Current Funded Projects
The Service-Learning Initiative funds development of service-learning courses and collaborative university/community projects that address community goals. Check the RFP page for information on the next funding cycle.
For information about all 2008 Outreach and Engagement Grants, see outreachgrants.osu.edu.
2008 Grants
The Service-Learning Initiative awarded three grants to support development of service-learning courses and two grants for enhancement of existing courses. The criteria for selection of these projects were:
- A focus on community goals
- Project design created collaboratively by interdisciplinary university/community teams
- Development of partnership for sustained community-based activity
2008 Course Development Grants
1. The Computer in the Visual Arts: Service-Learning Section
Karen Hutzel, Assistant Professor, Department of Art Education, College of the Arts; Partner: Catherine Girves, Director, University Area Enrichment Association
Course: Art Education 252S
This project will develop a service-learning version of an existing General Education Course, Introduction to the Computer in the Visual Arts in order to introduce students to the process of working with youth in teaching computer art and developing collaborative art with the computer as the tool. The course will be developed in collaboration with the University Area Enrichment Association through interaction with the existing Gidget project, a collaboration that focuses on connecting girls and women to technology. In the course, college students will be partnered with the girls, learn the computer programs together, and share and take photographs toward the development of art pieces. Through this process, the pairs will learn about each other’s cultures and communities, work to develop a collaborative art piece to showcase the similarities they find, and share their work with the college and neighborhood community.
2. Elements of Cartography: Serving the Community with Cartography
Ola Ahlqvist, Assistant Professor, and Tim Hawthorne, Graduate Teaching Associate, Geography, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Partner: African American and African Studies Community Extension Center
Course: Geography 580S
Students in Geography 580S will learn cartography and map design elements, including the use of GIS software for basic cartographic purposes and apply the basics of cartography and map design to a local real world project for a a severely underserved lower socioeconomic community. The students will engage with a local community partner, the African American and African Studies Community Extension Center, in a mutually beneficial collaborative manner involving action-oriented research. Through this process, the students will learn about the community and demonstrate the center how the maps can benefit the community.
3. General Methods in Adult Education
David Stein, Associate Professor, Workforce Development & Education, College of Education and Human Ecology; Partners: Rachael Turner, Advance One, Reach 1
Course: EDU PAES 649S
This course will be redesigned to provide learners an opportunity to explore and critically practice teaching an adult learner. The course will include new content and learning activities to demonstrate the teaching and learning challenges of the low-skilled, low-wage adult learner. Through service as a tutor, the university student using class content, critical reflection, and dialogue with other learners will learn how to implement adult teaching practices. The community partner is a combination of two GED preparation programs: Advance One, which resides within the Ohio State University Medical Center, and Reach 1, which resides in Human Resources at the Ohio State University. These programs serve university employees and other persons who live in the community surrounding the university.
2008 Course Enhancement Grants
1. Comparative Studies Newark Campus
Katherine Borland, Associate Professor, OSU Newark; Partner: Monimbo Indigenous Movement, Nicaragua
Courses: CS694 and CS698.02
This is a two-course series designed to test theory (classroom instruction) against practice (international study tour). The first course, CS694, is Development Theory. The second, CS698.02 is the Nicaragua Service-Learning Experience. In the second course, students will construct the first of several cabins designed to house international visitors identified as part of the alternative tourism market. These visitors would include school groups like our own, other groups engaged in local service projects, and independent tourists who are interested in interacting with Masayans outside of the town’s restored colonial market. This project is part of an ongoing engagement between MIM and the Ohio State University team over a series of years.
2. Business Honors Seminar
Nancy Lahmers, Senior Lecturer, Department of Finance, Fisher College of Business; Partner: Junior Achievement of Central Ohio
Course: H502
The purpose of the Honors Seminar is to enhance business learning through presentations, team building, leadership, and community service. Students in the Undergraduate Honors Cohort volunteer with Junior Achievement of Central Ohio, working closely with an elementary school in the community to teach the principles of Junior Achievement (JA) in grades 2-5. The enhancement grant will be used for transportation to the school and children’s books.
