A comparison of college student moral reasoning and tendency toward choosing service learning courses

<p>This study compared moral reasoning of first year college students who chose to take the service learning section of a required general education course with students who took the non service learning section of the same course using the Visions of Morality Scale. This study hypothesized that students who chose to take the service learning section of the course would have a higher level of moral reasoning compared to those students who chose to take the non service section. Data was collected from 24 respondents via the Visions of Morality instrument and was joined to data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP). The study found that students in the service learning sections of the course scored lower on the Visions of Morality Scale than those in the non service learning sections. Based on CIRP data taken from respondents at the beginning of their freshman year, this study also found a statistically significant difference between students who chose service learning courses and those who chose the non service learning courses in respondent desire to participate in community based action programs. The implications for this study include insight into the reasons why students decide to participate in service courses and subsequently, why some service courses might be more effective than others.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Administration and Leadership

Year dc:date.available

2006

Author dc:creator

• Nathanson, Abigail M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Joanna Royce-Davis

• Service learning
• Moral development
• Education
• Educational Administration and Supervision
• Educational Leadership

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/637

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-1636