Research

This page contains information for the research-minded colleague who may be interested in the empirical evidence of the effectiveness of service-learning approaches, both as a pedagogy, but also how the pedagogy can increase knowledge in other areas. The reader will find that both qualitative and quantitative approaches have been utilized across diverse populations, investigating a wide range of issues from classroom learning to civic engagement to attitudes/beliefs.

The Measure of Service Learning : Research Scales to Assess Student Experiences (2004) by Robert G. Bringle, PhD, and Mindy A. Phillips, and Michael Hudson
The Measure of Service Learning will be a valuable resource for program evaluators and researchers who want to inform the practice of service learning. This useful volume provides an extensive compilation of scales for use in studying students in service learning classes.

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health promotes health (broadly defined) through partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions, including service-learning and community-based participatory research partnerships.

IEA Civic Education Study research which has addressed the civic engagement and knowledge of large representative samples of 14-year-olds in 28 countries and 17-18 year olds in 16 countries. Participation in service-related activities is among the topics surveyed (and over the next year more data analysis will be appearing on the site about this issue).

Program Evaluation Research on Cultural Studies addresses the role of the scientific method in advancing service-learning. Outcome data from the student project assisted the Dean of th College in developing a curriculum proposal for a "Cultural Studies" program that was eventually approved as a minor in the College.

'At a Glance' Research and Bibliography [.pdf 271kb] a resource from Campus Compact for service learning research in higher education. The bibliography summarizes the findings of service-learning research in higher education over the past few years and includes an annotated bibliography for all references. It is designed to provide a quick overview of where we are in the field today and a map to the literature.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, free download)

Examples of the different types of research include:

Impact of Service-Learning

Knowledge gained through Service-Learning Pedagogies