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Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explain the impact of virtual service-learning (vSL) on college students’ development of compassion and motivation for service. The goal of the study is an effort to gain insight into the effect of several factors (the age of prior community service experience, academic motivations for self-selecting to enroll in a service-learning (SL) course, academic motivations for choosing virtual service-learning) on expectations and rating greater frequency for feeling compassion along with more motivation for virtual service-learning in the future. The benefits of virtual-service learning to acquire compassion will focus on a desire to help and concern for others that may not be like oneself, combined with valuing social justice and the relationship of helping others. Data was collected in two stages from the College Student Pre-Service-Learning Survey at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester and the College Student Post-Service-Learning Survey at the end of the Fall 2020 semester from students in Child and Adolescent Development (ChAD) 60, a GE course with a virtual service-learning requirement. Additionally, the College Student Service-Learning Survey was administered Time 1 at the beginning of the semester and Time 2 at the end of the semester to students in ChAD 70, a similar GE course with overlapping content, but no service-learning requirement. Results explain the development of compassion over time and inform recommendations for improving the quality of virtual service-learning. This research can inform everyday feelings of concern and interactions with others for helping students achieve their fullest potential.

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