How do students benefit from Service-Learning?
The Corporation for National and Community Service asserted in their issue brief The Impact of Service-Learning that students benefit most from service-learning experiences that have several characteristics: they should last for at least one semester, involve students in project planning, and combine academic content with structured reflection. The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse also funded a special literature review relevant to service-learning on the college level and found that service-learning has a number of positive effects on students. Among those positive effects are: • Students understand themselves and other social groups better, experiencing a breakdown of racial and cultural stereotypes. • Students acquire good leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills. • Students gain a stronger sense of social responsibility and continue to serve their communities after graduation. • Students learn academic content better, applying scholarship to the real world.
