This dissertation consists of a theoretical essay and two empirical studies exploring the associations between students' perspectives on knowledge, the processes they use to negotiate dissonance, and their subsequent service-learning outcomes. The overarching goal of this research is to better understand why some students productively negotiate…

Service-learning is an important and effective educational pedagogy that has grown tremendously in Spain. Research shows that service-learning has positive effects on the professional and personal development of future teachers. Since future teachers, in turn, influence the education of the next generation, it is important to understand how…

As stated in APA Learning Outcomes 2 and 3, two central goals of higher education instruction are promoting students' critical thinking skills and connecting student learning to real-life applications. To meet these goals, a community-based service-learning experience was designed using task value, interpersonal accountability, cognitive…

Service learning is becoming a more utilized method of instruction in collegiate settings, and holds the potential to provide a deeper, more transferable meaning of course material for students. The purpose of this research was to examine if therapeutic recreation (TR) concentration students perceived service learning to be more personally and…

This study evaluates whether students who participate voluntarily in a service-learning activity achieve higher learning outcomes, measured by grades, than students who voluntarily choose not to participate in service learning. Analysis is based on a study of an introductory urban studies course at a large North American research university over a…

This study examined the effectiveness of a 4.5-day service leadership program for students from Chinese universities using objective outcome evaluation. The participants were assessed before and after the program, with two post-test measurements (immediate assessment and assessment 12 days after the completion of class learning). At pretest and…

Service-learning (SL) is a relatively new pedagogy in Hong Kong and so far, no study of SL's long-term impact in Hong Kong exists. To explore SL's impacts on Hong Kong students, researchers conducted a quantitative study to compare graduates with SL experience to graduates without SL experience in terms of three domains: (1) adaptability, brain…

Developing a global mind-set in college students is a goal of many colleges and universities. Most often this goal is met by encouraging students to study abroad. This article explains how a service learning student engagement program at home achieves this goal by pairing Introduction to Sociology students with young immigrant children in a weekly…

While there is mounting support for the efficacy of alcohol-based curriculum infusion (CI) programs, studies have yielded mixed results. Insufficient attention has been given to nuances in the types of CI. Using a two-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, this study assessed two forms of CI, information-only (IO) and service learning…

This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of service learning through the lens of faculty members, community partners, and student learning outcomes at a midsized community college in North Carolina. As a teaching tool integrating community service with instruction, service learning depends on the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and…

In recent years, there has been a rapid rise in the number of universities offering students opportunities to study abroad. Traditional semester-long programs have been shortened with many new programs ranging anywhere from 1 to 8 weeks in length. The increased number of short-term programs has enabled professional degree programs, such as…

As the higher education landscape continues to diversify, intercultural effectiveness comes to the forefront among important outcomes for students. Service learning is one programmatic tool that institutions of higher education can use to foster the development of intercultural effectiveness. This study provides evidence that service learning is…

This 5-year study of graduating seniors at Elon University (n = 2,058) evaluates the impacts of experiential learning depth (amount of time commitment) and breadth (number of different types of experiences) on student outcomes. Data on study abroad, undergraduate research, internships, service, and leadership experiences were pulled from…

In the last decades, many higher education institutions have developed practices of internationalization of curricula aiming at developing intercultural competences among the non-mobile majority of students. Some of them have developed service-learning activities focusing on working with underserved communities from different cultures. This…

Service-learning has a rich history in higher education, with a multitude of studies indicating positive learning, community engagement, and moral development outcomes of student participants. The majority of the research findings, however, have represented four-year colleges. And while there are limited outcome studies of service-learning in…