Service-Learning and Student Writing: An Investigation of Effects

This paper reports on a recent study investigating the impact of service-learning on the writing performance of first-year college students. Linguistic and rhetorical features commonly identified as affecting judgments of writing quality are compared to holistic essay writings to describe the impact of different teaching and learning contexts on writing performance. The implications of the study will be of interest to composition instructors interested in learning more about service-learning and writing assessment, and more generally to service-learning researchers interested in empirical approaches to service-learning research.