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

1. What are the personal and background characteristics (educational background, hometown, family, previous service, presence/influence of religion) of the exemplar?

2. What, if anything, stimulated a commitment to a particular cause, and what is (are) the source(s) of the commitment to service?

3. What is the nature of the exemplar’s service experience?

4. What is the motivation for the exemplar to become deeply committed to a social concern? What motivates the exemplar to persist when challenges exist?

5. As a result of the exemplar’s motivation for commitment, what conditions bring about a developmental transition from interest in service to a long-term commitment to a social concern?

After collecting data and analyzing and drawing conclusions, a developmental scheme of engagement was constructed and explained, an interaction matrix was illustrated, and recommendations for integration of service-learning were offered for faculty.

Limitations and Delimitations

An inherent limitation of a case study is the lack of generalizability. Case studies are not designed to yield results generalizable to a broad population. Case study research seeks to promote insight into and understanding of a topic or phenomenon. The goal of this study was to explore the developmental transition from interest in service to a long-term commitment to a social concern among exemplars.