Turning Good Citizens Into Even Better Ones: The Impact of Program Characteristics And Motivations on Service Learning Outcomes

It has been suggested that motivations of an individual and the quality of a service-learning program can affect service-learning outcomes such as being a concerned citizen of the community. Service learning is a component of an education program in which students are asked to volunteer for a local nonprofit regularly during the semester. Previous studies have examined these issues using measures of actual behavior after the program. This article uses a longitudinal research design with measures of intended behavior and perceptions of the program to examine the relative effects of program characteristics and motivations to volunteer on participants' future intentions to be active citizens. The results indicate that motivations and program perceptions work in concert to influence the service-learning outcomes. Intrinsic motivation was found to be the strongest predictor of the outcomes.