FACTORS AFFECTING CHANGE OVER TIME

IN COLLEGE STUDENTS’  CIVIC

ATTITUDES, KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Barbara Moely and Vincent Ilustre Tulane University

International Society for Research on

Service Learning and Community Engagement

Baltimore, September 2012

What We’ll Do Today…

Provide an overview of Tulane’s public service graduation requirement and the role of the Center for Public Service

Briefly summarize findings regarding stability and change in students’ civic attitudes, knowledge, and skills after two years in college;

Look at how service-learning experiences are related to students’ reports of learning and their civic attitudes, knowledge, and skills

Show how CPS preparation of faculty and community organizations promotes high quality service-learning courses and experiences for students.

Tulane University Since Katrina

Public service graduation requirement

Creation of the Center for Public Service Constituency considerations in programming

Increased interest in Tulane University Increased numbers of applications Higher SAT and ACT scores of entering

students

Research with Tulane Students

Longitudinal study of undergraduate students Three “waves” of students, entering in 2006,

2007, and 2008 Surveyed when they entered the University (N

= 670) Surveyed again after two years (N = 147),

along with 103 new participants). These students are the focus of today’s presentation

Learning about Student Participation: Research Design

Year of

Tulane Entry:

Time of Test (Year)

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

2003-05 257

2006 290 47 55

2007 185 55 57

2008 195 45(103) 116

Student Views of Collegeat Entry Pre- and Post-Katrina

Students who had entered the University in the years prior to Katrina described their reasons for choosing Tulane and their expectations for college differently than did students entering after the storm, who placed greater emphasis on community service and rebuilding New Orleans.

Incoming Students’ Views of the Public Service Graduation

Requirement Students’ views of the graduation

requirement were positive (only 6.6% expressed negative views) as were their plans for involvement in the community (only 16% planned to limit service to just what was required). These views were similar for all three waves of students and were maintained after two years at the university.

After Two Years: Stability of Civic Attitudes

Students remain positive about the public service requirement, both in terms of their evaluations and plans for or actual involvement in community service.

Students show stability in civic attitudes, knowledge, and skills from college entry to two years later, with high correlations (ranging from .55 to .75, p <.001) between initial and second survey responses.

Changes over time in Civic Attitudes or Self-assessments On several measures, students scored

higher after two years of study (Time 2) than they had at college entry (Time 1): Students at Time 2 indicated stronger valuing

of community engagement. Students at Time 2 reported increases in

efforts to learn about their communities. Self-described knowledge of community and

social issues showed consistent increases from Time 1 to Time 2.

Service-learning Course Influences on Students’ Views

Focus of Presentation: How are students’ descriptions of their service-learning courses related to their reports of learning and civic attitudes?

Describing Students’ Service-learning Experiences: 1) Course

Quality Students rated their service-learning courses on 12 items describing good practice in service learning. Topics addressed:

Value of the service the student had done (Service activity was worthwhile, met real needs; I did a good job, I accomplished something.) Extent to which the course reflected adequate planning Community site was ready for students, I was well-prepared, SL was integral part of the course, I was free to develop my ideas.) Extent to which the student had opportunities for reflection (Journals or discussions with faculty, other students, community.)

Internal consistency (alpha) for 12-item scale = .93, N = 198 (Alpha’s for subscales ranged from .72 to .90.)

Describing Students’ Service-learning Experiences: 2) Charity –

Social Change Students indicated the extent to which their own service-learning experience was characterized by aspects of a Charity orientation and a Social Change orientation.

Charity items were concerned with helping individuals, giving to others, making a difference in a person’s life. Alpha = .90 for 4 items, N = 225

Social Change items emphasized changing public policy, addressing social ills, working to reshape society. Alpha = .87 for 4 items, N = 222

Students’ Ratings of Service-learning Course Characteristics Course Characteristic N M (SD)

Overall Service-learning Course Quality 198 3.71 (.89)

Value of Service 221 3.79 (.98)

Course Planning 206 3.49 (.97)

Reflection Opportunities 227 3.86 (.99)

Experience characterized re Charity Orientation 225 3.20 (1.16)

Experience characterized re Social Change Orientation 222 2.52 (1.10)

Note: Scores could range from 1 to 5 points. Course Planning received significantly lower ratings than Value or Reflection. Charity orientation was rated higher than Social Change. The maximum score possible for each scale is 5.00.

Improvements in S-L Course Quality Ratings over Time

Year Overall S-L

Course Quality

Value of Service

Planning of Course

Opportunity

For Reflection

Wave 1: 2006 College Entry

M = 3.41 (SD = 1.00) 3.57 (1.02) 3.13 (1.06) 3.66 (1.11)

Wave 2: 2007 3.57 (.93) 3.63 (1.06) 3.45 (.96) 3.60 (1.09)

Wave 3: 2008

3.89 (.78) 3.92 (.91) 3.65 (.90) 4.04 (.87)

Note: Significant change over year is shown for each of these course descriptions. The maximum score possible is 5.00.

