The Effects on Student Outcomes of Service-Learning Designated Courses: An Exploratory Study

Service-learning is integral to most American higher education institutions' mission in fostering community and civic engagement in a democratic society. Service-learning designation courses are mechanisms used to link courses to communities and to integrate experiential learning into education. The effects of the courses on student outcomes are multifaceted but warrant further inquiry. This exploratory study endeavors to investigate post service-learning course effects on student outcome indicators like connection of limited time community volunteering to academic course material; awareness of self and community needs; impacts on academic and career goals at a four-year public university in the United States. This research, which aims to boost the knowledge-based of service-learning designation courses' impacts on students, theorized that to predict and measure the outcomes of service learning on students and courses the characteristics of student participants are critical indicators. The findings revealed that gender (female), age (older) and no prior community civic engagement students benefited the most from service-learning designation courses. The study highlights the significance of (a) diverse student characteristics like age and gender; and (b) experiential learning of younger students like freshmen and sophomores and those with no prior community service experiences in the design and development of service-learning designated courses.