This study examines how student pre-college participation in extracurricular activities and volunteer and community services varies by demographic and academic variables, and how their experience participating in these activities affects first-year college engagement and learning outcomes. The analysis focuses on students at the University of…

As institutions seek to offer students an educational experience equipped with opportunities to develop as not only active learners but also engaged citizens, service-learning initiatives in the form of alternative spring breaks (ASB) have become prevalent. This study examines the potential of ASBs, as service-learning initiatives, to deliver a…

Framed by self-determination and identity development theories, this study examined the process through which participating in a community-based service-learning project supported high school students' feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness, and how these feelings were related to students' intentions for doing more service in the future.…

Volunteering implies free choice, but people in some situations can feel compelled to volunteer. Hypotheses about students' volunteer work focused on self-determination and sufficiency of justification for their behavior. We examined required versus nonrequired volunteerism, internal and external motivation for volunteering, and attitudes of…

A national scholarship program provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is designed to improve access to and success in higher education for low-income high-achieving minority students by providing them with full tuition scholarships and non-monetary support. We use a regression discontinuity approach to investigate whether the receipt of…

Much of the literature and progress related to global learning in higher education has been on curricular programs: knowledge of different societies and cultures, examining solutions to problems facing international communities, and so on. However, little research is found on the effect of cocurricular programs on these outcomes or on best…

The scene in Brian Griffin's bedroom looks like a cross between a charity telethon and an intense cramming session the night before a final exam. Mr. Griffin and about 10 of his classmates--fellow members of the Plainfield High School (Indiana) chapter of Students for Barack Obama--are sprawled around the room, cellphones in hand, studying voter…

This search of the ERIC system, Dissertation Abstracts, and the journal literature yielded 35 documents which are abstracts here. These documents review different ways in which students can be utilized as volunteers in school and in the community. (CJ)

AN EXPLANATION OF HOW CHILDREN CAN BE ENCOURAGED TO GIVE SERVICE TO THE SCHOOL, COMMUNITY, AND, IF POSSIBLE, TO PLACES AROUND THE WORLD IS PRESENTED. SERVICES IN THE SCHOOL COULD BE PROMOTED SUCH AS DISTRIBUTING MILK AND COLLECTING MONEY, STARTING A CLASS NEWSPAPER, PROMOTION CLEANLINESS, DECORATING THE SCHOOL, HELPING WITH AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS,…

A 2005 national survey of incoming freshmen in the US reveals that two out of three college freshmen believe it is essential or very important to help others who are in difficulty, with 83 percent stating they volunteered at least occasionally during their senior year of high school. The survey also finds an increased level of political…

Service learning can improve communities while preparing students for a lifetime of responsible citizenship. It helps students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized services that occur in and meet the needs of communities. Volunteering at a young age can lay the foundation for a lifelong commitment to community…

Suggests that because of the changing demographics of college students and the likelihood that they participate in paid work, the time has come for community college staff to consider ways to support student involvement in important on-campus organizations through compensation. Describes such arrangements with precedent in the campus environment,…

This brief is the second in the Youth Helping America Series, a series of reports based on data from the Youth Volunteering and Civic Engagement Survey, a national survey of 3,178 American youth between the ages of 12 and 18 that was conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2005 in collaboration with the U.S. Census…

The principal of DeLand (Florida) Junior High School describes a system which has been successful in overcoming apathy toward his student council. (Editor)