your name and the University name must be present. Use the provided Title Page Template found in the Course Info area.
e. Sources utilized must be clearly credited on the slides and again at the end of the presentation. The presentation must contain a section with additional sources for further reading on the topic.
f. Your presentation must clearly demonstrate depth, graduate level scholarship, originality, clarity, and effort to create positive social change in an environmental health area. Your presentation must be free of grammatical, spelling, and other writing errors and reflect the appropriate tone and depth for the intended audience.
Part IV: Reflection Paper
A reflection paper on completing this project must be submitted to the Week 12 Application submission link by day 6 of Week 12. If you have received feedback from peers or the public, be sure to include it in this reflection along with feedback from your instructor. It is strongly encouraged to visit the Environmental Public Health Today website and post comments to projects. Also, consider inviting friends, family, colleagues, etc. to visit the Web site and post comments.
Posting Timeline recap: Your Topic Approval is due to the Week 3 Application on day 7 of week 3. Your Final Draft is due to the Week 7 Application submission link by day 7 of Week 7. Your Final Product is due to the Week 9 Application submission link by day 7 of Week 9. In addition, you must submit your Final Product to the Week 12 Discussion Board by day 1 of Week 12. Only if approved by your instructor, submit your Final Product to the Environmental Public Health Today website prior to Week 12, preferably in Week 10 so that you have time to receive feedback before the Reflection is due on day 6 of Week 12. See website posting instructions in Course Info area. Let your instructor know if you have any trouble posting to the website.
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT 🙂