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Outcomes from cross-cultural service-learning.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

This study examines student outcomes in an undergraduate cross-cultural service-learning course utilizing Spanish-speaking community agencies in education, community activism, and health. Participant responses are categorized according to the effect on academic learning and career influence, personal growth, cultural perspective, and civic responsibility. Consistent with existing research, the findings reveal that applying academic content to a real-world situation allows students to embrace their learning in ways not achieved by traditional instruction alone.

Introduction

The concept of helping those less fortunate has had a prominent place in education for decades. However, the practice of combining the element of service to the community with classroom learning is a relatively new phenomenon in higher education. In recent years service-learning has been gaining popularity in academic programs in the United States. While the practice is growing, there exists a general lack of evidence regarding the effects of these types of programs. They are often under debate as to whether they provide a comparative educational experience to traditional academic classroom learning. The result is "some critics of service-learning question the quality of the service and rigor of the learning" (Eyler & Giles, 1999, p. 2). This article examines student outcomes that emerged from a cross-cultural service-learning course in 2006 at a large public research institution. These results are placed within the framework of existing data on service-learning outcomes in higher education.

Effects of Service-Learning

The four participant outcomes of service-learning which guide this study are the enrichment of academic learning and future career plans, increased personal growth, expanded cultural perspective, and a greater sense of civic responsibility. Researchers have described service-learning as allowing students to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world situations and to think critically about assumptions never before questioned (Eyler & Giles, 1999). For example, one study on an undergraduate political science course found that students who had enrolled in service-learning sections of the class were significantly more likely than those in the control group to report that they had learned to apply knowledge from the course to new situations and subsequently developed a new set of values in the discipline (Markus, Howard, & King, 1993). Moreover, participation in service-learning has been shown to lead to a reexamination of career goals. Gray et al. note in their study of the Learn and Serve America, Higher Education program that "participation in service may help students clarify their career goals" (2000, p. 31).

More so than conventional approaches to education, service-learning is also thought to affect students' personal development. A study conducted on an education service-learning course revealed that participation facilitated at least four aspects of student development: a greater sense of personal efficacy, expanded awareness of the world, greater understanding of personal...

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