Faculty use of service: Learning within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University

Service-learning, a form of experiential learning, has been implemented among many disciplines in higher education; however, little research has been done on the development of service-learning in colleges of agriculture. Service-learning links meaningful community service to the course curriculum, combined with guided reflection to enrich the learning of the students and provide service to the community. It is a method for providing community outreach that can fulfill the outreach mission of higher education. Experiential learning has long been the foundation for the curriculum in agriculture education, and it would seem that service-learning would be a natural extension of the curriculum. However, there have not been any studies to assess the level at which service-learning is used in colleges of agriculture.; This study was a census survey to ascertain the status of service-learning in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University. It was a descriptive study of the responses from the teaching faculty to determine their knowledge and use of service-learning. A total of 107 questionnaires were returned out of 272 possible for a response rate of 39.3 percent.; The study examined (1) The factors that motivated faculty to use service-learning. (2) Factors that were important for integrating service-learning into their courses. (3) The knowledge of service-learning prior to the study by non-service-learning faculty, and (4) The factors important to non-service-learning faculty for integrating service-learning into their courses.; This study contributes to the literature on service-learning and faculty development and motivation in higher education, specifically, it provides descriptive data on the faculty motivation, knowledge and use of service-learning in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University.; The findings from this study indicated that a majority of faculty in the college used experiential learning methods (m = 3.36) and had heard of service-learning (52.5%); however, they were not using service-learning in their courses. The most important factors for use of service-learning by faculty were their personal interest (m = 4.32) and the needs of their students (m = 3.83) and community interest (m = 3.65). The non-service-learning faculty indicated that they needed more information on service-learning (m = 3.42), they lacked the time to prepare (m = 3.64) and implement service-learning (m = 3.49), and funding (m = 3.55) of service-learning projects was important. Non-service-learning faculty indicated that they would consider using service-learning if there was adequate student interest (m = 3.77), service projects could be relevant to Agriculture and Natural Resources course content (m = 3.60) and if there was community interest (3.55).; As an outcome of the study, key recommendations for the implementation of service-learning were brought forward for consideration in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.