It made me want to help them even more so they can get out and enjoy life, too. Feelings of gratitude are common among her students who work with the brain-injury patients, says Wee, an assistant professor of cell and molecular biology. Students also gain a better understanding of amnesia, other memory deficits and language and motor skills deficits. When I talk about learning and memory and the brain in class, they have seen it. They have seen the deficits of the brain in brain-injured folks.
Students benefit, and patients benefit.
But students benefit the most when they are motivated and want to participate, so most courses make the service-learning component optional, either for an extra hour of credit for those who do participate, or substituting a substantial paper for those who do not want to. Some students, however, resent doing service learning. They don't appreciate it. Others recognize that it's important. Gotham says there can be a down side to thrusting privileged students into a disadvantaged setting if the students are not frequently briefed and monitored.