Publishing and Presenting in Service-Learning | National Service-Learning Clearinghouse

Source: Rachel L. Vaughn, Sarena D. Seifer, and Tanis Vye Mihalynuk, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, January 2004

Service-learning is becoming increasingly prominent in higher education. Consequently, there has also been an increase in opportunities to publish and present in this field. This quick guide is intended to provide a synopsis of where and how to present and publish service-learning in higher education materials. For a more comprehensive review, refer to the NSLC fact sheet prepared earlier on this topic by Community Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH).

When deciding what areas to conduct research, publish, and / or present on, consider the following:

What research areas interest you?
What aspects of your current service-learning program could be published?
What methods-qualitative or quantitative-will you use to publish and / or present your research?
How will your research make a significant contribution to the field of service-learning?

In terms of publishing on service-learning research in higher education, determine who will be involved, how they will be involved, authors and order of authorship at the inception of the research. Keep in mind that measures such as protecting confidentiality and rights of human subjects should also be considered. Many journals will only publish research that has been approved by the higher education institution's Human Subjects' Review Committee. Remember to carefully follow instructions for manuscript submission (formatting, word limit, electronic or hard copy, etc.). In addition to the journals presented below, one of the best places to publish service-learning research is in your own disciplinary journal. This advances and legitimizes service-learning within the field/discipline, as well as promotes your academic career.

When planning to present, be mindful of conference deadlines for submission of materials and applications. There are two annual conferences dedicated to service-learning as well as conferences that have special interest groups and workshops on this topic (see web resources below). And don't forget to submit service-learning abstracts to present at your own disciplinary meetings and conferences!

Web resources

Presenting service-learning research and practices

National Service-Learning Conference
http://nslc.nylc.org/
This conference highlights and promotes service-learning as a way of teaching and learning that builds academic and citizenship skills while renewing communities.
International Conference on Advances in Service-Learning Research
http://outreach.msu.edu/
This international research conference is sponsored by more than twenty national organizations and foundations and convenes leading service-learning scholars and researchers to present new study findings, methodological and theoretical advances, and recently completed research agendas for studying various aspects of service-learning in K-12 education, teacher education, and higher education. Contact Molly Malloy (malloy@msu.edu) for information regarding the 4th Annual International Conference on Advances in Service-Learning Research.
American Education Research Association
http://www.aera.net/
AERA hosts a special interest group (SIG) on service-learning and experiential learning. The SIG's purpose is "to bring together both researchers and practitioners to build and promote understanding of SL and experiential education for the betterment of the field." The SIG also sponsors presentations on service-learning at the AERA's annual conference.
National Society of Experiential Education
http://www.nsee.org/pubs.htm
The National Society for Experiential Education conference is in the autumn, the call for proposals carries a January deadline. The NSEE has a SIG devoted to service-learning and it an outstanding place to present service-learning research.

Publishing service-learning research and practices

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning (MJCSL)
http://ginsberg.umich.edu/mjcsl/
This is a national, peer-reviewed journal consisting of articles written by faculty and service-learning educators on research, theory pedagogy and other issues pertinent to the service-learning community.
Compact Current
http://www.compact.org/about/compact-current/
Highlights the best writing on civic education and service-learning from sources around the country. Published in the fall, winter, and spring.
The Generator: Journal of Service-Learning and Service Leadership
http://www.nylc.org/
Published by the National Youth Leadership Council, this journal of service-learning and youth leadership provides up-to-date information on service-learning methodologies, programs and initiatives.
Journal of Experiential Education (JEE)
http://www.wilderdom.com/journals.htm#jee
Published by the Association of Experiential Education (AEE), this is a professional, peer-reviewed journal that publishes a diverse range of articles in subject areas including service-learning.

