Assessing the Effects of Incorporating Service in Learning: The Search for a Comprehensive Process of Service Learning Evaluation.

Abstract

Service learning is rapidly becoming a popular teaching and learning tool, yet assessment of the effectiveness of the pedagogy is still developing. It is vital that we begin to systematically evaluate the extent to which service initiatives adhere to sound educational principles and advance the learning of our students. Furthermore, comprehensive assessment of service learning should address the interests of all stakeholders in the process, utilizing instruments that capture the interplay among faculty, students, community, and educational institution. Although evaluation of this pedagogy is still in its infancy, a careful and considered application of a variety of linked assessment mechanisms should provide insights into the true nature of service learning.

Introduction

Service learning, utilizing community service to provide students with real-world experiential learning, is gaining in popularity. Although certainly not a new methodology, it is currently experiencing a robust surge of implementation at colleges and universities all over the United States (Jackson, 1993). This renewed interest is due, in part, to curricular theorists and educational reformers who state that engaging students in service learning will help them realize that their developing skills and knowledge can address a multitude of social concerns (Kahne & Westheimer, 1996). In response to this position, many teachers are experimenting with the effect of service on learning, and educational institutions are beginning to integrate service requirements into their curriculums (Stukas, Snyder, & Clary, 1999).

This trend is in keeping with a call for higher education to become more involved in community service, something traditionally of low importance on the academic priority list (Clark, 1999). Increasingly, we are seeing partnerships forming between educational institutions and the communities in which they reside (Driscoll, Holland, Gelmon, & Kerrigan, 1996). Unlike the traditionally isolated academic model, these partnerships incorporate the concerns and ideas of the community in the decisions that shape the research, programs, teaching, and service of the educational institution (Clark, 1999). In a symbiotic transfer of information and growth, community resources and needs flow into the academy to ground theory, while academic resources and solutions flow back out into the community to address social issues.

Supporters of the service learning movement believe that making service an integral part of the educational experience helps students grow in personal, social, and civic ways and that this internalization of social values will ensure a vital source of volunteerism for the future (Stukas, Snyder, & Clary, 1999). In addition, it is argued that the authentic experiences of service learning reinforce students' performance abilities and build their self-esteem (Kahne & Westheimer, 1996). As interest and implementation of service learning projects have grown, however, concern has emerged about the educational integrity of the process and whether student involvement in service projects fulfills the basic mission of higher education institutions (Markus, Howard, & King, 1993).

Some critics wonder whether service learning projects can possibly have the dramatic effects described by its supporters. Others argue that service learning may, in fact, weaken curriculum and that time would be more wisely utilized in more traditional academic efforts (Gray, Ondaatje, Fricker, & Geschwind, 2000). Service learning requires a significant investment of time and resources, and detractors question the value of these costs and the extra workload for staff and faculty (Markus, Howard, & King, 1993). Although many of these issues may be valid, much more attention has been paid to implementing service-learning programs than to identifying exactly what they intend to accomplish and measuring their effectiveness. With resources increasingly being devoted to service learning, there comes a growing need to assess and document the strengths of the pedagogy.