Notes: Integrating Community Service and Classroom Instruction Enhances Learning: Results From an Experiment

To help inform discussion of the educational value of community service, we report results of an experiment in integrating service-learning into a large undergraduate political science course. Students in service-learning sections of the course were significantly more likely than those in the tradit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational evaluation and policy analysis 1993-12, Vol.15 (4), p.410-419
Main Authors: Markus, Gregory B., Howard, Jeffrey P. F., King, David C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Classrooms
Community involvement
Community service
Learning
Political science
Students
Teaching
Values
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:To help inform discussion of the educational value of community service, we report results of an experiment in integrating service-learning into a large undergraduate political science course. Students in service-learning sections of the course were significantly more likely than those in the traditional discussion sections to report that they had performed up to their potential in the course, had learned to apply principles from the course to new situations, and had developed a greater awareness of societal problems. Classroom learning and course grades also increased significantly as a result of students’ participation in course-relevant community service. Finally, pre- and postsurvey data revealed significant effects of participation in community service upon students’ personal values and orientations. The experiential learning acquired through service appears to compensate for some pedagogical weaknesses of classroom instruction.
ISSN:0162-3737
1935-1062
DOI:10.3102/01623737015004410