Impact of Online Service-Learning on Civic and Social Justice Behavior of Undergraduate Laboratory-Based Graduates

Students working in a laboratory context hardly find an opportunity for civic interaction and social justice learning which is mostly possible through live interaction with community and outside world during an academic carrier. However, online service-learning is considered to be one of the effective approaches to solve this issue. This research study aimed to explore perceptions of students working in a chemistry laboratory about changes in their social justice and civic attitudes after participating in an online service-learning project. A qualitative explorative research design was employed to investigate the impact of online service-learning on the students’ social justice and civic attitudes through web-based instruction. The results showed that the online service-learning experience greatly improved their social justice and civic attitudes. The students showed readiness to help out needy people in the local community. They also expressed willingness to work with diverse social groups and people from other socio-cultural and linguistic groups. The students appreciated the importance of teamwork and wanted to make decisions collaboratively. They learned to behave positively during an online interaction with local community people. Based on the results, it is concluded that online service-learning is a useful approach for promoting social justice attitudes and civic attitudes of students working in a laboratory context.