Service-Learning
Supporting service-learning courses and partnerships through education, faculty development programs, and student grants.
What is Service-Learning?
At Purdue University, service-learning is an educational experience in which students: a) participate in an organized service activity that meets community-identified needs; b) use knowledge and skills directly related to a course, discipline and/or specific learning outcomes; and c) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content and/or learning outcomes and an enhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility. Service-learning can be academic or co-curricular in nature and should not be confused with volunteerism, community service, philanthropy, or advocacy.
Teach
Faculty development programming and resources to support the teaching of service-learning courses across Purdue’s campuses.
Partnership Toolkit
Resources to build and sustain reciprocal, community-based partnerships in service-learning courses.
Professional Development
Faculty development programming designed to foster service-learning pedagogy at Purdue and strengthen outcomes in communities.
Funding
Student grants for service-learning and engagement projects.
Purdue Journal for Service-Learning
Journal for students’ service-learning projects and experiential programs
Stories & News
Stories of exemplary service-learning at Purdue and the annual Engagement Summit.
Awards
Faculty, staff, and community partner awards for engagement excellence.
Dr. Amlan mitra
Dr. Amlan Mitra is a Professor of Business Economics at Purdue University Northwest. In Dr. Mitra’s ECON 322: Economics of Public Policy course, students gained insight into the environmental, health, housing, and workforce issues of underserved communities. Students were able to apply what they learned by working with community partners such as Northwest Indiana Forum and Center for Workforce Innovations and proposing public policy strategies to protect Hoosiers from environmental crises.
ATTORNEY MELISSA DEFRENCH
Attorney Melissa DeFrench is a Visiting Clinical Instructor at Purdue University. In her service-learning course (English 421: Technical Writing), students develop new knowledge of civic engagement and the senior living community by applying the technical writing skills they learn to work with community partner Westminster Village West Lafayette (WVWL). Attorney DeFrench guides her students through analyzing the processes and needs of WVWL and improving the residents’ experiences, which facilitates significant mutual benefits for both the students and the community partner.
Dr. Pamela Sari
Dr. Pamela Sari is the Director of the Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center (AAARCC) at Purdue University. In IDIS 491/AMST 301: Practicum in Asian American Studies, Dr. Sari’s students helped Asian and Asian American business owners in Indiana promote their history, business stories, and impact by conducting oral history interviews, creating as a YouTube series for Purdue AAARCC, and drafting a policy for Purdue’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Dr. Sari strives to foster understanding and collaborations between Asian and Asian American communities.