In addition to the students, who can benefit personally, socially, and academically, the SL programs have also shown (e.g., White, 2001 Conway et al., 2009) a positive influence on the community receiving the services and on the educational institution hosting the program. Other authors also highlight SL as a significant experience impacting participants’ life goals by focusing on contributing to “the common good” ( Opazo et al., 2018). The SL experience seems to be associated with positive emotions such as interest, enthusiasm, inspiration, and determination, which are maintained throughout the experience ( Opazo et al., 2018). Previous studies, including very recent findings, have highlighted its relationship with several benefits for the participating students, including gains in these key domains ( Celio et al., 2011 Salam et al., 2019 Folgueiras et al., 2020 Lin and Shek, 2021 McDougle and Li, 2023): attitudes toward self, school and learning, civic engagement, social skills such as teamwork and adaptation to new situations, academic performance, and life satisfaction. Service-Learning (SL) is an experiential teaching-learning methodology that combines academic learning with community service ( Celio et al., 2011) with the goal of enhancing learning, teaching civic responsibility, and strengthening communities ( Fiske, 2001). Students in Psychology and AFL increased their expectations with the service and students in the AFL developed more pro-social behaviors.ĭiscussion: These results are encouraging for the expansion of this transformative teaching-learning practice to courses of different scientific areas, although with some specificities, with the purpose of contributing to a more responsible, critical and participatory society in the creation of the common good. Results: Results show significant differences between pre- and post-tests in life goals, namely an increase in hedonistic and wellbeing goals for Psychology students, political, hedonistic, religious, personal development, and wellbeing goals for SW students, and social and wellbeing goals for AFL students. These participants were organized into service-learning and traditional teaching-learning groups and assessed on expectations and impact of the service-experience, development of social and civic skills, and life goals. Method: This study explores the effects of Service-Learning on 122 university students, who were attending Psychology (n = 80), Social Work (SW n = 19) and Applied Foreign Languages (AFL n = 23) degree courses. But studies that help understand in depth its real impact, particularly in comparison with more traditional teaching-learning contexts, are still scarce. Previous studies show its potential to generate positive personal, academic, social and citizenship outcomes among students who participate in it. Introduction: Service-Learning (SL) is an innovative teaching-learning proposal with an increasingly wide application in higher education. CRC-W - Católica Research Centre for Psychological, Family and Social Wellbeing, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal.
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