The Undergraduate Community Service Experience: Changing Perceptions of Diversity

• In Event: Exploring the Pedagogy of Stability and Change: Empirical Studies in Experiential Learning

Abstract

The current study investigates how community service participation changes the complexity of students’ perceptions of diversity. One hundred and six student volunteers participated in pre and post-community service surveys. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that community service significantly increased their knowledge about diversity and their level of comfort in interacting with populations different from their own, and that community service facilitated student volunteers to conceptualize diversity as positive acceptance, direct interaction, and similarity.

Authors

• Kay Yoon, DePaul University

• Donald Martin, DePaul University

• Alexandra Murphy, DePaul University