Service Learning Project (Proposal)

DUE: Thursday April 7 beginning of class; 15 points

Learning Objectives:
 To provide an opportunity for hands-on engagement with issues related to sustainability
 To provide experience planning, scheduling, and working with peers and organizations
 To develop skills involved in teaching others
 To further develop your communications skills (written, oral, audiovisual)
 To deepen your knowledge about a particular aspect of sustainability (the topic focused
on in your particular project)

Overview: Our group task this term will be a service learning project concerning sustainability.
You will form your own groups and propose (and then execute, document, and evaluate) a
project. Some project ideas (that you can further develop and modify) will be discussed in class
or you are may come up with your own ideas. In addition, all projects should have an explicit
educational component where you specify what knowledge you wish to convey to a particular
audience, as well as your “lesson plan” for conveying this information.

You must work in groups; no individual projects allowed for this assignment and group size
should be appropriate to the project and approved by instructor. Since this is a collective effort,
the more people in your group, the greater the expectations of what you will accomplish. Each
group member should strive to give their full effort in determining a direction, scoping out
specific, “doable” goals, identifying specific, demonstrable outcomes, planning logistics and
lessons to ensure the goals are met (this may take considerable effort and communication with
outside parties), thinking about possible contingencie plans, etc. All of this should be detailed in
your proposal, as described below. Each member will evaluate the contribution and efforts of
themselves and their team members and this information will help in determining individual
grades.

Before Writing Your Report:

- Form a group with individuals interested in a common project. This group should be
defined by members’ interests rather than friendships—it will be a more engaging and
enriching project for you if you align with your interests rather than just doing what a
friend is doing.
- Brainstorm ideas related to the specific project and requirements of your proposal (see
below).
- Identify and contact those parties or organizations outside your group that you will work
with, and get their feedback on your ideas.

Your Report Should Contain a descriptive project title, a list of group members, and the
following sections in this order, each with a clear heading. Do NOT combine sections.
- Introduction that helps the reader understand what is coming in your report and why it is
important. This should be three to five paragraphs in length. It should introduce the need
(related to sustainability) that you feel can be addressed by your project and briefly state
the specific goals and objectives of your project. Here you should also give some

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 background to this need that demonstrates your understanding of the context in which
your project will take place. As part of this background you should find and use
references (at least 3) about your identified sustainability need and how others have
addressed it (e.g., how have other universities dealt with educating students about proper
recycling?). Properly cite these references in your introduction (and/or other parts of your
report) and include them in a reference section at the end.

- Educational Plan where you identify a list of specific learning goals and your audience
(e.g., “users of the garbage/recycling rooms in Broadway will understand which plastic
containers can be recycled” or “visitors to the community garden will gain knowledge
about the ecological and social benefits of buying local produce”). In addition to learning
goals, you should discuss your plan for engaging your audience and conveying this
information (e.g., in signs or short presentations or other learning activities such as
engaging games).

- Action Plan where you again briefly state your objectives and then provide reasonable
detail on how you plan to accomplish them. This section should include several sentences
describing what the specific tasks need to be accomplished and who will do them. Here
you should also include details about what organization or persons outside of the class
you will be working with and your plan for communicating with them (including
communications that have already happened). Finally, also include any contingency plans
you have in case everything does not go as you originally plan.

- Evaluation Plan where you describe how you will assess the degree to which your plans
were successfully implemented and how you (and the instructor) will assess your
educational experience. Note that these are two different things. Potentially one could
learn a lot by participating in a project that does not meet its goals, and conversely, one
could learn little while implementing a project that did reach its goals. In this section
clearly distinguish between these two types of evaluation.

- Open Questions where you list unanswered questions that come up as you plan your
project.

- References in APA format

Next Steps: This proposal is the first step in a multi-phase project. Other phases will include
briefly presenting your proposal idea to the class, further developing your lesson and action
plans, progress reports, executing your plan (service), a reflective essay on your experience, peer
reviews, and a video (or other media) documenting your group’s experience.

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