Learning Management in a Crisis: A Service Learning Response to September 11, 2001

Abstract

This article describes a service learning project implemented midsemester in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks. The project applied course topics while allowing students to positively channel their anxiety. Students developed and implemented a community-wide effort to collect care packages for U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan. The article presents the project’s evolution, successes, and problems. The pros and cons of service learning through changing a course midsemester are also discussed. This project description may be instructive to readers who are contemplating service learning class projects. It should also be of interest to instructors who sense the need to change a course midsemester.