Comparing College Community Participation and Future Service Behaviors and Attitudes.

Abstract

Little research has examined the effects of service participation and the level of integration of service into courses on alumni service-related attitudes and behaviors. In the present study, 481 alumni of a religious-affiliated liberal arts college participated in a phone survey that examined their present and past behaviors related to service and their current service-related attitudes. Results showed that participation in both general community service and service-learning as undergraduates was positively associated with alumni attitudes toward social and personal responsibility as well as alumni involvement in post-college community service and service-related careers. Service-learning participation exerted an effect over and above that accounted for by community service participation. Positive relationships of service-learning with outcomes generally were limited to courses that provided high-quality experiences (more hours of service, more reflection activity, and more integration of service into the course). ********** Beginning in the mid-1980s, educators and critics of higher education (e.g., Boyer, 1987; Newman, 1985) have called for a greater commitment from colleges and universities to connect student learning more closely to contemporary civic and social issues (Eyler & Giles, 1999; Jacoby, 1996). Higher educational institutions have responded to this call by incorporating curricular and co-curricular programs with the goals of furthering students' awareness of public issues and community needs, helping to foster the development of ethical leadership, and encouraging students to assume a lifelong commitment to social responsibility (Bringle, 2003; Kendall, 1990). Service-learning, the incorporation of community service experiences in an academic course that enhances learning of course material and contributes to students' preparation for continued civic participation (Howard, 2001), has become a popular curricular innovation that has responded to the challenges of such goals (Bringle; Eyler & Giles; Jacoby, 1996). A growing number of studies have documented the positive effects of participating in community service and service-learning for college undergraduates who become involved in service activities (Astin & Sax, 1998; Eyler & Giles, 1999; Fenzel & Leary, 1997; Moely, McFarland, Miron, Mercer, & Ilustre, 2002; Vogelgesang & Astin, 2000). Among the benefits acknowledged by researchers are gains in students' attitudes toward civic responsibility, academic skills, and leadership participation and development. Particularly noteworthy is the work of Astin and colleagues. For example, in a study of the long-term benefits of service participation, Astin, Sax, and Avalos (1999) showed that the effects of participation in college volunteer service persists up to five years beyond college graduation and are evidenced in graduates' attitudes toward social responsibility and greater commitment to serving their communities. Some work (e.g., Astin, Vogelgesang, Ikeda, & Yee, 2000; Vogelgesang & Astin, 2000) has shown also that in many ways participants in service that is incorporated in an academic course benefit more, or in different ways, than do students who participate in service not related to their academic program. For example, Astin et al. (2000), in a large study of several thousand university students, reported that both service-learning and non-course-related (or general) community service independently predicted college students' levels of commitment to activism (community and political action) and promoting racial understanding, intentions to pursue a service-related career, and academic outcomes such as growth in critical thinking and skills in written expression. The authors suggested that the students' expression of a desire to be employed in a service-based career after graduation, when they had participated in general community service and service-learning, indicated a particularly strong finding because of the strong commitment to service that such a choice manifests. …