Teaching Grant Writing with Service Learning

Grant writing experience can be a valuable asset for students completing masters-level degree programs across a variety of disciplines. A service learning grant writing project was incorporated in a multidisciplinary program evaluation course as part of a writing requirement. Twelve students served as “ghost writers ” and wrote grant proposals to foundations for community organizations. Projects were assessed by ratings provided by faculty across departments who served as judges. Qualitative data was collected from students and organizational sponsors that showed high levels of satisfaction from both groups and an awareness of reciprocity of benefit from service learning were observed in both groups. Benefits and limitations of the pedagogical technique are discussed. Academic service learning has been implemented across the country in an effort to improve student learning and social behavior skills such as civic engagement and participation. The advantages of service learning have been pointed out since John Dewey (1938) recommended them. Although service learning has been endorsed at a national level, much debate exists concerning the meaning of this form of pedagogy (Mooney & Edwards, 2001). For example, Jacoby (1996) claimed that there were over 150 terms associated with service learning, the majority of which had different definitions. In an effort to use simplicity, this project regarded service learning as an integration of community service and academic coursework (Chapin, 1998). In other words, service learning projects expand teaching and learning beyond the classroom activities by relying on more practica