Course Design and Tools

To qualify as a service-learning class, a course should include these components:

• addresses an identified community (campus, local, regional, global) need
• service-learning supports the attainment of one or more course objectives
• demonstrates a clear connection between the service activity and the course content
• involves reciprocity between course and community that has the potential to result in students' increased civic awareness and engagement
• involves structured student reflection on the service experience and its relation to course goals
• involves collaboration with an appropriate community partner

When designing a service-learning class, faculty should consider these questions:

• How will my community partner be involved in project planning, implementation and evaluation?
• What kinds of reflection strategies will I use?
• How will I evaluate student learning?

If you are LSU faculty teaching a service-learning class, you must designate your class as service-learning through CCELL. Please contact us at [email protected] if you need more information or would like assistance with developing your service-learning class. 

Resources for Course Design

• Reciprocity with community partners is essential to service-learning courses. We compiled a short list of tips for creating strong community partnerships to help you.
• Research on service-learning demonstrates including central elements is best practice. We provided an overview of best practice principles to guide you.
• Periodic evaluation is excellent for service-learning faculty, partners, and students. We organized information on evaluation strategies that may be useful.