Two UGA faculty members have been named recipients of the 2014 Service-Learning Excellence Awards. The awards were established in 2011 by the Office of Service-Learning to recognize distinction in teaching and research related to academic service-learning.
OSL reports jointly to the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach and the Office of the Vice President for Instruction.
The 2014 Service-Learning Teaching Excellence Award recipient is Betina Kaplan, an associate professor of Spanish in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
Since 2002, Kaplan has taught the course “Spanish Practicum for Service-Learning,” which she designed to engage students in applying their Spanish knowledge to opportunities including parent-teacher conferences, tutoring and health care referrals. She also developed and taught a version of the course for five semesters in UGA’s Buenos Aires study-abroad program, as well as a First-Year Odyssey seminar supporting Spanish adult literacy.
Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor of Language and Literacy Education in the College of Education, received the 2014 Service-Learning Research Excellence Award.
Smagorinsky has used service-learning to weave together a program of research, teaching and service related to the preparation and support of future English instructors.
In addition to research presentations, book chapters and journal articles on these topics, Smagorinsky co-edited a newly-released book, Service-learning in Literacy Education: Possibilities for Teaching and Learning.