Print resources

Billig, Shelley and Andrew Furco, eds. Service-Learning Through a Multidisciplinary Lens. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, 2002.
This book explores the multidisciplinary dimensions of service-learning and the implications of these dimensions for the study of service-learning. Editors' introduction includes dimensions of service-learning research; and establishing norms for scientific inquiry in service-learning. (Take special note of the article by Janet Eyler entitled, "Stretching to meet the challenge: Improving the quality of research to improve the quality of service-learning.")

Billig, Shelley and Andrew Furco, eds. Service-Learning: The Essence of the Pedagogy. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, 2002.
This book's chapters focus on a broad range of topics that address a variety of research issues on service-learning in K-12 education, teacher education, and higher education. There are three categories of essays: theoretical issues regarding service-learning, the impact(s) of service-learning, and methodological approaches to studying service-learning. (Take special note of the article by Janet S. Eyler and Dwight Giles entitled, "Beyond surveys: Using problem solving interviews to assess the impact of service-learning on understanding and critical thinking." )

Boyer, Ernest. Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. New York, NY: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1990.
In this report by the Carnegie Foundation, Ernest Boyer argues for a broader understanding of scholarship that takes into account the scope of faculty activity more fully than does the traditional categories of teaching and research.

Boyer, Ernest. "The Scholarship of Engagement." Journal of Public Outreach 1, no. 1 (Spring, 1996): 11-20.
Ernest Boyer suggests that American education has moved away from its traditional commitment to public service and argues for a new commitment to service that he calls the scholarship of engagement.

Eyler, Janet S., Dwight E. Giles, Jr., Christine M. Stenson, and Charlene J. Gray. At A Glance: What We Know about the Effects of Service-Learning on College Students, Faculty, Institutions and Communities, 1993-2000: Third Edition. Washington, DC: Corporation for National and Community Service, Learn and Serve, National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.
"At A Glance" provides an excellent summary of the findings of service-learning research in higher education over the past few years. An annotated bibliography is included. This is the place to start for an overview of where the service-learning research in higher education stands today.

Furco, Andrew. "Research Notes: Exploring and Advancing Research in Experiential Education." NSEE Quarterly 26, no. 3 (Spring, 2000): 18-20, 25.
In this article, Andy Furco provides an overview of what is needed to advance the research agenda in experiential education, providing examples from the service-learning field.

Glassick, Charles E., Mary Taylor Huber, and Gene I. Maeroff. Scholarship Assessed: Evaluation of the Professoriate. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1997.
This text offers a new paradigm for evaluating scholarship of engagement, a scholarship that better integrates the full range of scholarly activity, research, teaching and service. It includes discussion of changes in thinking about scholarship and ideas about developing criteria for evaluating a full range of scholarship and for documenting scholarly efforts. It also includes, as appendices, the Questionnaire for the National Survey on the Reexamination of Faculty Roles and Rewards and the results of that survey.

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. (Fall, 2000 Theme Issue).
Theme: Strategic Directions for Service-Learning Research.
Each article is devoted to a topic related to the theme, and responds to the question: "Where does service-learning research need to go to advance our knowledge and practice bases?"

Sandman, Lorilee R., Pennie G. Foster-Fishman, James Lloyd, Warren Rauhe, and Cheryl Rosaen, "Managing Critical Tensions: How to Strengthen the Scholarship Component of Outreach." Change 32, no. 1 (January/February, 2000): 44-52.
This article examines ways that faculty can balance the community demands for scholarship of engagement and their institution's expectations regarding teaching and research with their own scholarly interests. It also explores the different perspectives among community, institution, and scholar, which create tensions in the implementation and design of outreach scholarship programs.

Simpson, Ronald D. "Toward A Scholarship of Outreach and Engagement in Higher Education." Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement 6, no. 1 (Fall 2000): 7-12.
This article builds on the work of Ernest Boyer in calling for a "scholarship" of outreach in which the faculty service mission is directly tied to the field of knowledge and subject to the same requirements for rigor and accountability that apply to research scholarship.

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