Gulf-South Summit 2007 - Belmont University
Workshop Two

Using Research to Facilitate Service-Learning Program Development

Dr. Barbara MoelyWorkshop Leader: Dr. Barbara Moely

Workshop Description: Research can play an important role in the development of a service-learning program, making it possible to assess program effectiveness for students, community partners, and faculty (evaluative purpose), identifying areas of practice needing attention or modification (formative purpose), and producing contributions to the research literature on service-learning.  This workshop will introduce participants to research designs and measurement tools useful for these purposes.  Examples from research at Tulane University and from an LSA-funded consortium project will illustrate the following topics:

  1. Describing service-learning program characteristics and growth;
  2. Assessing college students’ attitudes, as measured by  the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire (CASQ); Furco’s Higher Education Service-Learning Survey; and measures of student engagement, retention, service preferences, and cultural competence;
  3. Describing community partners’ attitudes:  Development of university-community collaborations, community partners’ involvement, satisfaction, and perceived benefits of service-learning participation;
  4. Understanding faculty members’ views:  Faculty members’ attitudes toward service-learning and their evaluations of a service-learning development seminar.
Workshop participants will be encouraged to work together to apply information to their own programs; copies of measurement tools and published research will be made available to each participant.  

Dr. Barbara Moely biography:  Barbara E. Moely is Professor Emerita of Psychology and Research Affiliate of the Center for Public Service at Tulane University in New Orleans.  She was the founding Director of the Office of Service Learning at Tulane and has been Principal Investigator for several grants, including a consortium grant from Learn and Serve America involving a collaboration of seven colleges and universities to enhance capacity and expertise in service-learning.  She has published research on the impacts of service-learning on college students and community partners, and is currently conducting research for Tulane’s Center for Public Service, looking at college students’ service-learning participation, the development of community partnerships, and VISTA program participation.  She has presented her research at regional, national, and international conferences and has authored research reports for professional journals.  She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning.  She was a finalist for the 2002 Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning and received the Gulf-South Summit Award for Outstanding Contributions to Service-Learning Research in 2004.