Service Learning Project Report
Kirkpatrick Signature Series
Kirkpatrick Signature
Series
3
Instructions:
For this course, you will complete a Service Learning Project (SLP) that will include
volunteer hours and ten-entry reports about your efforts. Any type of volunteer work is
acceptable for this project, so long as it is serving the needs of the larger community in
some way.
The hours can be a continuation of volunteering you've done in the past, but all of the
volunteering that you write about in your report must have been done during the current
term. Examples of places to volunteer would be homeless shelters, nursing homes,
hospitals, Habitat for Humanity, the Boy and Girl Scouts, churches, mosques, temples,
and so on.
About the SLP
The Service Learning Project has been required in the Signature Series since the year
2000. Previous students have found it a focal point of the course. The SLP is the major
requirement for one of the three courses in the Signature Series, LA 420 Freedom and
Responsibility, and the accomplishing of the project and writing about it seem a fair
requirement for the earning of nearly three hours of course credit. The SLP is,
ultimately, an assignment in the course.
Instructor Approval:
Before commencing your SLP, you must have it approved by your instructor through
College Central Network (CCN). CCN will generate an email which allows your
instructor to approve, or not, your proposed organization. This must be done no later
than Week 2. Your reports will start in Week 3 and last until Week 11 total to 10 entries.
You might consider organizations you are already involved in such as little league or
kids sports, religious affiliations, PTA or PTSA, Middle School or High School
organizations, or other civic organizations.
Number of Hours Required to Volunteer:
You are expected to volunteer a total of 21 hours. Specific hours volunteered are not
required to be formally documented, however, it will not be possible to write a quality
Project Report for your assignment if one does not complete this volunteering. An extra
credit photograph of your volunteering is optional.
The Ten Entries of the Service Learning Project Report:
Note: The directions for each entry are detailed below and followed by space for you to
type each entry inside this document. These entries will be turned in the last week of
the course. None will be turned in or graded before. You are expected to demonstrate
learning based upon assigned course materials. References and citations from the
assigned course materials are required. A minimum of 14 unique citations from the
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assigned readings, not the videos or reports, are expected in your SLP.
Bibliography:
Include a bibliography at the end of your SLP.
Entry 1: "Selection of the Service Learning Project.”
Write an entry of 400 words minimum on why you chose your project. Discuss the life or
work experiences that may have influenced your selection, including whether these
experiences were positive or negative. Consider how issues of community, government
or individual responsibility, leadership, productivity, problem-solving, work ethic, and/or
ambition might have affected your project selection. Most importantly, explain why your
project is important to you, as well as to the larger community. Include two unique
citations from the assigned articles in this paragraph.
Entry 2: Write an entry of 400 words minimum explaining how your project relates to at
least two of the course objectives. See the complete list of course objectives in the
course syllabus. Be sure to explain why you think these objectives are important. Label
this entry “Service Learning Project Objectives.” Include two unique citations from the
assigned articles in this paragraph.
Note: The purpose of this entry is not to tell what you think the objective of your SLP is;
rather, it is to relate your project to the course objectives (which are found in the course
syllabus).
Entries 3-9: Narrate your experiences on the project. Synthesize ideas from the course
readings in entries 3-10. You may reference ideas from earlier phases in the course, as
well as up to four additional non-course assigned sources you have found in your own
research. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from course in this entry.
A minimum of 500 words must be written for each entry.
Entries should simply be labeled with the appropriate entry number(s), for example,
Entry 3, Entry 4, Entries 5-6, Entries 5-8, and so on.
Entry 10: For the concluding entry of 400 words, labeled “Conclusions,” summarize
your project, its relation to the course themes and readings, and your subjective feelings
about your project experiences. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from course in
this entry.
Very Important for All Students: Employ APA format for both in-text citations and your
bibliography or references list. Abstracts and running heads are not required. For further
APA instructions and help visit your course toolbox.
Important Assignment Guidelines: Not following these guidelines will have a
negative impact on your grade.
1. Write in Arial font, size 14, unless otherwise directed by your instructor.
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2. Always name the author whose ideas you are discussing (use the author’s full name the
first time you refer to him/her; after that, identify authors by their last names).
3. Provide in-text citations for all ideas, opinions, and facts derived from the assigned
course readings, whether you simply refer to them, paraphrase them (put them entirely
into your own words), or quote them. Place the in-text citation at the end of your
sentence but before the period that ends your sentence. The in-text citation should give
the author’s last name (unless you’ve used it already in your sentence), the year of
publication (if known), and the appropriate page number(s) from the reading (if page
numbers are used in the online text of the essay). Do not use the title of the reading
unless it does not have an author).
