This volume is the seventh in the Advances in Service-Learning Research
series, and presents a collection of papers selected from those
presented at the Sixth International Service-learning Research, hosted
by Portland State University in Portland, Oregon in October 2006. The
theme of the conference, which is also the title of this volume, was
"From Passion to Objectivity: International and Cross-Disciplinary
Perspectives on Service- Learning Research." This theme was selected to
showcase several important topics in contemporary servicelearning and
community engagement research. Of key importance is the way in which the
chapters selected for this volume reflect the evolution and maturation
of research in the field of service-learning-moving from descriptive
narratives of the passion for addressing social problems and inequities
that was evident in much of the early research (and is still reflected
today) to increasingly sophisticated research that draws on multiple
methodologies, presents solid evidence, and offers the basis for
replication and further exploration through future research.