How does service-learning differ from traditional community service projects or internships?
Devoted to connecting academic learning to real world service experience, service-learning moves beyond traditional volunteer or internship initiatives. While volunteer projects provide a necessary and worthwhile community service, they typically offer few structured opportunities to reflect upon and draw academic conclusions from service work. On the other hand, though internships provide a strong academic framework, serving the community is rarely their priority. Service-learning addresses these deficiencies by combining the service of volunteerism with the academic focus of internships to create an experience both enriching in its service application and edifying in its scholarly reflection. The September 2000 issue of PS: Political Science and Politics features a symposium on service learning in political science. This collection of essays addresses current research on how service learning affects civic outcomes, effects of community service and service learning on political attitu
