The largest culture represented varies by semester. Some of the students are international students who will return to their home country. Because Hawaii is so multicultural, it is quite easy for students to remain in their own little cultural niche without needing to interact much with another culture. The service learning project takes them out of that niche, at least for a little while. Residents of Palolo Valley where most of the service learning projects for this class occur are primarily Samoan, Indonesian, Vietnamese, or Laotian.
Students choose based on their schedules and their interests.
During spring 1997 semester, the class meeting times conflicted with the after-school tutoring at Jarrett Intermediate School, so that option was not available. The class meets in a computer networked classroom and uses the computers at almost each session for regular discussions, for peer critiques on student essays, and for submission of written work, including their reflective journals. Service learning is mandatory in the class because I want to be able to conduct synchronous discussions about their service learning in class as part of their written reflection. Very early in the semester, we have an online discussion about what service means in their culture. After students select their own project, the groups are divided by project to discuss what they plan to do first.