Service-Learning in Agricultural Instruction: A Guide for Implementing Real-World, Hands-On, Community Based Teaching and Learning

Service-learning (SL) is defined as a credit-bearing, educational experience in which students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility (Bringle and Hatcher, 1995). The service-learning movement has gained tremendous popularity during the past decade in response to visionaries like Boyer (1990), who called for radical change in higher education toward the scholarship of engagement, in which universities engage with communities as equal partners for the continued development of democratic society