Volunteering in English higher education has come under political scrutiny recently, with strong cross-party support for schemes to promote undergraduate volunteering in particular. Recent targeted initiatives and proposals have sought to strengthen both the role of volunteering in higher education and synergies between higher education and…

Victoria University, like many other educational institutions, has recently nominated workplace learning as an essential feature of all its courses. As a contribution to the framing of this shift in an educationally responsible way, this article explores the question: How can tertiary education organisations design on-campus work-based experience…

Training programmes frequently recruit students from undergraduate classes to serve as clients for counselors-in-training. Some of these clients receive external incentives for this participation, such as extra-credit or expectation of fulfilling a course requirement. It is unknown however whether or not this external incentive influences the…

Since its initiation in 2003, the College Student Western China Program has had several satisfying achievements. At the same time, however, problems exist in the project. This article gives a brief analysis of problems encountered in the project from the aspects of publicity and campaign work, plans and schedules, student participation, voluntary…

This paper is a documentary account of a project currently under investigation. The project engages pre-service teachers in a self-study about their participation in community based literacy activities with elementary school children and their families involved in after school programs. Participants in the study are members of a student volunteer…

In spring 2006, the Higher Education Council of Berks County (HECBC) conducted a study to measure the economic impact of the five colleges located in Berks County: Alvernia College, Albright College, Kutztown University, Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus (Penn State Berks) and Reading Area Community College (RACC). Although many higher…

Summarizes a new synthesis from the National Center on Effective Secondary Schools, which shows that high school youth service programs are far from common. Models for school-based programs include special events and cocurricular activities, school credit or requirement, laboratory for an existing course, community service classes, and service as…

For online mathematics instructors, synchronous communication can be a challenge due to the need for specialized symbols, graphics, or notations to explain key concepts. While software tools exist to support such communication, they can often be cumbersome and time-consuming for users to adopt in online exchanges. As one way of addressing this…

Waning interest in community service is spurring the Coalition for National Service and other groups to recommend various measures to encourage and finance voluntary national service for young people. This article discusses history, current definitions, and legislative initiatives concerned with national service. A sidebar provides a statement and…

Using panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), this study empirically analyzes the relationship between two forms of civic engagement--student government and community service--and educational progress made after the eighth grade by addressing the following questions. Does civic engagement affect academic progress…

This brief addresses how to engage and mobilize young people in order to prepare them for when disaster strikes. Perhaps more importantly, this brief seeks to do so in sustainable ways to avoid desensitizing youth to the effects of disaster, and prevent wavering attention. There are two ways to serve students--help them when disaster strikes their…

Describes a program in which students at Bishoo Ward High School work as volunteers in day care centers, elementary schools, nursing homes, and with refugee families in Kansas City, Kansas. (Author/GC)

Findings showed that students with little or no previous experience with exceptional children changed their attitudes in a positive direction as a result of doing volunteer work. Many students reported wanting to do more volunteer work in the future, and some continued volunteering their services. (RM)

Brisk political winds are now converging behind national proposals for youth service. As several examples show, combining classroom work with service/social action projects can help produce dramatic improvements in student attitudes, motivation, and achievement. Learning through service succeeds because youth become active, needed members of their…

This report shares findings from research that examined service learning, a teaching strategy that combines service to the community with classroom curriculum in K-12 schools. The research focused on how service learning was relevant to schools. The results show that many U.S. youth feel alienated from both their schoolwork and from traditional…