Barbara A. Holland - Böcker

This eighth volume in the Advances in Service-Learning Research series includes eight essays selected from manuscripts submitted by participants in the seventh annual conference of the International Association of Research in Service-Learning and Community Engagement, held in Tampa, Florida, in October, 2007. The volume builds upon the theme of that conference: "Sustainability and Scholarship: Research and the K-20 Continuum," bringing together the work of scholars from K-12 and higher education to argue for the connection between rigorous and purposeful research and sustainable service-learning and civic engagement. Articles range from models for program-level assessment to examples of significant field-based research projects to approaches to advance discipline-based sustainable impacts to connections between civic education and sustainable communities. Voices of community partners, students, faculty members, administrators, and discipline-based organizations are part of the conversation, and each of the essays raises important challenges for future research that can help to shape, document, and sustain the important impacts of work in this field.

This eighth volume in the Advances in Service-Learning Research series includes eight essays selected from manuscripts submitted by participants in the seventh annual conference of the International Association of Research in Service-Learning and Community Engagement, held in Tampa, Florida, in October, 2007. The volume builds upon the theme of that conference: "Sustainability and Scholarship: Research and the K-20 Continuum," bringing together the work of scholars from K-12 and higher education to argue for the connection between rigorous and purposeful research and sustainable service-learning and civic engagement. Articles range from models for program-level assessment to examples of significant field-based research projects to approaches to advance discipline-based sustainable impacts to connections between civic education and sustainable communities. Voices of community partners, students, faculty members, administrators, and discipline-based organizations are part of the conversation, and each of the essays raises important challenges for future research that can help to shape, document, and sustain the important impacts of work in this field.

Research on service-learning and community engagement has exploded over the past decade. It is a field now characterized by increasing methodological and theoretical sophistication, vast quantitative and qualitative studies, interdisciplinary research, myriad subjects, and the internationalization of scholarship.The papers in this volume were selected from nearly 100 presentations made at the 2009 annual conference of the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement held in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital. The conference theme, Research for What? emphasized fundamental questions, namely: to what extent is rigorous research uncovering best practices in, and demonstrating the positive results of, service-learning on teaching, learning and building better communities? The papers examine such themes through lenses that include the application of theory to practice, K-12 and university-based service-learning, interdisciplinary initiatives, and international service-learning. The introduction provides an overview of the very recent, but remarkable, growth of service-learning in Canada, and the conclusion, written by the recipient of the Association’s annual Distinguished Researcher Award, discusses major developments, and continuing challenges, in service-learning research.