Quality criteria and evaluation: a measuring instrument for the German language area

Abstract

The University Network on Social Responsibility is a network of more than 40 universities in Germany and Austria established in 2009 that want to realise and expand their social responsibility by systematically promoting the civil society engagement of students, teachers, and other members of higher education, linking this with their educational mission and thus actively influencing society and contributing to the mutual transfer of knowledge. This can be done through the teaching-learning format of service learning (SL). In 2018, a workshop initiated a discussion between representatives of academia and civil society. The focus was the aspect of quality of SL. The group came up with ten different criteria which provide a frame of reference for the different manifestations of SL in the community. Based on these criteria, suitable procedures and instruments were developed to provide SL actors with orientation and suggestions for the implementation and evaluation of SL projects.