This study explores the role of community service learning (CSL) in promoting undergraduate persistence relative to other experiences students have in college, their entering characteristics, and institutional features. By following the 2009 freshmen cohort at three Midwestern universities over three years, this study finds that students'…

This study investigates the relationship between reflective practices in college service-learning programs and alumni's current reflective practices. Additionally, this study explores how graduates' present reflective practices help to shape their civic and professional identities. Mixed methods using survey and interview data explore reflective…

The purpose of this study was to determine what factors really matter to faculty at a teaching institution in deciding whether or not to use community-based learning (CBL) in their classrooms. The Web-based Faculty Service Learning Beliefs Inventory (wFSLBI), developed and used with faculty at a research university, was administered to faculty at…

This essay examines the relationship of philosophical pragmatism to the practice of reflection in service-learning. Service-learning theory and practice often elides over or ignores entirely the principles of inquiry as developed by Dewey. The exercise of reflective thought requires that educators create a situation of discomfort for learners, and…

Undergraduate students' reports of their service-learning course experiences and their gains from participation in those courses were investigated with a sample of 250 students at Tulane University. The students completed a survey in which they rated their service-learning courses in terms of three aspects: Value of Service, Focus on Service, and…

This quasi-experimental study investigates the effects of an intensive intercultural service-learning program on the intercultural competence of undergraduate students by utilizing pre- and post-course assessments of intercultural competence as measured by the cultural intelligence (Van Dyne, Koh, & Ang, 2008) and intercultural sensitivity…

In May 2012, University of North Carolina (UNC) President Tom Ross simultaneously commissioned two task forces to develop indicators that all UNC campuses could use to measure "progress in community engagement and economic development." The charge to the Community Engagement Task Force and the Economic Development Task Force was to…

This paper is part of a study on the long-term effects of participation in a comprehensive service-learning program on alumni knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for effective democratic citizenship. In this article, the larger research project is introduced and its central questions are put into historical context. I contend that…

In this introduction to the "Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning's" Special Section: "Global Service-Learning" (GSL), Hartman and Kiely describe how they each came to the field of GSL, some of its emphases and values that drew them to and sustain their commitment with this work, discuss some highlights of what GSL…

In this paper we explore an approach to developing and implementing service-learning and community-based research in a study-abroad program in Cape Town, South Africa. Drawing on a notion of partnerships reflecting the values of accompaniment and transparency, and influenced by the importance of learning service, we outline an intentional, engaged…

This study explored the perspectives of community organization representatives and community residents about a partnership between a College of Engineering and a rural municipality in Nicaragua. The intended community outcomes described by university participants during interviews corresponded with tangible project outcomes, such as access to…

In this study, we explored whether college students' motivations for participating in community service were associated with their perceptions that service enhanced their desire to continue participating in communityfocused activities after graduation, after statistically controlling for demographic variables and other variables of interest.…

While the quality and quantity of research on service-learning has increased considerably over the past 20 years, researchers as well as governmental and funding agencies have called for more rigor in service-learning research. One key variable in improving rigor is using relevant existing theories to improve the research. The purpose of this…

Connecting with others and experiences of dissonance are two factors identified as central to transformative learning in engaged teaching and research (Kiely, 2005). At the same time, these ways of knowing are unpredictable and come with the risk of actually disrupting rather than enhancing learning. This article reports the findings of a mixed…

In this article we share the theoretical framework of threshold concepts--concepts on which deep understanding of a field of practice and inquiry hinges and which, once understood and internalized, open a doorway to otherwise inaccessible ways of thinking--and explore its relevance to learning how to teach, learn, serve, partner, and generate…