The world is their classroom

by Jennifer McNulty

Scott MacDonald of Santa Cruz County's Probation Department, UCSC student Christine Lee, and field-study coordinator Mike Rotkin outside Juvenile Hall, where Lee recently served as an intern. All photography for this article: R.R.Jones

Kids at Juvenile Hall can be tough and intimidating, but sometimes the right person can break through those barriers and make a difference. Christine Lee, a master's student in education at UCSC, was that person for a 17-year-old named Richard. (Not his real name.)

Lee tutored Richard as part of a UCSC field-study class called New Vistas in Juvenile Justice. She helped him prepare for his high school equivalency exam, and she was there to celebrate when he passed. His parents were not.

Tell me and I forget,
Teach me and I remember,
Involve me and I learn.

--Benjamin Franklin

"He's so smart, but he's been on and off the streets since he was eight years old," said Lee, who hopes the milestone makes a lasting difference in Richard's life.

For Lee, her internship at Juvenile Hall confirmed her interest in working with at-risk youth. "It gave me a lot of energy to move forward with my teaching," she said. "It gave me a sense of urgency and of hope, because I saw both: The need for urgency, and that there is hope."

Scott MacDonald, assistant division director with the County of Santa Cruz Probation Department, says UCSC interns like Lee provide critical help for youth who become entangled with the juvenile justice system before they're old enough to drive.

"Christine is an example of why I do this program," said MacDonald, who supervises 20 interns every quarter. "Helping a kid get through that exam is remarkable. Now I've got kids at Juvenile Hall saying, 'When are the interns coming back? I want an intern.'"

Internships and field-study placements give students a chance to integrate the theory they learn in the classroom with practical experience. Dubbed "experiential education" and "service learning" by researchers, these opportunities for hands-on learning enrich the academic experience while contributing to personal and career development.

The roots of service learning at UCSC go back to the earliest days of the campus, when faculty members like William Friedland and Herman Blake, and staff member Nick Royal, took up the cause and fought to house field-study programs under the academic wing of the university rather than under career services. After more than 30 years at the forefront of service learning, UCSC is now a model for schools across the country, many of which are trying to re-create what has been done here.

New research confirms what early supporters like Friedland and Blake suspected: Experiential learning within a structured academic program deepens students' understanding of theoretical material and motivates students to learn more. Students retain more of what they learn, they perform better academically, and their subsequent studies are more focused.

"My fear is always that students will come back cynical and discouraged, but it's always the opposite. They come back feeling less cynical, more energized, and believing they can make a difference."

--Mike Rotkin

"High-level field-study work that is integrated into the curriculum helps students develop a complexity of understanding. It enhances learning itself," said Janet Eyler, a Vanderbilt University education professor and coauthor of the new book Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?

With validation from researchers like Eyler, support for experiential education is taking off. Professional associations are growing, attendance at national conferences is increasing, and a growing number of communities like Santa Cruz are reaping the benefits as university students fan out into community organizations, schools, government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses, eager to test their knowledge and develop their skills.

At UCSC, service learning is almost synonymous with the name Mike Rotkin. A lecturer in the Community Studies Department, Rotkin began sponsoring students in field studies when he arrived on campus in 1969. He has officially coordinated the department's field-study program for two decades. Rotkin's is a front-row seat from which he watches the transformation of students who participate in service learning.

Portia Edwards was inspired to major in art history after her intern-ship at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.

"Aside from the practical experience of living outside the cocoon of student culture, students come back with a more complex understanding of the world," says Rotkin. "My fear is always that they'll come back cynical and discouraged because the world is a difficult place, but it's always the opposite. They come back feeling less cynical, more energized, and believing they can make a difference."

Last year, UCSC students contributed more than 200,000 hours of service through field-study placements and internships. Students are particularly gung ho about field-study courses offered by the Social Sciences Division: More than 1,200 students enrolled in the division's field-study courses last year. About 80 percent of those placements were in the Santa Cruz region, but students regularly pop up elsewhere in California, the United States, and internationally. Nearly half chose to work with nonprofits, about a third were in education, and the remainder worked in government and business.

