Encouraging Community Service through Service Learning

Abstract

Increasingly, faculty members are incorporating service-learning projects into their courses, resulting in enhanced student learning and development. However, does service learning encourage subsequent student involvement in the community? This study investigates the effect faculty professionals can have through service learning on their students’intentions to participate in community service. A modified version of the Solomon four-group design analysis as well as a hierarchical regression were used to assess the change in student intentions after exposure to three service-learning treatments. Findings indicate that service learning has a significant impact on students’intentions to participate in community service. In particular, by adding a lecture to the standard service-learning format, faculty members can increase student intentions to participate in community service.