Here’s an example of a citation for a Thomas Paine reading for Week 1: (Paine,
1776).
Here’s an example of a citation for a John Locke reading for Week 2: (Locke,
1689, pp. 46-47).
4. Provide a References list at the end of your essay that includes bibliographic references
for every reading cited in your essay.
Note: Your references list does not count toward your minimum word count.
Center the word References (do not underline it, place it in quotation marks, or
place it in bold or larger size font).
Present your references, listed alphabetically by author’s last name.
Follow APA formatting guidelines for your list. The Purdue Online Writing Lab
(OWL) offers excellent detailed explanations of APA Format requirements. This
is the URL for the Purdue
OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01
Here is an example of a references list entry:
Locke, J. (1689). Of the beginning of political societies. In Two Treatises
of government (Chapter VIII). Retrieved from
http://epublish.biz/pdf/Two_Treatises_of_Government.pdf
Here is another example of a references list entry:
Thoreau, H. (1849). Civil disobedience. Retrieved from
http://www.thoreau-online.org/major-essays-by-thoreau.htm
Note1: The first line of the reference begins at the left margin. All
subsequent lines should be indented one tab.
Note 2: Do not include bibliographic references for any reading not
cited in your essay.
Practical Advice on All Writing Assignments:
1. Always spell- and grammar-check your essays. Note: spell-check cannot tell that you
have used the wrong word; other errors may escape the computer’s check system.
Proofread and edit all your work carefully several times before submitting.
2. If you need additional assistance with your writing, please contact the Writing Center at
Bellevue University for a free consultation on your paper.
Bellevue Campus:
Phone: (402) 557-5449
E-Mail: writing@bellevue.edu
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Web Address: www.bellevue.edu/writingcenter
3. You should save copies of all of your work for the course—essays and responses—to a
file on your hard drive. Also backup your work on a flash drive or disk
4. Delete the SLP assignment booklet editorial from the final version of the SLP.
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Entry 1: "Selection of the Service Learning Project.”
Write an entry of 400 words minimum on why you chose your project. Discuss the life or
work experiences that may have influenced your selection, including whether these
experiences were positive or negative. Consider how issues of community, government
or individual responsibility, leadership, productivity, problem-solving, work ethic, and/or
ambition might have affected your project selection. Most importantly, explain why your
project is important to you, as well as to the larger community. Cite at least 2 articles
and/or readings from the course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials.
[Write your entry here]
8
Entry 2: Write an entry of 400 words minimum explaining how your project relates to at
least two of the course objectives. See the complete list of course objectives in the
course syllabus. Be sure to explain why you think these objectives are important. Label
this entry “Service Learning Project Objectives.” Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings
from the course in this entry.
Note: The purpose of this entry is not to tell what you think the objective of your SLP is;
rather, it is to relate your project to the course objectives
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials.
[Write your entry here]
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Entries #3 through #9 discuss your experiences as a volunteer. These paragraphs can
be redundant. To avoid repeating yourself, examine closely how your experiences align
or reflect the main ideas or themes found in the week’s assigned reading documents.
For example, when Jefferson posits the American ideal that, “all men are created
equal,” did your experience as a volunteer find this to be the case? Why or why not?
Also, examine the organization you volunteered at from the perspective of the
organization’s client (or those who used the organization for assistance). You can also
examine the organization from the perspective of those who are employed or leadership
positions. Why are they working here? What motivates them? Also, you can examine
why others, like you, volunteer at the organization. Finally, what do outsiders, or those
that know of but are not involved in the organization think of the organization? Is it
helpful? Does it serve a purpose? If so, what purpose does the organization serve?
Finally, how does society benefit, or not, from the efforts of those involved in the
organization’s mission?
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Entry 3: Narrate your experiences on the project in a minimum of 500 words. Be sure to
relate your project experiences briefly to specific ideas in each of the week's readings.
Ideally, you will synthesize ideas from these readings. You may also briefly reference
ideas from earlier weeks of the course, as well as up to four additional sources you
have found in your own research. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from the
course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials.
[Write your entry here]
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Entry 4: Narrate your experiences on the project in a minimum of 500 words. Be sure to
relate your project experiences briefly to specific ideas in each of the week's readings.
