Service Learning Tools & Assessment

• Research service-learning: look at examples, talk to other instructors who have led service-learning courses, look at formats.
• Identify your community partner/organization: determine what type of organization you would like to work with, and how that connects to your goals for the course.
• Review the planning process: access staff support in order to see what steps need to be taken to designate your course as service-learning.

• Set goals and design assignments: determine what you are hoping to accomplish, and the steps that will need to be taken to achieve those goals. Create assignments that reflect those goals. For suggestions, review the section below on Assessing Service Learning. 
• Work with your community partner: work with your chosen organization to plan out how and when service-learning will be integrated into the course.
• Integrate effective practices: look at incorporating reflection; determine methods of assessment (rubrics, portfolios, etc.). 

• Get your course approved as service-learning, and make certain it shows up as such in the course catalog.
• Plan your explanation: determine ahead of time how you will introduce the service-learning aspect of the course to your students, and how you will explain the corresponding assignments and critical analysis/reflection.
• Plan for safety: think about risk management, and how to best protect your students. If you have questions, please reach out to us at cce@sonoma.edu
• Plan the details: look at transportation (if required), what hours will work for both your students and the organization, and how much time completion of the service-learning project will take.

Service learning is not simply credit for service or time; rather, it is an integral component of an academic course that awards credit for learning. Additionally, service learning is grounded in reciprocal partnerships between the University and the Community. Assessment is key to measuring academic learning, civic learning, and whether community interest is addressed.

Assessment also:

• Provides information to faculty, demonstrating the impact of a service experience on students' academic development, civic engagement, personal growth, and overall understanding of community issues. Faculty can evaluate whether students are acquiring valuable knowledge, honing critical thinking skills, and applying classroom concepts to real-world scenarios by assessing their reflections, projects, and presentations related to their service experience. Analyzing feedback from students helps identify opportunities to improve the service learning program, such as refining the curriculum, better aligning service activities with learning objectives, or strengthening community partnerships.
• Encourages students to engage in deep reflection about their service experiences, connecting their observations to course content and broader societal issues. Critical reflection on service may be a new experience for many students. For most, it requires intentional focus on the reflection process before they begin to think deeply about their actions. Reflection is often not a regular part of community work. While many students may not find the service itself or sharing personal experiences particularly challenging, some may resist engaging with the critical thinking aspects of academic service learning, making this an excellent opportunity to help students work on building these skills.

You can learn more about assessment, and the tools to support it, below. We also recommedn the following video for an overview of reflection in service learning.

Critical analysis—also called reflection or "processing"—involves thinking about a service experience to connect it with course material. While this process can be done individually, it’s valuable to share perceptions with others who may have interpreted the experience differently or made different connections. Learning happens not just through doing or thinking, but by discussing and reflecting on what we do.

Critical analysis is not only a way to integrate service with course content, but also a means to challenge or reinforce the conclusions drawn from experience. Service-learning often prompts students to question their assumptions or philosophies, and hearing diverse perspectives can deepen their understanding. In an open forum, students can place their individual experiences within a broader context. Without critical reflection, service may unintentionally reinforce inaccurate stereotypes or cause more harm than good.

Effective critical analysis extends beyond simply applying classroom concepts—it fosters good citizenship. SSU's mission emphasizes preparing students to be active, engaged citizens and leaders who contribute to the well-being of society. Critical analysis helps students connect their current experiences to broader issues of civic involvement and social action.

Adapted from Eby, John W. "Why Service-Learning is Bad," 1998, available in the CCE Resource Library.

Thinking critically about service may be new for students. For many students, it takes explicit attention to the reflection process before they become thoughtful about what they do, and reflection is not routinely built into most community work.² Many students are not challenged by sharing their personal experiences with service or by doing the service itself. However, some may be resistant to addressing the critical thinking goals of academic service-learning. Students may write the "transformational essay," thinking that it is what the faculty want and expect to hear. This can be a bigger challenge to grade, as service-learning is a transformational process. If you are getting the "it changed my life" essay without evidence, it is possible that the student did not fully connect their service to the course goals, and you may want to clarify the purpose of service-learning and critical analysis with them.

Additionally, some students may have an expectation of being thanked or rewarded for their service. As they do not expect to be thanked for completing the other course assignments, this may mean that students are continuing to think of their service-learning as volunteerism or community service and do not see the community partner as an educator. This may be a good time to do the thank you note activity.

There are many other activities you can borrow or adapt for your service-learning class's critical analysis.

• The Practitioner's Guide to Reflection in Service-Learning: Student Voices and Reflections includes dozens of critical analysis activities broken down into student learning styles (reading, writing, doing, telling) and course learning goals. Copies are available for SSU faculty in the CCE. Please contact cce@sonoma.edu to request a copy.
• Facilitating Reflection Manual  from the University of Vermont
• Service-Learning: Using Structured Reflection to Enhance Learning from Service  from Campus Compact
• Chart for planning timing and location of critical analysis activities
• Thank you note activity
• What? So What? Now What?
• Focus on Self; Focus on Service; Focus on Experience
• “Why do Service-Learning?”  is a handout for students in your service-learning course(s).
• Rights and Responsibilities is a handout for students in your service-learning course(s).
• Guidelines for SSU Service Projects is a handout for students in your service-learning course(s).
• Have a class discussion or written analysis of a poem. Here is a discussion guide from the Center for Civic Reflection  for Etheridge Knight's "A Wasp Woman Visits a Black Junkie in Prison."
• Critique service and explore the distinctions and overlap between charity and social justice work. Here's a one-page essay to get you started or contact cce@sonoma.edu for more ideas.
• Help students prepare for service-learning with selections from this video series from Boise State
• Inspirational reading about service
• CCE staff are available for in-class introductions to service-learning for students. This presentation includes a knowledge survey to help students map their understanding of service-learning, a guided meditation providing a faculty member's perspective on using service-learning pedagogy, defining service-learning, and a safety and behavior discussion. Please contact cce@sonoma.edu to request a class visit.

¹Eyler, J., & Giles, D. E. (1999). Where's the learning in service-learning?​ San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

²Moore, D.T. "Discovering the Pedagogy of Experience​." Harvard Educational Review, 1981, 51(2), 286-300. in Eyler, J., & Giles, D. E. (1999).

³Where's the learning in service-learning?​ San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.