assessment of student learning.

The Service-Learning Academy is actively engaged in the University's assessment processes. Since the Spring 2006 semester, we have undertaken voluntary surveys, developed in consultation with focus groups of our community partners, at the beginning and end of each semester to determine the impacts of service-learning participation on students. With the data we collect and analyze from this research, it is our hope to develop more effective service-learning courses, improve teaching approaches, increase outreach, encourage faculty participation, and promote scholarship.

During the 2006-2007 academic year, we surveyed 924 students — just over half of those involved in service-learning — before and after their service-learning experiences. 95% of students expected to learn material that would be useful in everyday life. The same number, a full 95%, agreed at the end that they would be able to make use of what they had learned in service-learning courses in daily life. It should not be surprising, then, that 90% of UNO students surveyed believe that community work should be used in more courses.

Most compelling, though, are students' reasons for participating in service-learning. From a list that included a wide variety of goals, both self- and other-oriented, 94% of students agreed that their personal top five reasons for participating in community service activities were to:

• Help other people
• Improve the community
• Develop new skills
• Learn more about other people and their experiences
• Work with people different than themselves

From this list, it is clear that UNO students look beyond themselves, and desire to make a difference in the community. Service-learning meets this desire; at the conclusion of a service-learning course, 94% of students believe that their efforts have benefited the community. They also actively seek diversity.

Service-learning also enhances students' sense of community engagement. 87% feel an enhanced responsibility to serve their community after service-learning, 93% report having been shown how to be more involved, and 91% of students are more aware of community needs as a result of their participation in service-learning coursework at The University of Nebraska at Omaha. This heightened sense of civic engagement will continue to benefit these students and the community into the future.