Coupling academia and civic responsibility: impact of incorporating service-learning into selected courses

The demand on universities across America to produce civic-minded students is ever increasing. These demands are necessary to answer the constantly evolving needs of society due to advancing technology, the economy, war, politics, and social media. Volunteerism and community engagement can offer students the opportunity for connecting to their university and the surrounding community by presenting a reciprocal approach to meeting students' needs for involvement, fulfilling the university mission statement, and providing valuable service to the local community. This study investigated the service-learning practices at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. The findings suggest there is a strong level of agreement between student participation in previous community service and enrollment in a service-learning course. This suggests that when students have a positive experience in service, they are likely to continue the practice when offered service-learning as part of the curriculum. The findings also suggest that selected students enrolled in service-learning courses perceived a positive impact on their academic, civic, developmental, social-skills, and personal related outcomes. Students also perceived a positive impact in taking a service-learning courses in comparison to traditional courses.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. Higher Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Services, Administration, and Higher Education

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• James, Cheri

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sisco, Burton

• Service learning
• Higher Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/141

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:rdw.rowan.edu:etd-1140