"Field study is such a good match for our students," said Martin Chemers, dean of the Division of Social Sciences at UCSC. "It gives them a chance to see the theory they're learning unfold in the real world, and at the same time they're able to make a positive contribution to society."

Students in every division benefit from service-learning opportunities, however. For Yvonne Rodriguez, internships in a geochemistry lab on campus and then with the United States Geological Survey gave her a chance to work in the world of science for the first time.

"Especially in the sciences, what you're learning in the classroom is the basics," she said. "During an internship, you get to apply what you've learned. You set up your experiment, go out there, and do it. You have to analyze your own data and use your brain to figure out what's going on. You learn how to be a scientist."

Rodriguez, a physics major who transferred to UCSC in 1995 from Chabot College in Hayward, credits her internships with building her confidence, too.

"My parents didn't go to college, and I had no idea what it would be like to work with scientists," said Rodriguez, a single mother of three who juggles school, work, and parenting responsibilities. "Being a woman going into the sciences and hanging out with the guys, I didn't know what to expect. It was demystifying for me to see that they're nice people and that it's okay to ask questions."

If internships opened up the world of science for Rodriguez, art history major Portia Edwards surrounded herself with great art during her experience as an intern at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.

Edwards worked in the public programs department of the Smithsonian Institution's museum of modern and contemporary art. It was a pivotal experience for Edwards, who helped organize a poetry workshop for writers inspired by the visual arts. Her final project was to edit a volume of poems created in response to the museum's show of George Segal's sculpture.

"Christine is an example of why I do this program. Now I've got kids at Juvenile Hall saying, 'When are the interns coming back? I want an intern.'"

--Scott MacDonald

"I love art history, but I'd been reluctant to major in it because I was worried about getting a job after college," explained Edwards, who changed her major from global economics. "Working in the museum convinced me to go into art. Since it's what I really love and am passionate about, I'll find something to do with it."

The internship also shored up Edwards's academic motivation.

Terence Lien's appreciation of psychological theory deepened during his work tutoring homeless teens.

"I think experiential learning is the only way to fully understand what I've been studying," said Edwards, who described with awe the experience of seeing in real life the paintings she had studied for years in the slide library. "You get a sense of the value of your academic work. I've always been into studying, but now when I'm reading a journal article, I'll check the cross- references."

Edwards did her internship through the campus's UCDC program, which sends about 40 UCSC students to Washington, D.C., each year. The program offers an exciting combination
of course work, field research, and work experience.

"It's an incredible opportunity," said Edwards, who would regularly cross the Mall to view paintings at the National Gallery. "I can't imagine not having done it."

Edwards's supervisor, Teresia Bush, said she came to rely on Edwards to an unprecedented degree. "Portia was extremely resourceful and mature," said Bush. "You find very bright
interns all the time, but you don't always find that enthusiasm about learning that creates learning opportunities. Portia would go to the library and read about artists she didn't know. She was remarkable in that way."

Five departments at UCSC offer formal field-study programs: psychology, environmental studies, economics, Latin American and Latino studies, and community studies, which requires majors to participate in a two-quarter, full-time field study. In education, field-study placements are an integral part of the undergraduate minor, but academic credit for service learning is available to students in every department. Strikingly, women are three times as likely to participate as men, which Rotkin believes reflects the preponderance of women in the "helping professions."

Most departments require students to be juniors before they can participate in service learning. In community studies, students are required to take two courses specifically to prepare for their placement and at least one upon their return.

Yvonne Rodriguez got to apply what she'd learned in the classroom during two science internships.

"Field study enhances people's learning. We know that scientifically," says Rotkin. "But it's not an alternative to traditional education. Our goal is to integrate the two. We want students to come back to a rigorous traditional academic education, motivated to read, study, use the library, and do
more research. The two need to go together."

Faculty notice the difference, too. As students return to the classroom, they're eager to engage with the material in a more critical way. "It allows for more of a dialogue as students ask deeper, more complex questions," says Rotkin. "As teachers, that's more challenging, and it's more fun."

To encourage students to make the link between academics and their "real-world" experiences, faculty advisers at UCSC typically require an academic paper, a final project, and a journal that charts the student's experiences. Some host weekly seminars. Vanderbilt University's Eyler endorses all four tools as appropriate means of reflection.

