Service-Learning Australia

Standard.
Service-learning engages participants in an ongoing process to assess the quality of implementation and progress toward meeting specified goals, and uses results for improvement and sustainability.

Indicators.
Service-learning participants:

• Collect evidence of progress toward meeting specific service goals and learning outcomes from multiple sources throughout the service-learning experience.
• Collect evidence of the quality of service-learning implementation from multiple sources throughout the service-learning experience.
• Use evidence to improve service-learning experiences.
• Communicate evidence of progress toward goals and outcomes with the broader community, including policymakers and education leaders, to deepen service-learning understanding and ensure that high quality practices are sustained. 

Sample supporting research. 

Billig, Root, and Jesse (2005) reported that assessment and progress monitoring in service-learning were related to students’ enjoyment of subject matters, civic knowledge, and efficacy. Greene and Diehm (1995) showed that progress monitoring of student work in the form of frequent written feedback on written reflections was associated with valuing education and personal investment in service. Shumer (1997) summarized the research on service-learning and concluded that reflection and feedback were necessary for helping service-learning practitioners to monitor the flow and direction of practice to ensure that goals were met.