Design and Assessment of Service-Learning and Community Site Visits in an Undergraduate Introductory Rehabilitation and Human Services Course

Abstract

Purpose:This mixed-methods study assesses an innovative course design model that integrates community site visits and service-learning at the introductory level for Undergraduate Rehabilitation Education (URE) students (n= 44).Method:The authors used a survey design to analyze service-learning outcomes and civic attitudes to evaluate the course design. A panel of three independent raters analyzed student weekly papers based on research rubrics of the course objectives created by the authors.Results:The results demonstrate that the model is effective in altering student cognitive schemes about human service populations and encouraging students to synthesize academic knowledge and immersive experiences.Conclusions:The study provides evidence for the design of integrating service-learning and site visits throughout the entire semester of an introductory course. This design is what we theorize specifically allowed for the two outcomes of primary importance, altered cognitive schemes about human services populations and synthesis of academic and experiential knowledge.