Beyond "Transfer Shock": Exploring the Relationship Between Service-Learning Participation and Transfer Students' Sense of Belonging

• In Event: Service-Learning for Democracy, Engagement, and Success

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between participation in service-learning courses with college transfer students’ institutional sense of belonging. We estimated OLS models using data from the Higher Education Research Institute’s Diverse Learning Environments survey. Results suggest that transfer students who participated in service-learning courses had increased sense of belonging at their new institution; however, the results also indicated that this positive relationship is actually curvilinear in nature. This positive non-linear effect is further explored to examine the changing relationships that continued service-learning experiences have with transfer students’ institutional sense of belonging.

Authors

• Travis T. York, Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities

• Frank Joseph Fernandez, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park