The 7th Annual International Research Conference on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Comes to Tampa [09/13/2007]

This October the University of South Florida will be hosting this year’s conference. The event will take place October 6-9 and will be held at the Marriott Waterside hotel in downtown Tampa. This year’s topic is “Sustainability and Scholarship: Research and the K-20 Continuum."

The University of South Florida, along with the Florida Campus Compact, Florida State University, the University of Central Florida, Miami Dade College and the University of Miami, will be hosting the Seventh Annual International Research Conference on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. The event will be held in Tampa October 6-9 2007, at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina. The topic of this year’s conference is “Sustainability and Scholarship: Research and the K-20 Continuum.” This conference is open to all faculty and students who are interested in service-learning and community engagement.

The international conference began in 2001 in Berkley California and it grew out of the Annual International K-H Service-Learning Research Conference. At the time when the first conference was held, there were no other conferences that highlighted service-learning or community engagement. As the field has developed the conference has expanded to include a wide range of work related to community engagement and service-learning initiatives.

This year’s conference will begin with a research poster session on Saturday October 6, at 7 p.m. at the Florida Aquarium, which is just a quick walk or trolley ride from the hotel. These posters will outline many of the presentations that will be given throughout the conference.

The speakers have gathered from around the world and their projects have taken them into their own communities as well as the global community. Their presentation sessions will be held throughout the day on October 7-9 beginning at 9 a.m. and continue until 5:45 p.m. with breaks for refreshments and lunch. More than 100 individual presentations will be given on a variety of subjects related to service learning and this year’s conference topic.

Keynote speakers for this conference are Dr. Peter Levine of the University of Maryland, and Dr. Mark Miliron. Dr. Levine is the Director of CIRCLE, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, and his vast experience in the realm of engaged scholarship, service-learning and community engagement will set the stage for the conference. Dr. Miliron is an award-winning education leader, author, speaker, and consultant known for exploring leadership development, future trends, learning strategies, and the human side of technology change.

We asked USF faculty member Robin Jones, an avid practitioner of service-learning, why she thought service-learning projects were so important, particularly since these projects may be more work for the instructor. She responded by saying that service-learning offers enhanced learning for the students, the community and for herself. She said, “The students seem to learn more, and find learning easier and more fun when they are out in the community applying the concepts that they are taught in the classroom.”

Jones said that as an instructor of Urban Studies, it just “seemed natural” to incorporate service-learning into their curriculum, but that it may not be easy for faculty in other disciplines to find a way to connect the community with their subject matter. She stated that, while the first year of teaching through service learning is harder for the professor than traditional lecturing, each time they present it to a classroom, it does get easier. She has found that, because her students enjoy the service learning more than traditional book learning, they actually learn more and the end result is more gratifying for her.

The University of South Florida will be well represented at this year’s conference with 15 speakers and many more attendees. For a list of the USF speakers and the times at which they will be giving their presentations, please click here.

For more information on the conference or to register, vist the conference website at http://www.floridacompact.org/irsl/