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USE SERVICE LEARNING TO ADD REAL-WORLD WRITING
EXPERIENCE TO YOUR COURSE
by Kathy Mennen
Washtenaw Community College
Ann Arbor, Michigan
WHAT IS SERVICE LEARNING?
Service leaning is both pedagogy and a philosophy; the central idea is to provide students with a setting
for meaningful learning through a specific, curriculum-based community service activity. It is a “win–
EXAMPLE PROJECT: GRANT RESEARCH AND WRITING ASSISTANCE
In my Advanced Report Writing class at Baker College of Muskegon, Michigan, we worked with the
local chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. One particularly successful project was doing grant research
Once they had identified grant possibilities, students had the opportunity to write a grant request. The
fund development officer, a seasoned grant writer, provided training. She also provided a “boilerplate”
document that contained basic information about the agency and the particular program. The students
then tailored the information to the grant application requirements. Big Brothers/Big Sisters received a
draft, which they finalized at the agency.
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HOW TO INCORPORATE SERVICE LEARNING INTO YOUR COURSE
• Brainstorm ideas for service learning projects you might develop that meet course objectives.
• Identify a community agency that might need such a service or contact the local United Way to
get assistance on identifying such an agency.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. Work directly with the agency decision makers to
• Stay focused. Focus your efforts on one agency and develop a relationship with them. Even if you
“run out of things to do” for that agency, your good name will go a long way to getting referrals
to other agencies in need.
• Start out small. Do not start out with a huge, term-long project. Even a small, 1-day or 1-week
project has a lot of “kinks” that need to be worked out as you go along!
REFERENCES
Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (1999). Reflection in service-learning: Making meaning of experience.
Educational Horizons, 77(4), 179-185.
Cooper, D. D. (1998). Reading, writing, and reflection. In R. A. Rhoades & J. Howard (Eds.), Academic
service learning: A pedagogy of action and reflection (pp. 47-56). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Eyler, J. S., & Giles, D. E., Jr. (1999). Where’s the learning in service-learning? San Francisco: Jossey-