Social and Cognitive Outcomes of Service-Learning: Results from a Pre-Post and Control Group Comparison

Abstract

Students in an undergraduate course opted to either complete a service-learning project or write article summary papers over the course of a semester. Analyses revealed a significant increase in aspects of empathy, social responsibility, and community and personal involvement in the service-learning group, but not in the control group. The findings are discussed in terms of the social and cognitive benefits of service-learning and considerations of incorporating service-learning into a gerontology-related course.