The Office for Service Learning provides resources to assist faculty to incorporate into syllabi a service-learning component that complements and enhances academic content.
UAB SERVICE-LEARNING SYLLABI
UAB faculty are continually evolving their courses to include service learning pedagogy. Eligibility to participate in a service learning course depends on the particular course requirements as established by the Department and faculty member concerned. Below are some examples of such courses.
SBS 303-7N Honors Seminar
Civic Engagement Civic Engagement SBS 303 Syllabus
A course designed to promote experiential learning for SBS Honors students and to advance the mission of social justice through service learning. Guiding principles include:
- Engagement in service activities with a selected community partner in a mutually beneficial relationship based on a spirit of collaboration
- Reflection upon larger issues that affect communities through readings, journal entries and discussion
- Integration of engagement and educational experience through a Community Project Assignment involving a paper and oral presentation
LCS 101-607 Freshman Seminar Exploring Birmingham Syllabus (Freshman Learning Community)
A Freshman Learning Community Seminar addressing how the design of physical spaces affects the way we interact with each other and build community. Students explore the design of public spaces, neighborhoods and transportation systems and analyze how these aspects relate to community culture and lifestyle. This class incorporates a variety of learning experiences that include classroom discussions, group activities, lectures, and service learning in which students learn through direct experience and field assignments.
DCS 401/HON 316/ARS 406 & 407
Ethnographic Film-Making Ethnographic Film-Making DCS 401/HON 316/ARS 406 & 407
An interdisciplinary course offered through the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Urban Affairs and University Honors Program. The goal of the course is for student pairs to produce a short documentary film which represents a community in the Birmingham area. The course contains four key elements: 1) community outreach, 2) intro to social science theory and methods, 3) film theory and the aesthetics of filmmaking, and 4) technical aspects of camera work and digital video editing.
The course encourages students to explore the meaning of community at the group/collective level and the individual level and to create films examining issues affecting the Birmingham community, including housing, education, healthcare, immigration, poverty, and the environment.
NUR 100 Student Success in Nursing:
A Freshman Learning Community course has integrated a service learning component in which pre-nursing students participate in 5 hours of service to the community in agencies that serve health care populations. The service learning unit of the course provides student experiences within agencies that serve several populations including: decreased access to health care (free clinics and health screenings), homelessness, pre-school and school-age children, hospice care, horticultural therapy, and elderly day care. Although learning is the emphasis in this model, reciprocity and engagement are developed between School of Nursing faculty, students, Birmingham community partners and health care recipients.
SOC 488 Service Learning Sociology Practicum Sociology Practicum SOC 488
Service-learning within sociology is a supervised community service project related to sociology and social policy through which a student expands his/her knowledge of society, practices critical thinking and the values and skills needed for effective citizenship, and has the opportunity to address some social problem or problems. The student will: (1) engage in a service activity with a selected community partner, (2) reflect on service activities through journal entries and meetings with the professor, and (3) integrate engagement, reflection and social science concepts in a final paper. The course aims to involve the student in service learning projects conducive to the development of the sociological imagination and the examination of the connection between sociology and citizenship
SBS 399
Special Topics: Perceptions of Poverty in America
This service-learning course engages students in critical analysis of perceptions and policies toward those living in poverty in the United States while providing essential tax preparation and financial literacy services to members of our local community. Academic coursework focuses on perceptions and misperceptions of those in poverty, race and poverty, socioeconomic issues faced by low-income families, federal and state policies toward working families, and predatory lending practices that erode wealth. In addition to classroom discussions, students participate in the SaveFirst Initiative, which trains college and graduate students to offer free tax preparation services and financial literacy information to working families across the state of Alabama. Students are trained to complete tax returns and then use this expertise to serve low-income individuals at sites in the greater Birmingham area.
LCSL 101-613 IMPACTING COMMUNITY THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING
This Freshman Learning Seminar is unique in that students engage in ongoing service within the community as an integral part of the course. Students partner with community agencies and have the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom. The Freshman Seminar addresses such topics as basic counseling skills and theory, study of and exposure to underserved and under-represented populations, skills for crisis intervention and working with special populations, and sociological connections between race, class, and other social identities of gender, age, and ability. Students are introduced to skills and issues relevant to the helping professions such as psychology, sociology, social work, counseling, education, medicine nursing, and health professions.
FLL 333
FOREIGN LANGUAGE INTERNSHIP
The Foreign Language Internship is an opportunity to engage in service learning. It is a faculty-supervised opportunity for practical experience in tasks of international scope may provide opportunities to use language(s) studied or applications of cultural knowledge. Foreign Language majors have the opportunity to work on an internship in the community before graduation. The field experience credit hours normally count towards general electives credit and cannot replace language courses. This is a practical experience with responsibilities and rewards. It provides opportunities to turn theory into practice; learn intangibles of the workplace; gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of formal education; and make contacts to help further career development.
PY 397
COMMUNITY-BASED PRACTICUM IN PSYCHOLOGY
This program was established to provide students with an opportunity to receive academic credit for participating in service activities in the community that involve the application of psychological knowledge.
Supervisors and settings vary widely, but often involve a clinic, center, or other setting that provides mental health or related psychological services. Historically, students have participated in community practica at such agencies as the Crisis Center, Family Court, Department of Human Resources, and Children's Hospital. The student must be engaged in meaningful work of a psychological nature, and supervised by a psychologist, licensed counselor or other qualified professional. http://www.psy.uab.edu/PYundergrad/PY397.html