Service-learning offers exciting opportunities for pedagogy that can enhance natural science education. However, historically service-learning has been underrepresented in natural science courses at institutions of higher education. Our campus, like many others across the country, has seen considerable growth in academically based Service-Learning in recent years. Service-learning is now woven into the curriculum in almost every discipline and major we offer. But it has been especially challenging to integrate service-learning into the natural sciences. Part of the difficulty to engage natural science faculty in service-learning has been perceived time constraints imposed by course content. The subject matter is not easily organized around a service-learning component. In addition, labs must cover particular techniques and topics. The Calvin Environmental Assessment Program (CEAP) was first developed to address the need to increase service-learning in Calvin College's Natural Science Division, but has grown to encompass transforming the institution itself and its relations with the surrounding community. The program involves faculty across the college, but mainly in the sciences, who each dedicate regular lab sessions or projects to collecting data that contribute to an overall environmental assessment of the campus and surrounding areas. These activities often provide a meaningful bridge to the community and more fully integrate the campus with the surrounding community. The CEAP service-learning model directly addresses service-learning's weakness in general as Zlotkowski articulated (1995)--the need to ensure its full integration into American higher education through addressing individual disciplines' needs and allying service-learning with particular academic interest groups.
