Service Learning as a Pathway to Enhanced Belonging: A Multi-Institutional Study of Community College Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Community College Experiences and Perspectives

Abstract

High-impact practices （HIPs） are increasingly recognized for promoting student success, yet their role in community colleges remains understudied, even though these institutions often face low completion rates and serve less privileged students. Additionally, most research simplifies HIP participation into binary terms, overlooking meaningful variation in engagement levels. This study addresses both gaps by examining the relationship between service-learning frequency and campus belonging among community college students. Using survey data from 1,224 students across nine U.S. institutions and stepwise multivariate linear regression, the study reveals that moderate engagement is consistently associated with higher belonging. It offers a more equitable and nuanced understanding of HIPs’ impact and calls for further research into engagement quality and mechanisms of influence.

Author

• Bingyao Hu, Johns Hopkins University