What Is Service Learning? Engaging Students in Action

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Read time 7 minutes

Dr. Ashley Brandon

Published on Aug 5, 2025

Service-learning is an educational opportunity for students to engage in moral development, social interaction, citizenship, teamwork, research, reflection and critical thinking. Service-learning differs from community service in that it integrates curriculum, research and reflection. Community service is often centered around drives and donations, whereas service-learning is geared toward addressing and potentially solving a community problem with planned service in pursuit of the common good, followed by reflection.

This pedagogical strategy not only works to address community needs but also fosters holistic human development. Students involved in service-learning can build critical thinking, empathy, prosocial skills, humility and so much more. Students engage in action, solve practical problems, develop their character and enhance their academic knowledge.

Understanding Service-Learning

Service-learning differs from volunteering and community service in that it actively engages students in the learning process and research to think critically about a real-world problem related to curriculum concepts and ways to solve the problem for the greater good. Students actively work to serve others and find a solution to a problem, then reflect on the experience or analysis of the project. Each step of the way they are developing their civic, moral and intellectual character, social skills and academic capacities.

Community needs: Service-learning starts with a review of the community needs. Allowing students to research the current issues in their local community or choose a project of their own interest can address practical problems, meet community needs and generate personal connections for students, furthering their character development.
Student voice: Students should take ownership of their learning with service projects. Allowing them to take active roles in planning, executing and evaluating their work can cultivate responsibility and ownership.
Curriculum integration: Connecting service-learning projects to curriculum not only aligns with academic standards and success but also creates deeper meaning of concepts for students. Further, students can apply their learning, strengthening their understanding and retention of the content. For example, a service-learning project that involves a community garden might link to health and nutrition standards, mathematics for design and science for agricultural needs.
Collaboration: When students work together on service-learning projects, they can collaborate and build social skills, they learn to listen to diverse perspectives and work as a team. Additionally, having students collaborate with organizations teaches life skills and ensures sustainability of the service work.
Reflection: A key component of service-learning is the reflection piece following the work. As students critically think about their experiences, the impact of their work and their personal development, they can build character and strengthen understanding of the academic content and benefits of contributing to society.

Why Integrate Service-Learning Projects

Service-learning is a multifaceted educational practice that yields a multitude of positive effects. Students involved in service-learning have elevated cognitive, social and emotional development. Instilling holistic human development through collaborative service-learning projects can leave a lasting impact on students. Growing trends in education emphasize the need for civic education.^1,2

According to the National Center for Education Statistics on Service-Learning, the most cited reasons for schools choosing to integrate service-learning were the relationships students built among peers, with the school and within the community; 53% said they encouraged involvement in service-learning to help students become active members of the community.³

“Through this experiential experience, students use their academic interests and passions to address community needs, gaining civic responsibility, internal motivation and humanistic qualities that will enable them to live in a world worth living in.”

— Ashley Brandon, Assistant Director, Canyon Center for Character Education, College of Education

Benefits of Integrating Service-Learning Projects

Through service-learning planning, researching and evaluation, students can develop critical thinking skills. They analyze issues, consider historical and societal context, weigh possible solutions and evaluate outcomes.
Students work toward finding solutions to hands-on problems, enhancing their problem-solving skills. They can take this knowledge with them as they enter the world of everyday problems. During the process, students can also gain a deeper understanding of cultural contexts involved in the problems at hand.
Through teamwork and collaboration, students can enhance their communicative capacities and learn to communicate effectively, listen actively and value diverse perspectives.
By addressing real problems, students can strengthen their empathy toward others and develop a sense of compassion. By working to serve others, students might enhance their sense of purpose and build self-efficacy and confidence in abilities to make a lasting impact for the common good.
Through service involvement, students might elevate their sense of civic responsibility, promoting their active commitment to being contributing citizens with a stronger connection to their community.
Through the process, students can cultivate stronger leadership skills as they take part in all aspects of the project and take ownership.
Through taking action, students may see themselves as leaders and contributors to society.

Implementing Service-Learning

Implementing service-learning does not have to take the same format in each school community or grade level. Some educators may be considering a framework or process.

As a general approach, one may consider:

Select a theme and aligning curriculum: Teachers guide students in reviewing local issues related to their passions and interests. Based on student interests and grade level curriculum standards, consider alignment between topic ideas and curriculum standards that can be integrated in the discussions, reflections, research and activities.
Determine the action: With student input, through discussions and conversations or surveys, empower student voice in determining actions they can take to solve community problems related to the themes and standards.
Facilitate action: As students research the issue and solutions, educators guide and facilitate the students as they develop a plan for an action approach and connecting with community partners to organize the work.
Maintain learning: As students engage in the project, educators continue to provide opportunity for discussions around the project and curriculum, reflection on impacts and personal development and collaboration with others. This may also include developing intentional activities to connect, such as a math lesson with the planning phase on cost effectiveness.
Integrate reflection: Throughout the process, educators should provide dialogue opportunities and reflective activities, such as journaling, for students to reflect on the issue itself. They can also reflect on the planning, process, challenges, action, impact and personal development to enhance their experiences.
Self-assess: Allow students and educators to evaluate the project from start to end — what worked, what did not, what can be improved and how?
Showcase: Provide opportunities for students to be leaders and share the work they’ve done and create a sense of belonging in the classroom. This can help empower other students as well, while also building communication skills, leadership capacities and more.

“Service-learning can be a transformational educational practice that not only serves the community and solves practical problems but can also be a multifaceted benefit to students.”

— Ashley Brandon, College of Education

Types of Service-Learning Projects

Service-learning can take place at all grade levels. The academic alignment can be structured to various cognitive abilities and the projects can adapt to the needs and interests of all students and communities.

Here are some helpful service-learning examples:

Students can work with or help the elderly. Perhaps they provide a technology class for those willing, create care packages for residents in nursing homes, write letters to the elderly or volunteer in nursing homes.
Students can organize efforts to serve those in need. This may include clothing or food drives, knitting hats for cancer patients or feeding the homeless.
Students might consider the environment and work to create a community garden for residents, work to prevent erosion in local nature areas or work to clean up a local park or area building their environmental stewardship.
Students may consider a need in the community, such as clean water, a health and wellness clinic, or a trash cleanup and work together to find a solution. Then, they can either develop a resource or advocate for one with local politicians.
Working to produce a community recycle project or implement sustainable environmental practices with local businesses can also foster environmental stewardship. Students can educate peers about the benefits of recycling and sustainability.
Students can write letters to service providers and send them in care packages.
Tutoring, mentoring or reading buddies to help younger students build literacy skills.
Allow students to engage in advocacy campaigns to raise awareness of cultural diversity, social issues or other areas of interest and encourage them to advocate for policy changes.
Organize a health fair with booths and businesses sharing health information and offering screenings or information to the community.

Start Your Journey in Service-Focused Education

Through opportunities for moral development, students can address needs based on their interests while gaining cognitive growth through connections to curriculum. With quality reflection, students can consider the lasting impact they make and strengthen their commitment to being a positive citizen in their community. Through service-learning projects, students can become thoughtful, critical thinkers that are compassionate and collaborative citizens who may one day advocate for others.

At Grand Canyon University, our students are encouraged to live their lives in service of God and others. We provide opportunities for students to get involved in their local community and make a lasting difference in the lives of those around them. Our education degrees promote servant-leadership and teach you to lead by example, helping the next generation to make a difference.

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Written By

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Dr. Ashley Brandon

Assistant Director for the Canyon Center for Character Education,

College of Education