37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cutting edge research on active learning pedagogy!, April 22, 2000
This review is from: Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? (Hardcover)
For years, many educational researchers and practitioners have been looking for research that helps us understand how the engagement of students in service-learning activities - community service activities that are integrated with academic learning - affects students' learning. Based on the findings from two large service-learning research studies, the book presents a comprehensive discussion of the dimensions of "learning" and then provides a thorough analysis of how service-learning affects the development of each dimension. This well-written and thought-provoking book provides important answers to the most asked question in the field of service-learning: Where's the learning in service-learning? This book is certainly one of the best books in the field of experiential education. I highly recommend it for any interested in understanding how active learning pedagogies, such as service-learning, affect students' learning. Although the book focuses on students in higher education, the findings from Eyler and Giles's research have implications for understanding how service-learning affects K-12 students.
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18 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
if you are a true believer, you'll love this book, March 25, 2003
This review is from: Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? (Hardcover)
Service learning is often a very productive exercise. Students can learn a lot in the community, and link it to readings and lectures in powerful ways.
However.
This book does not offer an objective analysis of service learning. It is written by proponents, for promotional purposes. If you want critical thinking, analysis and--above all--realistic treatment of potential problems, look elsewhere.
The major issues:
There are literally hundreds of student quotes sprinkled liberally throughout this book; none are critical of service-learning in general, or of their own placements and experiences. As a teacher who has had students participate in such projects for the last ten years, I can assure you that the authors simply chose to not include some negative student reviews. This stuff is hard to do well, and when it does not go well, students don't like it at all.
The authors repeatedly criticize "traditional" instruction methods, and then cite studies supporting their views. When you look up the citations, you find that those authors are also true believers in service learning. It's a charmed circle of friendly reviewers and proponents. No critical voices are treated seriously.
Perhaps the most seriously for those of you thinking of implementing service learning in your classes, this book offers no analysis of which types of courses work best with service learning, and which do not. The authors repeatedly use the "soup kitchen" and "homeless shelter" examples, as though those placements would be of use to a course on Greek history or Organic Chemistry. One striking sentence in this context is the following: "Finding service that roughly matches course content is fairly straightforward." As an instructor with much experience in this field, I can tell you that this is just not accurate. Further, this brief sentence is the beginning and the end of their discussion of finding good placements.
If you are going to send students off on some project in the community, and try to link it to a class you are teaching, wouldn't you want to know of potential problems and whence they might come? This book offers nothing of the kind. It's cheerleading.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Resource, July 13, 2009
This review is from: Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? (Hardcover)
Eyler & Giles is cited in many other references, so I decided to go straight to the source. This book is just what I was looking for. The data they present is based upon a college population, but relevant to all students. This book is a must when seeking sound literature identifying the impact of service learning.
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