Changes in Students’ Attitudes Toward Service Learning and Immigrants/Refugees in the U.S.: Insights from Comparing First Year Learning Communities

Abstract

This study analyzes attitudes that first year students from three different learning communities (LCs) had about service learning in general and their actual placement with a West African refugee and immigrant community in particular. Similar to other studies, we found that students who spent more hours engaging with West African refugees and/or immigrants were more likely to support including service learning in the curriculum. Importantly, this research adds to the pedagogical discourse around service learning by revealing that the LC, and by extension, the professor(s),were even more important than the number of completed hours. Students in onlyone LC overwhelmingly agreed that the service learning hours made them more aware of their own biases, helped them develop problem-solving skills, and made them see how the subject matter of their LC is relevant to real life. Our analysis shows that this statistically significant difference is explained by how well service learning hours were integrated in the LCs (e.g., percentage of the grade assigned to the experiential hours, number and type of reflective assignments) and the degree professors were (not) part of the actual experiential hours. Hence, this study makes explicit that service learning courses are most likely to have the intended outcome when experiential hours are an integral and important part of the class; moreover, this study demonstrates the crucial role of the instructor(s) in this process.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Cambria;panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Cambria",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}