Service-Learning in an Adolescent Development Course: Students' Assessments and Reflections

Service-learning is an instructional method in which students learn course content by actively participating in thoughtfully organized service experiences related to the content. Effectively linking service-learning to course content not only offers students a powerful opportunity to maximize academic learning, but also promotes their personal growth and instills a commitment to lifelong, civic engagement. Service-learning was integrated into an upper level undergraduate course, Adolescent Development. In addition to completing the traditional course work, students also completed a service-learning experience at a community agency that served adolescents. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the service-learning component, students were surveyed at the end of the semester about their service-learning experiences. Almost all students agreed they had learned more about course concepts as a result of their service-learning experience, and the majority felt their service-learning activity provided a needed service to the agency and community. KEYWORDS service-learning; assessment; pedagogy; civic engagement