Measuring the Impact of Service-Learning on Student Retention and Civic Skills Matthew Roy, Ph.D. Assistant Vice Chancellor for Civic Engagement University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Regional Context

City Profiles Fall River and New Bedford  Populations 89k and 95k (were 150k in 1920s)  Textile and whaling capitals of the world  Long slow economic decline Education and Unemployment Struggles  Unemployment (11.1 and 10.4% vs. Mass 6.1%)  High school diploma (68.8 and 69.9% vs. Mass 89.1)  Poverty (25% vs. Mass 11%)

Institutional History UMass Dartmouth built between the 2 cities  Economic, social, and cultural catalyst for region Commitment Through Strategic Planning  Engaged, Embedded, Evolving  UMassDTransform2020 National Recognition  President’s Higher Education Honor Roll  Washington Monthly Top 25

Student Involvement – Community Service Hours Roughly ½ service-learning 70% graduating class

Increasing Capacity Internally  Since 2010 – 96 to 140 faculty  Since 2010 – 146 to 205 classes Externally Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program SouthCoast Serves

Total Number Students Exposed to Service-Learning by Semester

Big Caveat

NSSE: National Student Survey on Engagement Annual survey of U/G experience with learning and personal development. Takes b/t minutes to complete.  Academic challenge  Co-curricular learning  Campus environment Began in University of Indiana  In 2013, 621 colleges and universities participated  N = 371,284  Since 2000, N > 4 million

Participated in 6 surveys since 2000, most recently 2014  Spring 2014 results not included here Administer to full time Freshmen/Seniors every 3 years  2011: N= 326 freshmen and 187 seniors Service-learning Experience in 2011 FreshmenSeniors UMass Dartmouth All NSSE 35% 41% 58% 50% UMass Dartmouth

Primary Question How much has your experience at this institution contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal development in the following areas. Likert scale  Very much.. Quite a bit.. Some.. Very little  Analyzed differences SL vs Non-SL students for freshmen and seniors. T-test all significant p<.05

Results - Freshmen

Results - Seniors

Differences SL vs Non-SL Gender, Race, 1 st Generation College – n/a SAT – small effect size  Lower for SL students both fresh/seniors  Students with lower ability gain more from high impact practices (Kuh, et al, 2008)

UMD Service-Learning Student Survey 2009 Learn & Serve grant from CNCS  C. Burack developed student SL survey Administer end of semester to sample of SL classes  Post only survey – 5-8 minutes to complete academic year  N = 334  Across all years - 65% seniors or juniors

Primary Questions Civic K/S/A  Please indicate how well you can do each of the following at each point in time (beginning / now).  5 point Likert scale and either side of the statement Connectedness and Retention  Because of my SL class … Class learning objectives, etc….  This SL class …

Result: Impact on Civic Skills Civic Skills Pre-mean Skill Score Post-mean Skill Score Identify needs and resources of the community* Apply knowledge and skills gained to real problems/opportunities in my community* Make connections between learning and needs of the community* Articulate the value of engagement to other members of the community* Communicate effectively orally and in writing* Evaluate and integrate information from multiple sources* Organize other students to take action on a community problem* Create a plan to address the issue* Get people to care about the problem* Organize and run a meeting* Find and examine research related to the issue* Apply what I learned in my service-learning class* * P <.001

Results: Connectedness and Retention Student Retention “As a result of my service-learning class here…” Cum Totals: Agree & Strongly Agree N% of total I will be returning next semester or year I am more involved in the campus community I have gotten friends involved in service I feel a part of the UMD campus I am choosing to graduate from UMD I feel a part of the local community

Conclusions Must continue to improve on assessment of SL Results validate – High impact practice  Learning and Retention Most Importantly… 63% of UMass Dartmouth students said… “Thinking about or preparing for a career that helps my community.”

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