Service-Learning Improves College Performance

This article summarizes a small-scale project in which academic outcomes were examined for a service-learning course. 118 college students enrolled in an introductory Developmental Psychology course participated in this study. Some students (n=60) were in service-learning sections of the course, and others (n=58) were in the same course without a service-learning project. A statistically significant (p<.05) difference between the two grouping was found on the relevant exam problems on both the midterm and final exam. The results show that service-learning can have a positive impact on academic outcomes, especially when the methods used to assess those outcomes are directly relevant to the service project.