Summary: Characterizing Service-learning Courses

Students were most positive about the opportunities for reflection that their courses offered and about value of the service they carried out for their courses. Course quality improved, according to student reports, over the three years of the study.

Students saw their course experiences as characterized more by a Charity than a Social Change orientation, although scores were not near the maximum on either scale. These scales did not show change over time.

Learning Outcomes fromService-learning Participation (1)

Learning about the Community“Through my service learning course, I have become more aware of the community of which I am a part/changed the way I think about societal problems/learned to appreciate different cultures. “ Alpha = .92 for 6 items, N = 154

Academic Learning (Alpha = .92 for 10 items, N = 79)

Understanding “Through my service-learning course, I gained a deeper

understanding of things I learned about in the course.”

Innovation “Through my service-learning course, I improved my ability to creatively/solve problems.”

Learning Outcomes fromService-learning Participation (2)

Leadership Skill“Through my service learning course, I have developed my leadership skills/practiced my ability to lead and make decisions. “Alpha = .92 for 4 items, N = 205

Satisfaction with College “Through my service learning course, I have become more positive about being at this university/more likely to recommend my university to other students/more likely to continue study at this university. “Alpha = .90 for 6 items, N = 185

Service-learning Outcomes

Outcome N M (SD)

“Through my service learning course, I have gained in…”

Learning about the Community 154 3.53 (.93)

Academic Learning (overall) 79 3.05 (.89)

Understanding of Course Content 205 3.32 (1.07)

Innovative Thinking /Problem Solving

90 3.14 (1.03)

Leadership Skill 205 3.28 (1.06)

Satisfaction with College 185 3.26 (1.04)

Note: Students scored significantly higher in Learning about the Community than they did in the other areas; they were lowest in overall ratings of Academic Learning.

Summary: Characterizing Student Learning

Students reported learning a great deal about the community from their service-learning courses.

They reported some gains in leadership skill and satisfaction with college.

Service-learning contributions to academic learning received lower ratings, with the greatest contributions reported for increased understanding of course content and innovative thinking and problem-solving.

Do Service-learning Course Characteristics Predict Learning

Outcomes? Students described their courses in terms

of quality characteristics: How do these relate to the learning outcomes they reported?

Patterns of relationship between course and outcomes were identified through the use of regression analyses and are summarized below.

Do Service-learning Course Characteristics Predict Learning

Outcomes? Course Characteristics

Outcomes of Service-learning Participation

Learn about

Comm.

Acad. Lrng.

Academic Learning

Components

Leadership Skill

Satisfaction w/College

Undrstnd. Innovation

Overall S-L Course Quality + + + + + +

Value of Service + + + + + +

Course Planning + + + + +

Reflection + + + +

Charity Orientation

Social Change Orient. + + + +

Note: Depiction of results of regression analyses: “+” sign indicates significant positive prediction of an outcome from a course characteristic.

Do Course Characteristics Predict Civic Attitudes and Knowledge?

Measures of Civic Attitudes and Knowledge

Course Characteristics:

Civic Responsib.

Valuing of Comm. Engagemnt

CulturalAwarenss

Knowldge of NOLA

Knowldge of Public Issues

Overall S-L Course Quality + + +

Value of Service + +

Course Planning

Reflection + + +

Charity Orientation +

Social Change Orient. + + + +

Note: Depiction of results of regression analyses: “+” sign indicates significant positive prediction of an attitude or knowledge assessment from a course characteristic.

Summarizing the Patterns

Course quality is important: Students benefit by service experiences in which they accomplish something meaningful and are appreciated for their work, with ample opportunities for reflection. Course planning, to build ties between course content and service, is important, as well, and is an area in which improvements can still be made.

An experience perceived as emphasizing Social Change is important. It appears that there is room for increased emphasis on this orientation.

Programmatic Emphases

Encouraging FACULTY involvement, developing expertise and providing support Seminars, workshops, and one-on-one

consultations PS Fellows and SL Assistants

Involving COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS and building their capacities AmeriCorps VISTA program and layered

support Supporting STUDENTS involvement in

service-learning and volunteer community service

Questions?

Contact us at Vincent Ilustre: vilustr@tulane.edu Barbara Moely: moely@tulane.edu

Visit our website:www.tulane.edu/cps

References

Center for Public Service, Tulane University. www.tulane.edu/cps

Moely, B. E., & Ilustre, V. (2011) University students’ views of a public service graduation requirement. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 17(2), 43-58.

Moely, B. E., & Ilustre, V. (2012). Stability and change in the development of college students’ civic attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Unpublished paper.