Research in Action
Research together, shape the future
Students, lecturers, and community partners shape teaching and practical projects with relevance for society. Service learning (SL) can be integrated specifically into a subject of study, whether through seminars, course projects, or final theses.
Subject knowledge meets real challenges – and creates scope for joint learning, commitment, and a sustained impact. We accompany you every step of the way!
Please note that the Service Learning guidance is taught in German.
Civil society practice area: How does it work?
Service learning (SL) in the context of a study project
Would you like to use your study project to make a difference for civil society? Choose the ‘Service Learning Project’ option and benefit from the support and reflection opportunities we offer.
Service learning (SL) combines experiential learning at a non-profit organization with academic knowledge:
- You develop your project together with a community partner (CP) and take up current issues facing civil society.
- You establish a practical connection to the learning content and methods of your subject.
- You reflect on requirements and approaches in practice and develop your personal competences.
As an integral part of the course project, our SL guidance service helps you to systematically develop and reflect on your project:
- Networking: We cooperate with numerous CP in the region that are engaged in the fields of interculturality & migration, sustainability, environment & life sciences, democratization, or digitalization. We support you in finding suitable CPs, establishing contact with them, and coordinating your project. You have the opportunity to exchange ideas with other student volunteers.
- Reflection and guidance: You reflect on your experiences in the following three fields through key questions in an ILIAS course room, your personal logbook, and peer feedback:
(1) link between theory and practice, (2) personal competence development, (3) societal awareness. - Thematic impulses: You develop several topics, such as project management, communication and cooperation, and competence development, on your own time through self-learning elements.
We offer you individual consultation hours and support you with questions on the project and the cooperation. We establish the scope of support and your workload beforehand after consulting with your academic department. Please take into account the information provided by the module coordinators in your course project.
The cooperation with CP gives you practical insight into the demands of civil society, and you help actively to find practicable approaches for them.
Through the impulses for reflection, you achieve clarity over your strengths and competences, your self-efficacy, and your professional orientation. You become conscious of your learning and development process and understand how and by what means you have developed in both personal and academic terms.
The guidance and the thematic impulses support you in structuring your project and bringing it to a successful conclusion.
You can combine asynchronous self-learning elements in the ILIAS course room and synchronous units (online or in person) according to your needs.
Upon completion of your project, you can choose between three options:
- (1) interdisciplinary closing event organized by the Service Learning course area
- (2) internal closing event (in your course programme)
- (3) closing event hosted by the CP.
- Find out about our CPs and the various fields of activity on the Service Learning website. You can find a current list of the CPs for SL course projects here: Community partners and their fields of activity (PDF).
- Do you have an idea for a project with a CP or another civic initiative? Send us an email at sl@zfs.uni-freiburg.de. We’ll discuss the possibilities with you.
- Look for an appropriate academic advisor in your subject: Please take into account the registration process for course projects in your subject and complete the necessary forms.
- Please inform us (sl@zfs.uni-freiburg.de) that you have registered in your subject. Directly after registering, you become a member in the ILIAS course room and receive access to the guidance elements.
You can also download all important information (PDF):
Service Learning in the context of a final thesis
If you are interested in completing your final thesis with a community partner, please contact us and we’ll discuss the possibilities with you. Please also consult your departmental academic advisor.
How can I integrate the teaching and learning format service learning (SL) into my teaching?
Are you researching and teaching at the University of Freiburg and wish to address challenges of civil society with your students?
With the service learning (SL) format, you combine your research questions and teaching topics with the concrete concerns of civil society. In doing so, you can rely on the expertise of civic organizations as well as the SL team. In a subject-specific SL course, your students receive the opportunity to address real challenges in a project on the basis of your research interests or teaching topics and to reflect on their practical experiences.
What’s the benefit?
Students experience research in a practical and meaningful way. Whether they’re developing communication strategies for an organization or conducting field research on migration and integration topics, they experience themselves as competent and take on responsibility. The project-based format enables learning on equal terms and fosters reflection competence. As a lecturer, you can specify aspects of your research in cooperation with community partners (CP) and possibly receive new impulses.
What forms can teaching take in the field of civil society?
We coordinate the procedure, formats, and content of process support with you individually. Projects can be completed as individual projects, e.g., course projects or final theses, or in the context of seminars. Service learning is a suitable teaching and learning format for all bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes. We would be happy to speak with you about the possibilities for integrating service learning into the curriculum of your subject.
How can we support you?
We have been implementing an interdisciplinary SL programme at the ZfS for several years. We cooperate with more than 40 municipal and non-profit organizations, initiatives, and associations. Students volunteer in the fields of interculturality & migration, sustainability, environment & life sciences, democracy education, and digitalization. We are familiar with contact persons and the “mission” in the fields of voluntary service.
We would be happy to make our experience available to you, e.g., with the following tasks:
- We establish contact with civic organizations and community partners (CPs).
- We moderate a meeting between interested teachers and CPs.
- We support you in designing new courses or adapting existing ones (teaching and learning goals, structure, ILIAS elements) in cooperation with the Department of Higher Education Didactics and Digital Learning and Teaching Development (HDL).
- We support you in developing project ideas and concretize clear and achievable goals.
- We foster the dialogue between the CP and students.
- We help you to conduct a structured reflection process in three learning fields: (1) link between theory and practice, (2) personal competence development, (3) societal awareness (in terms of an awareness of civic engagement, democracy, and social responsibility).
- We draw up reflection units and tasks for the course and during the project work, e.g., logbook, key questions on ILIAS, portfolio, small-group supervision, competence assessment, peer feedback, design of posters.
- We’re available throughout the course and advise you on questions concerning the implementation of the format and cooperation with the CP.
We moderate a joint closing event with everyone involved. Depending on the module and the course format, this can take the form of an internal closing event at your department or a closing event hosted by community partners.
How can you reach us?
Please feel free to contact us: We would be happy to present possibilities to you (e.g., in the context of final theses, seminars, or course projects) and discuss options for cooperation with you and ways we can support you.