Outcomes of an Academic Service-Learning Project on Four Urban Community Colleges

Abstract

Service-learning has a rich history in higher education, with a multitude of studies indicating positive learning, community engagement, and moral development outcomes of student participants. The majority of the research findings, however, have represented four-year colleges. And while there are limited outcome studies of service-learning in community colleges, those studies generally report on community colleges as a whole, rather than distinguishing outcomes based on rural, suburban, and urban status. Not all community colleges are created equal, however, in terms of student body, geographic location, and funding; results for an urban community college, for example, may be very different than for a rural community college. Four diverse, urban community colleges in New York City received a collaborative seed grant through the City University of New York to develop a research tool and provide support to faculty for service-learning projects in the 2012-13 academic year. The project identified community engagement and academic outcomes to be measured through a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire. The researchers found several positive outcomes, although very few were statistically significant, in this small, exploratory study.