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Service learning and student performance.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The difference in academic performance between service learning students and non-service learning students in Basic Statistics was examined in this study. Test scores were compared between the service learning and non service-learning students. A significant difference was found in academic performance between service learning and non-service learning students. Students who participated in the service learning projects showed better performance than the students who did not participate in the service learning projects. Therefore, this study demonstrated that service-learning projects are more effective than non-service learning projects for Basic Statistics performance.

Introduction

Service learning projects impact student performance and different subjects are better learned by actively engaging the students. Fredericksen (2000) showed that mean reading scores for students who participated in service-learning projects were higher than those who did not participate in service-learning projects. Improvement of student learning through service learning has been of considerable interest in recent years. There is also extensive discussion about the importance of service learning as it relates to student learning (Kamuche, 2005a, 2005b; Kamuche and Ledman, 2005). This concern for service learning and student performance is the foundation for this study. For many parents, educators, researchers, and instructors, direct experience results in deeper levels of understanding and long-term memory (Kamuche 2005a, 2005c; Renner, 1996). This is what sets service learning apart from other types of assessment tools routinely used in courses, such as tests, quizzes, and homework assignments. According to Neil Merrell, director of the Center for Public Policy and Service at Mesa Community College, "service learning is the blending of academic study and community service." At Mesa, says Merrell; "our goal is to encourage students to become lifelong, active participants in the community" (Berson, 1997: 23). In this study, service learning is defined as learning by engaging in activities that are with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning (Frcdericksen, 2000: 64). Students in my Basic Statistics class were asked to engage in service-learning projects, as volunteers to teach Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics in selected high schools in the community. In those high schools, the college preparatory pupils have the option to take AP Statistics for future college credit.

Service learning occurs just from doing the work. For example, after a month working alongside a sheriff, a student has surely learned some important lessons about how to increase public safety, and something about what it means to be a good citizen (Berson, 1997). Active learning occurs whenever a student gives the knowledge acquired to someone else or draws connections...

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