What Impacts the Learning in Service Learning? An Examination of Project Structure and Student Characteristics

This paper examines factors that can influence how effective a service-learning project is at achieving learning objectives. It is based on data collected from seven Master’s of Public Administration (MPA) courses taught during one semester at a large state university. We find that the key factors of influence on how effective a service-learning project is at achieving learning objectives are (a) the extent that the project is integrated with class materials, (b) whether or not students work in groups, and (c) whether or not the participating students are full-time.