"All of our most prestigious professions involve an active learning component--doctors in residencies, lawyers in legal clinics, physicists in the lab," said Eyler. "Think about it. Whenever we're serious about learning, we don't just put people in rooms and talk to them."

Students enroll in service learning for different reasons. One of the most popular offerings in the Economics Department is the new major in business management economics, where students are eager to prepare for jobs. There aren't many who can match Adam Roseman's enthusiasm. A junior, Roseman has bolstered his schoolwork with two demanding internships, first as a financial analyst intern for Autodesk, a Cupertino-based manufact-urer of computer-assisted
design software, and then as an analyst intern in the corporate finance department of U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, an investment banking firm headquartered in Minneapolis.

"I learned a ton at Autodesk--a ridiculous amount," said Roseman, who has had to invest in three suits, a sports jacket, and slacks since venturing into the heart of corporate America. "And now
Piper Jaffray is a perfect match for my professional goals."

Adam Roseman's business internships have been a perfect match for his professional goals.

Roseman analyzes corporate financial statements to help establish the current and potential value of companies. "It's quite a bit of responsibility. You don't want to make mistakes," he said. "It's very exciting for me."

If Roseman's focused career goals have shaped his college experience, his internships have helped him hone his selection of classes, pointing out gaps in his education. "I'm going to take Corporate Finance next year," he said. "And Money and Banking, too."

Terence Lien, who graduated in psychology last fall, spent two quarters tutoring homeless teens for Above the Line, an organization that operates a school for homeless teens in conjunction with the Santa Cruz County Office of Alternative Education.

As a classroom- and case-management aide, Lien helped students get back on track to attend mainstream schools. The experience offered him numerous opportunities to apply theories he'd learned in the classroom. "It helped me understand some of the literature and see how it
can apply," he said. "But it's also a different experience. Learning from a book and seeing it applied in real life are two different things for me."

Lien chose the position because he wanted to broaden his experiences before going to graduate school, but it has turned into something more. Now out of school, he has gone back as
a volunteer to work with the kids.

"During my internship, the kids couldn't believe I wasn't being paid," said Lien. "But just being there for the kids makes me feel good."

Just as the benefits of experiential learning are multiple, so are the beneficiaries. Students rave about their opportunities to grow personally, intellectually, and professionally, and their field supervisors appear to be equally enthusiastic about what they get out of the relationships.

"All of our most prestigious professions involve an active learning component--doctors in residencies, lawyers in legal clinics, physicists in the lab. Whenever we're serious about learning, we don't just put people in rooms and talk to them."

--Janet Eyler

Like Scott MacDonald, the intern coordinator at Santa Cruz County Probation, many appreciate the dedication students bring to their field studies.

"UCSC students tend to have a real commitment to doing something in society," said MacDonald, a 1983 alumnus whose department is moving away from traditional law-enforcement strategies toward a "holistic" approach that emphasizes social work and early intervention. "We couldn't do what we're doing for the kids without the help of the UCSC interns."

Karen Delaney, director of the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, echoes MacDonald's comments, saying that many agencies, nonprofits, and service organizations couldn't survive without the help UCSC students provide.

"A lot of university students like working with kids and youth, and they play a very powerful role as mentors," said Delaney, a 1981 alumna whose organization helps place about 6,000 volunteers annually. "It really makes a huge difference in the lives of the kids."

Service learning can have civic value, too, allowing students to get a sense of how communities work and how they can have an impact. Some students find their introduction to such work so rewarding that they go on to establish their own nonprofit agencies or service organizations after graduation.

Experiential education is being embraced at all levels. Delaine Eastin, California's superintendent of public instruction, believes that service learning can help prepare K-12 students academically as well as contribute to their development as good citizens, and she has urged school districts across the state to incorporate service learning into their curricula. And California Governor Gray Davis wants to require all students at state colleges and universities to perform some community service as a condition of graduation.

As the rest of the educational world recognizes the value of service learning, UCSC students are doing what they've been doing for more than three decades: leading the way.

Rotkin, a proud facilitator of three decades of experiential learning, sums up its value succinctly: "It's a profoundly different model of how to learn," he said. "And it works."