Ideally, you will synthesize ideas from these readings. You may also briefly reference
ideas from earlier weeks of the course, as well as up to four additional sources you
have found in your own research. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from the
course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials.
[Write your entry here]
12
Entry 5: Narrate your experiences on the project in a minimum of 500 words. Be sure to
relate your project experiences briefly to specific ideas in each of the week's readings.
Ideally, you will synthesize ideas from these readings. You may also briefly reference
ideas from earlier weeks of the course, as well as up to four additional sources you
have found in your own research. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from the
course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials.
[Write your entry here]
13
Entry 6: Narrate your experiences on the project in a minimum of 500 words. Be sure to
relate your project experiences briefly to specific ideas in each of the week's readings.
Ideally, you will synthesize ideas from these readings. You may also briefly reference
ideas from earlier weeks of the course, as well as up to four additional sources you
have found in your own research. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from the
course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials.
[Write your entry here]
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Entry 7: Narrate your experiences on the project in a minimum of 500 words. Be sure to
relate your project experiences briefly to specific ideas in each of the week's readings.
Ideally, you will synthesize ideas from these readings. You may also briefly reference
ideas from earlier weeks of the course, as well as up to four additional sources you
have found in your own research. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from the
course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials
[Write your entry here]
15
Entry 8: Narrate your experiences on the project in a minimum of 500 words. Be sure to
relate your project experiences briefly to specific ideas in each of the week's readings.
Ideally, you will synthesize ideas from these readings. You may also briefly reference
ideas from earlier weeks of the course, as well as up to four additional sources you
have found in your own research. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from the
course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials
[Write your entry here]
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Entry 9: Narrate your experiences on the project in a minimum of 500 words. Be sure to
relate your project experiences briefly to specific ideas in each of the week's readings.
Ideally, you will synthesize ideas from these readings. You may also briefly reference
ideas from earlier weeks of the course, as well as up to four additional sources you
have found in your own research. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from the
course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials
[Write your entry here]
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Something to consider as you write your final SLP Conclusion.
Throughout the course, you will notice the repeating theme of radical individualism.
This issue shows up in numerous articles throughout the course including Bellah (1),
Franck (3), Messmore (7), Sardar (9), Heclo (10) and Putnam (12).
Radical Individualism is when the citizen continues to expect their rights while not
upholding the duties and obligations of citizenship.
➢ Radical individualism is the antithesis of engaged citizenship. It is a form of
hyper-democracy: government takes care of my duties and obligations to others
while protecting my rights.
Obviously, we want the KSS to teach and encourage engaged citizenship. Throughout
the course materials including the Service Learning Project, we want the student to
recognize that with rights come duties and responsibilities.
Simply because you have the right to do something does not mean it is the right thing to
do. Adler writes in his essay on Justice, impeding another’s pursuit of happiness is an
unjust act. Choosing to refrain from an action, even though you may have a right to
that act, is a choice to pursue justice for someone else. It is a selfless act to perpetuate
the pursuit of a better society.
Some suggest that “radical individualism” is the greatest threat our nation faces at the
moment. This helps us understand the argument that the cost of an insulated life leads
to less freedom as the onus of social responsibility shifts to government. McConnell’s
article Religion and Limited Government oblique references this when he writes, “If
government does everything, (rather than the church and/or the individual), there is no
separation or no space for the church” (McConnell, 2010). If this is true, our individual
duty towards our fellow man matters. Furthermore, if we allow government to assume
that role, there is no space for social capital to develop (see Putnam’s discussion on
social capital).
If this argument is valid, then it is the choices that you and I make every day, in our
actions and words, which define whether or not we live in a good society. It suggests
that society is a mirrored reflection of who you are and that if you didn’t like it, you have
the Constitutional authority to change it (see First Amendment). Recall from the
Declaration of Independence, Jefferson tells the reader you have a “duty” to pursue the
better society (Jefferson, 1776).
Recognize that your foray into volunteerism through the SLP is a physical act of
choosing to change the world. Congratulations: you matter very much.
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Entry 10: “Conclusions”
For the concluding entry summarize your project, its relation to the course themes and
readings, and your feelings about your project experiences. Be certain to discuss the
belief that an engaged citizen makes America stronger. Specifically, reflect upon
Putnam's discussion of social capital. Cite at least 2 articles and/or readings from the
course in this entry.
Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned
course materials.
[Write your entry here]
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