Service-Learning and Community Engagement: Cognitive Developmenta ...

1. Is a small, positive effect the type of learning researchers expect?

2. Are service-learning researchers accomplishing the learning objectives of the academy, not to mention meeting community needs?

3. Has service-learning ever transformed community so that student service is no longer needed?

4. Have students’ lives been transformed in any of the ways that faculty hoped and expected?

Recently, Kiely (2005) reported that service-learning educators have been expressing an increasing concern over the need to develop a more rigorous research agenda to better understand the value of service-learning. The increases in the volume of studies have led some educators to conclude that service-learning is at a “methodological crossroads” (Ziegert & McGoldrick, 2004). The focus on the what of student learning rather than the how leaves us with uncertainty regarding the processes by which course objectives are met (Kiely, 2005). In order to focus on the how, researchers must conduct an examination of individuals (as compared with groups)—particularly of individuals that exhibit some of the outcomes that service-learning claims to promote. In other words, are any students reporting that service-learning enriches their courses of study so that said students are developing critical thinking skills (among other cognitive skills) in addition to interpersonal skills?

Statement of the Problem

This study explored if and how a select group of students (selected by faculty as demonstrating an extensive commitment to service) may have been impacted based on a set of experiences and subsequent reactions to those experiences. For the purpose of this study, the participants (i.e., the students) were referred to as exemplars (the participants were not aware of this reference). After participating in a year-long, residential service-learning experience, the exemplars initiated long-term projects aimed at ameliorating the social problems they witnessed.