American Studies (Research Paper Sample)

SERVICE LEARNING PROGRAM.
Student name
Institution
Date
Service Learning Program.
Service learning is a teaching method combining prescribed instruction in relation with community service. The implementation of service learning takes place as youth service. The process of learning involves the formal taught practices and instructions with respect and consideration of the experience of the student (Crist, 2011). The learning should be applied within the right and particular social contexts with a combination of a set of principles.
The core components of service learning as published in RMC Research (2008) include:
* Investigation: Involves the identification of the issues to be solved within a particular community. This is done by employing the use of research and mapping.
* Planning and preparation: the concerned stakeholders such as the community members, students and teachers prepare for the learning and service activities. The administrative concerns required for a flourishing project are also addressed.
* Action: the action entails involving the relevant service experience with the aim of assisting the students to grow essential knowledge, attitudes and skills which will be of importance for the community.
* Reflection: it involves a variety of actions which aid students to comprehend the experience of service learning and have though in regard to its meaning. The activities also involve understanding the associations among the activities involved with the society and what they have acquired while studying.
* Demonstration/celebration: it is the last experience where the stakeholders share the learned experience, celebrate what they have achieved during the project and focus ahead in future.
The mission of the Federal Service Learning Program is motivating students to take part in various activities within their communities (Crist, 2011). The activities are aimed at benefiting the Nation and empower the students with a sense of being responsible socially and enhance their commitment for the community. The program targets the students who receive Federal student financial assistance.
The program requires all colleges and universities to spend part of their Federal Work Program funds on positions of community service. The involvement of community service along with the combination of experiential education enhances the experience in learning, strengthens communities, teaches public responsibility, and promotes prolonged engagement in civic activities for the better of the community (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011).
The objective of the program is to grant immediate opportunities for student. The students are required to promote the functions of local agencies by application of what they learnt in class. The local agencies exist with the aim of changing the community positively. The program enriches classroom learning and ensures that it is applied via service to the community.
The Federal Service Learning Program works to ensure that students who receive Federal student financial assistance apply the learning experience by engaging in community service. The program implements the three major strategies; Earn, Learn, and Serve. The purpose of the program is to eradicate poverty in the United States (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011). The program encourages the United State citizens to work in order to achieve stable social and economic potential. It involves the utilization of the community capabilities towards the improvement of the economic status of the society.
The clients for Federal Service Learning evaluation are the interested stakeholders who include the students, the local community, the college/university management, the federal government and the program participants. The students, the professionals in campuses (colleges and universities) and organization partners will be the main audience for the evaluation proposal.
There are public involvement activities that are a suited for needs of the project. One of the activities is the health and wellness geared towards the needs of the community (Bowley, 2007). The health and wellness activity is intended to solve problems such as drug abuse, disease transmission, and obesity in the society. Specific aspects of this activity of service-learning may be specific to a particular discipline. The health and wellness aspects are intended for community members and students in the fields of public health, nursing, medicine and physical therapy.
The violence prevention is another public activity suited for the needs of the project. There is an increasing concern on the effects of violence in schools and communities in the Unites States. The Federal Service Learning Program works towards countering the violence in youths by provision of both the emotional encouragement and social structure. It also provides positive platform by which the young people can bond with their communities.
The involvement of the program with the youths in some aspects such as decision-making can assist in rapid response to the issue of violence (Kraft & Billig, 1999). A study has indicated that involving the youths in the Federal Service Learning program can be a remedy in dealing with the possibility of interpersonal violent behavior and delinquency. In the process, community membership and the advancement of right youth competencies and emotional well-being is concurrently promoted.
There are various aspects of youth violence. They include, bullying, and gangs. Bullying is an act of inflicting physical harm on another student or students in a manner which is chronological and systematic. It involves use of abuse words verbally, racists, emotional or sexual form (Kraft & Billig, 1999). The bullied victims are encouraged to seek help, be confident, ignore and walk away from the bully. A group effort is required to end bullying. The set up agencies such as the Student Council are mandated to discipline the bully.
Gangs are a kind of a grouping with an intended motive of likely causing harm. Gangs are mostly composed of people who demonstrate their loyalty to the gang. Young men make the large number of gang members in the United States (Zeldin, 2004). The Service Learning Program is set to counter the emergence of these criminal gangs by peer motivation of young people to engage themselves in community service activities.
Pregnancy prevention is another public activity best suited for the program needs. The Federal Service Learning program encourages the local communities and the institutional management to devote themselves in advising young girls to avoid early pregnancies. The benefit of the activity in the society is to promote education among young females so that they can be able to achieve their educational dreams of acquiring good knowledge by utilizing the resources provided by the Service Learning program.
Educational development and capacity building activity can also serve to promote the needs of the project. The students and the community fraternity can engage themselves in various activities which are intended to promote education among the young people (Hess, 1997). Service learning provides the platform where the educational process can be enhanced by utilization of the available resources and engaging the larger community in encouraging the learners on matters concerning their education and knowledge acquisition.
Health care, social services, housing, welfare, literacy training, child care, crime prevention, public safety, rural development, recreation and community development are other public activities suited for the needs of the project. The public can also engage in providing services and support to disabled students.
In supporting the needs of the project, students also can serve as mentors in such areas as support of recreational and educational activities, tutoring, and offering career counseling talks. This is in accordance with the stipulated needs of the program (Butts, 1999). The above activities enhance community development from all aspects of development.
One of the aspects to consider is that the program should not do any harm at anybody. The program evaluation is aimed at promoting the well-being of individual, safeguarding the members’ self-esteem and safeguarding the reputation of every individual. The program considers bringing no harm to any individual involved in the implementation of its activities.
Respecting others is also considered as an ethical concern central to program evaluation. The program evaluation encourages the respect of rights of individuals. Individuals can make their own choices freely. The program evaluation ensures the protection of rights of individuals who are unable to protect themselves fully.
The assistance and benefit to others is another ethical consideration for the program evaluation. The program evaluation process works towards promoting the interests of others, assisting individual organizations and the society as whole (Butts, 1999). The strategies of the Federal Service Learning program aims at providing support to the community and promoting the development of educational programs for young people as a whole.
Acting fairly is another ethical consideration. The program evaluation aims at fair treatment of individuals and regardless of gender, race, and socio-economic status. The objectives of the Federal Service Learning program promote the equal and fair treatment of all the stakeholders involved in the program.
The measures used to evaluate involves the determining of what is expected to be measured. The available evaluation goals should have several indicators for measurement. Also, performance reliability and valid tool can be used as a measurable indicator. The tool is designed to measure an individual’s cultural competency (Bowley, 2007).The Federal Service Learning Program can make use of th...