The Effects of Service-Learning in the Social Psychology Classroom

Authors

  • Travis Skyler Crone University of Houston-Downtown

Abstract

The use of service-learning in the classroom has been shown to have a wide array of effects on students. Still, there is a call for service-learning components to be more deeply integrated with the course as a whole. The current study explores the effects of creating a service-learning component in the Social Psychology classroom based upon applying the social psychological principles of the course to real societal issues. Participants self-selected an issue, wrote a serious of reflection papers, worked with a collaborating organization, and completed a follow-up survey. Analysis revealed that as compared to students in a traditional Social Psychology class, students completing the service-learning reported favorable increases in attitudes related to service, identity, and academic variables. Specifically, participants seemed better able to see issues and were more confident in their ability to help alleviate the problem.

Author Biography

Travis Skyler Crone, University of Houston-Downtown

Travis Crone, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Houston-Downtown. He focuses primarily on the area of Social Cognition. His primary areas of research are related to the effectiveness of pedagogical techniques, nonconscious goal structures, autobiographical memory, and meaning making.

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Published

2013-04-08

Issue

VOL 2 (2013)

Section

Articles

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