Long-Term Academic Benefits of Service-Learning: When and Where do They Manifest Themselves?.

Abstract

During the last several years, researchers have been garnering evidence concerning the benefits of service-learning, and urging its inclusion in the curricular mainstream. This study presents evidence that college students manifest long-lasting, if modest, academic benefits from participating in service-learning. The academic records of 477 students who completed an Introductory Child Development lecture course with or without a requirement were examined, to compare grades earned by the service-learning and the non-service-learning students in four kinds of upper division courses. Results of ANOVAS yielded differences in student performance consistently favoring the service-learning students, although they failed to reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Directions for future as well as concerns about the more widespread infusion of are discussed. ********** In this article, I argue in support of adopting as an instructional tool. I offer evidence that college students manifest academic benefits from participating in service in both the short run (in the course in which the experiences occur) and the long run (in courses taken subsequently). During the last several years, researchers have been garnering evidence concerning the benefits of service-learning, and urging its inclusion in the curricular mainstream. (See, for example, the fairly comprehensive literature review in Giles & Eyler, 1998.) Indeed, in recent publications for college and university faculty, Tai-Seale (2001) and Cameron, Forsyth, Green, Lu, McGirr, Owens & Stoltz (2001) extolled its advantages and offered guidelines for its adoption in a range of academic disciplines and contexts. This pedagogy has been shown to student engagement with and commitment to school (Sax & Astin, 1997). It is a powerful tool for preparing students to be contributing citizens in their broader communities (Giles & Eyler, 1994; Eyler & Giles, 1996; Markus, Howard & King, 1993; Kendrick, 1996). It has been shown to have a powerful impact on students' social and emotional development (Eyler & Giles, 1996; Eyler & Giles, 1999; Kendrick, 1996; Ostrow, 1995; Rhoads, 1997). And finally, evidence is beginning to confirm that can the achievement of the curricular goals of the courses in which it is embedded (eg, Astin & Sax, 1998; Cohen & Kinsey, 1994; Eyler & Giles, 1996; Gray et al, 1996, Kendrick, 1996; Markus, Howard & King, 1993; Strage, 2001). It should not be surprising that this instructional method is effective. Rooted in Deweyan principles of experiential (1938), academic contains three essential elements: students learn course content as they serve their community, and reflect on the connections between explicit course content and their experiences in the field. This process enables students to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility (Bringle & Hatcher, 1996, p. 222). The careful articulation of the objectives with the parameters of the service experience impart a three-dimensionality to the material that is often lacking in classroom-only pedagogical methods. Still, there is much uncharted territory in this area of inquiry, and indeed, the question of how service can enhance subject matter learning tops the list of ten unanswered questions in service research (Giles & Eyler,1998, p. 65). One area in particular that has received very little attention is the question of whether the benefits of last. In a recent compilation of and theory, Billig & Furco noted the dearth of longitudinal studies, and lamented that too little is known about how experiences can be designed to have longer term effects, and indeed what the longer term effects are on dispositions, attitudes and behaviors (2002, p. …