Experiential Learning

This special journal issue is devoted to an exploration of the intersection of service-learning and anthropology. We are interested in the contributions that the field of anthropology can make to community service learning (CSL) and we are interested in how service-learning can and does inform anthropological practice. The assembled papers, 8 case studies and a commentary, illustrate that both anthropology and CSL are enhanced when incorporating the sensibilities of the other. Yet, despite strong affinities with CSL, anthropology as a profession has been surprisingly slow, if not reluctant, to explore this approach. We point out the common ground shared by anthropology and CSL and explore some ironies associated with the apparent invisibility of CSL within anthropology.

Service learning is one response to these calls to foster social responsibility, cultivate engaged citizens, and further democracy.

Service-learning represents a method of learning in which students learn through volunteering, while at the same time being asked to reflect on their experiences and tie together experience with classroom-based material, thereby developing their learning
through service activities. This paper explores the role and value of service learning in Urban Studies and is based on a review of student reflective journals written following a service-learning experience in which undergraduate students were given the opportunity to volunteer outside the classroom as part of their coursework in an introductory Urban Studies course at the University of Toronto. Evaluating student
learning through service learning-based reflection enables further understanding of how students learn through exploration of the urban realm.

While much research has been done on experiential learning opportunities in study abroad settings, there are fewer publications devoted to experiential learning in the domestic context. This volume aims to fill that gap by providing a collection of chapters highlighting research-based innovations in experiential learning in domestic settings. The book focuses on three experiential learning contexts: community engagement experiences, professional engagement experiences and other unique experiential contexts such as language camps and houses. The collection focuses on the US context but the research projects and curricular innovations described here can serve as models for educators working in other local contexts and will encourage interested practitioners to explore experiential learning opportunities in their local areas. It will also provide the reader with a better understanding of this growing field of inquiry and should appeal to graduate students and researchers who are interested in experiential language learning.

Service‐learning integrates community service into a credit‐earning course to enrich the learning experience and pair practice with theory in some content area. Linguistics courses offer tremendous potential for service‐learning because there are a variety of ways in which language‐related theory can be put into practice. This paper outlines the development of a service‐learning curriculum for linguistics courses. While examples come from a project where students tutored adult second language learners of English, the activities in this paper extend well to other linguistics courses. Reflection is essential to service‐learning, so necessary background and examples of it as a structured learning tool appear here. A second assessment tool, an anonymous online survey taken before and after tutoring, was used to explore any impact on language and diversity attitudes. More generally, service‐learning has the potential to positively affect career development, to generate a sense of civic engagement, to facilitate greater understanding of other cultures and races and to make a difference in local communities.

In the process of experiential learning, students acquire skills and values as the consequence of a direct experience. Experiential learning draws on senses, emotions, and cognition and appeals to learners' entire being. Such learning, by nature, enables the development of a variety of capabilities, such as planning, teamwork, coping with stressful situations, responsibility, and leadership. Experiential learning has many different definitions; it is referred to here as a
"sequence of events that include one or more specific study objects requiring active involvement of learners in various stages of the process" (Walter & Marks, 1981, p. 1). This definition perceives the process of experiential learning as an active practice in which learners leave the conventional situation of mediated learning in favor of unmediated learning through practice. Experiential
learning is based mainly on the behavioral-cognitive approach, which contends that change on the cognitive level might occur amidst an experience and project onto behavioral and emotional aspects as well. In the current article, an academic project, Mathematical Debate, which is an integrative part of the strategy and process of experiential learning is presented. The strategy of
experiential learning is part of the perception of planning courses guided by a learning-focused approach, which emphasizes the formulation of learning outcomes. Planning a course in a learning-focused approach helps create dialogue between the academic faculty and students and leads to compatibility between the learning outcomes (course goals) and the teaching methods and
goals of evaluation.

The purpose of this article is to present the need for paradigmatic change and the transition from planning a content-focused course to planning a course that is focused on learning and on the experience of learning. This article shall present a case study of a course in the "backward design" method, which is compatible with the learning-focused paradigm. The challenges posed
by this method will be discussed as well.

This paper describes how an occupational therapy program used service-learning to integrate the learning objectives for mental health and research curriculum content. The service-learning program assisted participants diagnosed with mental illness to achieve success in higher education and/or related goals and served as a clinical program within a research curriculum for entry-level graduate occupational therapy students. The occupational therapy students served as mentors for the participants. The purpose of the program for the occupational therapy students was to teach research skills, clinical skills, and increase comfort in working with the mental health population. Seventy-eight occupational therapy students participated in the program over four academic years. A case example of a student/participant mentoring relationship is provided. Results indicated that the occupational therapy students gained comfort with the population and competence in their clinical and research skills.

Incorporating service learning (SL) components can be a very powerful way to engage students, add relevance, and develop community-building skills. SL experiences can play important roles in neuroscience classes, although the roles can be different depending on the needs of the classes. In this paper, we will present two models of incorporating service learning into neuroscience courses. The first model gives an example of using SL in a non-majors course, and the second model gives an example of using SL in a neuroscience class for neuroscience concentrators. After describing the two sets of experiences, we summarize the positive aspects and the challenges involved in creating SL components in neuroscience courses, develop some keys to success, and then provide a list of additional resources.