ENGAGING NON-MAJORS WITH ACADEMIC SERVICE LEARNING IN THE GEOSCIENCES

The University of Wisconsin Superior recognizes Academic Service-Learning (ASL) as an organized service activity that meets an identified community need which students participate in as a part of a course. The service activity should increase understanding of course content, enhance broad appreciation of the discipline, and create a sense of civic responsibility. Our campus aims to become a regional leader in academic service learning, thus providing a distinctively public quality to UW-Superior's liberal arts mission. The Earth Science Program is currently undertaking an initiative to embed ASL projects within fifty percent of our courses, which are primarily targeted to non-majors. Our ASL projects include: student teaching projects in both online and on campus courses, a rock collection activity with local elementary students, a completed feasibility study for a community water taxi, and a mapping project coordinated in conjunction with the local National Estuarine Research Reserve. We provide examples of what worked and some drawbacks to embedding these projects into courses. The primary challenge of successful ASL projects is designing and coordinating meaningful projects that are manageable in a 15 week course, which enhance rather than limit course content and learning goals.