Kathleen Tice, Ph.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of
Curriculum and Instruction, College of
Education

Service Learning Course(s):

• Literacy Learning for EC-6 Students:
• Literature and Language (LIST 4374)
• Assessment in Literacy Learning (LIST 4376)

“The process of working in an organization and thinking about the connection with course concepts makes them come alive and allows the students to understand at a more fundamental level."

Dr. Kathleen Tice began her service learning career with fellow educator, Dr. Larry Nelson. With a common goal in mind, the duo gathered research on service learning over the course of 10 years. It was then that she realized the importance of efficacy and how big of a help accurate data is to that effect. In addition, she also gained a better understanding of the implementation of service learning projects, as many different factors have to be taken into consideration for an effective project. Dr. Tice was able to go on to create her own after-school literacy program at the elementary school Uplift Summit and learned how to provide a comprehensive literacy program. She has also had the opportunity to present every year at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in a special interest group, and co-edited an online journal for their International Center for Service Learning. She has been able to help two community partners get funding for a Partner Breakfast; the first one was $5,000 for a nonprofit working with orphanages in Ukraine helping those who aged out of the system pay for university dues. What drew her specifically to service learning was when she went with her students to read aloud to children at Cook Children’s Hospital and got an amazing reaction from her students. Wanting to do more with it, she spoke with a colleague in her department who was a Faculty Fellow at the time, and was encouraged to learn about service learning. Tice joined the Faculty Fellows Program the following year.

Dr. Tice advises faculty interested in service learning to reach out to the Center for Service Learning and find out what it takes to implement it. All the hard work that comes with service learning is worth it for the students who benefit from the classes.