EFFECTS OF AN UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM TO INTEGRATE ACADEMIC LEARNING AND SERVICE - COGNITIVE, PROSOCIAL COGNITIVE, AND IDENTITY OUTCOMES

The present study investigated the effects of key characteristics of service-learning experiences (such as autonomy, instructional support for the experience, and so on) on the cognitive, moral, and ego identity development of undergraduates. Participants in service-learning courses and control students wrote pre- and post-responses to social problems. Service-learning students also completed weekly journals and an evaluation of their experiences. Results revealed significant gains for the service-learning participants on certain cognitive dimensions, such as awareness of multidimensionality. Aspects of the experience predicted cognitive gains as well as gains in prosocial reasoning. Paired t-tests revealed significant increases in prosocial decision-making, prosocial reasoning and identity processing.