Students

Service-Learning Course Directory

Across fields and disciplines, faculty at USF have developed a variety of innovative service-learning courses with real-world impact. Students complement their academic studies with experiential learning opportunities, provide valuable service to our local and global communities, and become better equipped to succeed.

Service-learning is considered a "high-impact practice" (HIP), or "an investment of time and energy over an extended period that has unusually positive effects on student engagement in educationally purposeful behavior" (Kuh 2010: vi). A HIP is effective with students because it allows them to interact with faculty and peers about substantive matters; increases the likelihood that students will experience diversity; provides frequent feedback about their performance; offers opportunities for students to see how what they are learning works in different settings, on and off campus; and bring students' values and beliefs into awareness, helping them to better understand themselves in relation to others and the larger world (Kuh 2008: 14-17).

Some common outcomes of service-learning are higher grades, persistence rates, and levels of academic engagement; academic gains (including application of course learning); increases in critical thinking and writing skills; greater interaction with faculty; greater levels of civic behavior, social responsibility, understanding of social justice, and sense of self-efficacy; gains in moral reasoning; greater tolerance and reduced stereotyping; and greater commitment to service-oriented career (Brownell and Swaner 2010: 48).

Students can find service-learning courses through OASIS by selecting Service-Learning on the Schedule of Classes search page (see image below). Also, please note that the phrase "Service-Learning Experience" will appear underneath service-learning course titles on your curricular transcript.

Examples of service-learning courses offered in past or current semesters at USF include, but are not limited to, the following:

Arts and Sciences

• ANG 5937 Environmental Justice (Anthropology, Fall 2017)
• REL 3936 Agrarianism and the Sacred (Religious Studies, Fall 2017)
• PAD 6275 Political Economy for Pub Mngr (Public Affairs, Fall 2017)
• URP 6115 Planning, Policy & Politics (Public Affairs, Fall 2017)

Behavioral and Community Sciences

• INT 4235 Advanced Receptive Voicing (Communication Sci. & Disorder, Fall 2017)
• IDS 2600 Research in Community Settings (Mental Health Law & Policy, Fall 2017)
• SPA 5403 Language Learning-SchoolAge Year (Communication Sci. & Disorder, Spring 2017)
• SPA 6930 Bilingual Assessment & Intervention (Communication Sci. & Disorder, Spring 2017)

Public Health

• PHC 6505 Program Planning in Community Health (Community and Family Health, Fall 2017)

The Arts

• ART 4806 Art Education Community (Art, Fall 2017)
• THE 4930 Community Based Theater (Theater & Dance, Fall 2017)

Career Services

• Academic Foundations (USF Advising, ongoing every Semester)

Undergraduate Studies

• IDS 2912 Undergraduate Research Experience (Deans Office, Spring 2017)

Kuh, George D.

2008       High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

2010       "High-Impact Practices: Retrospective and Prospective." In Jayne E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner, Five High-Impact Practices: Research on Learning Outcomes, Completion, and Quality. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Brownell, Jayne E., and Lynn E. Swaner

2010       Five High-Impact Practices: Research on Learning Outcomes, Completion, and Quality. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.