This article compares ten English composition courses–six taught with traditional methodologies and four incorporating service-learning. Four instructors, each of whom taught both the traditional and service-learning versions of the composition courses, and one hundred twenty-eight students were involved in the study. The authors demonstrate that service-learning improves students’ attitudes toward civic engagement and social responsibility, sense of personal efficacy, and understanding of the complexity of social issues while enabling students to meet traditional standards for proficiency in the composition course. Because service-learning enhances liberal arts institutions’ ability to fulfill their missions (which often include the development of citizenship and service) without sacrificing academic content, the authors argue for a value-added approach to service learning.
A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric