ABSTRACT
The Human Relations course at Miami-Dade Community College was designed to effectively utilize the reciprocal process of service-learning in which the classroom lectures, presentations, and discussion would inform the service, and the service experience would inform the class. Structured and guided reflection in the form of journals and reflective dialogue would make the connection between the classroom content and the service. Student reactions as recorded in their journals, papers, and end-of-term feedback instruments reveal how they view the pedagogy and how it supports learning, creates personal meaning, and transforms both the student and recipients. However, the few students who refused to truly engage or who in a few instances actually misrepresented their service have been particularly problematic. In a traditional lecture class, the contrast would not have been as obvious or bothersome. In helping to both broaden the mind and deepen the heart, service-learning provides an optimal teaching strategy for human relations.
