Examining the Adult Learning in “Giving Back” Initiatives

Service-learning has been identified as a high-impact, experiential teaching practice by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. This chapter examines how service-learning (SL) initiatives at one public institution of higher education allowed students opportunities to give back to their community while gaining valuable adult learning experiences. Three cases are presented describing how graduate and undergraduate students (N=229) enrolled in one of four courses (Political Science, Special Education, Early Elementary Education, and Business) incorporated a service-learning component for relevant and purposeful adult learning outcomes. Following the presentation of each of these cases of service-learning, a cross-case analysis and key terms and definitions are offered.