Teaching innovation, community partnering, applied learning and engagement: Enhancing students’ university experiences through service-learning

[Extract]
To be effective in today's learning environment requires continuous innovation, adaptation and change (Ramsey, 2002). Students today learn through a wider variety of mechanisms than they did only a decade ago, utilising different technologies and a variety of learning styles. The educational landscape has shifted from a teaching oriented domain to one with a clear focus on
learning processes. Our challenge as educators is to continuously hone our skills, knowledge, and learning tools with a focus on creating the highest quality learning possible in our educational environments. This chapter describes one learning tool that has been successfully applied across different subjects at Bond University; the tool is a practice called service-learning.

The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, the concept of service-learning is defined and contextualised as a university level andragogical tool. Second, a specific application of service learning is examined - its use as an integral component of a subject on negotiation in the Faculty of Business, Technology and Sustainable Development at Bond University.