Service Learning@MIT

Service learning is a teaching method that integrates academically relevant community service projects into the curriculum of a class. Students in service learning classes apply their learning to real-world needs, providing valuable help to under-served communities and bridging the gap between theory and practice. For example:

(*) Students in an engineering class learn engineering design by creating an electro-mechanical device to aid a person with a unique disability.
(*) Students in a writing class hone their communication skills by writing a grant proposal that a community agency then uses to receive funding.
(*) Students in a Public Service Design Seminar develop and build a prototype that expands the possibilities for vaccine transportation in the developing world.

Integrating community service into the curriculum expands educational experiences, allowing students to gain a deeper understanding of their subjects, improved communication skills, and a better sense of their own potential as people and professionals. Service learning taps student inventiveness, provokes independent research and cooperative teamwork, and accommodates busy schedules by combining community service with coursework.

MIT's service learning initiative is growing steadily, building on MIT's history of educational innovation and service. In 2001, when the program first started, there were 35 students in just 3 service learning classes. Compare that to last year, when over 200 students participated in 19 service learning classes, to see the leaps and bounds service learning has made at MIT in just a few years.

MIT faculty and students can apply for service learning grants to help students initiate and pursue service learning classes, seminars, and projects.