To develop relationships between students and the
community, instructors were encouraged Wednesday
at a campus workshop to develop opportunities for
learning outside the classroom.
“Community-based learning comes back to re-looking
at the learner and how they learn,” said speaker
Helen Ruth Aspaas, associate professor of geography
and VCU’s service learning scholar.
The “Breaking out of the Classroom” workshop,
which took place at the James Branch Cabell Library’s
Center for Teaching Excellence Room, was attended by
more than 15 professors and community members.
The event’s aim was to give attendees a teaser of what
community-based learning is all about, Aspaas said.
Often, students think they can go to a soup kitchen
and fulfill a service-learning requirement, Aspaas said,
but service learning encompasses so much more.
Although many projects fall under the banner of
service learning, the workshop outlined a few commonalities.
Service learning must involve structure and
planning before students go into the community. The
students must partake in an activity that is appropriate
for the class.
“The content must arch back (to reinforce the
goals of the class),” said speaker Vanessa Diamond,
the service-learning director under the Division of
Community Development.
Service learning also must involve reflection,
Diamond said. It is important for students to think
about what kind of an impact they had during their
time spent in the community.
“(Service learning) can really cement into students’
minds what they are learning,” Aspaas said.
Service learning is not simply concerned with expanding
the knowledge of students, she said – instead,
everyone should learn from the positive outcomes that
come from service learning.
Aspaas said although it is important for servicelearning
projects to meet a need in the community,
they should not look down on the community or those
they might help.
“Every party in the partnership is learning,” said
Zachary Goodell, associate director for the Center for
Teaching Excellence.
There are many factors to consider when pairing
students with community partners, Aspaas said, but
it is important for teachers to be realistic about the
demands they are putting on students.
Time commitment, transportation and safety are
a few of the logistical problems the Service Learning
Program has dealt with in the past.
When setting up programs for her geography
classes, Aspaas said, she provides different options to
accommodate different lifestyles, giving students the
option of doing activities once a week or completing
a few longer, more intensive weekend sessions.
It is important that students see the value of what
they are doing, Diamond said.
“Students must see the benefits of their work and
time,” Diamond said.
This is why open reflection between the community,
faculty and students is so important, Goodell said.
“(This type of learning) definitely goes beyond the
book . something that should have been done a long
time ago,” Gooddell said.
Want a faculty member to add
a service-learning project to a
course?
Service-Learning Associates Program
Meets Feb. 5,12,19,26 and March 4, 18
From 3-4:30 p.m. in the Center for
Teaching Excellence Training Room
(Cabell Library Room 4441)
Pick up applications at:
James Branch Cabell Library
901 Park Ave., 4th Floor, Room 441
Richmond, VA 23284-2033
(804) 827-0838