Project+FOCUS

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**Project FOCUS: Assessing long-term impact of service-learning on post-graduation civic behaviors** Shannon Wilder, Director, Office of Service-Learning, University of Georgia [swilder@uga.edu]

David Berle, Associate Professor, University of Georgia [dberle@uga.edu]

Sarah Brackmann, Director of Civic Engagement, Southwestern University [brackmas@southwestern.edu]

David Knauft, Professor, University of Georgia [dknauft@uga.edu]


 * Keywords:** Alumni survey, long-term impact, Life After College Survey, post-graduation civic behaviors, Project FOCUS


 * Conference track:** Higher education student outcomes


 * Format:** Research/Scholarly paper

This research paper examines how participation in Project Fostering Our Community’s Understanding of Science (FOCUS) affected student civic engagement behaviors and beliefs in the years following graduation. Researchers surveyed students enrolled in a specific service-learning course at one institution during the period 2004-2011 and compared the results to a similar population of alumni who did not take this service-learning course. The paper addresses the central research question: Is there a difference in civic engagement behaviors and beliefs between university graduates who participated in Project FOCUS and graduates who did not?
 * Summary**

Researchers based the survey instrument on the Higher Education Research Institute’s (HERI) Life After College Survey (LAC), a survey of former undergraduates. The study builds on Astin and Vogelgsang’s (2006) study of a national sample of alumni who participated in service learning experiences during college. Civic leadership, charitable giving, and overall political engagement were all identified as being more common among individuals who had participated in service-learning than among those who had not. Astin and Vogelgsang’s sample could not control for different teaching styles, reflection strategies, service experiences, and conceptions of service-learning. This survey of Project FOCUS graduates controls for these variables.

The results of the Project FOCUS study found that after graduation, individuals who had participated in Project FOCUS were more likely to continue involvement with activities related to community and civic engagement. Participants’ community and civic engagement was greater than non-participants’ (statistically significant) for all categories of ‘working with communities’ and ‘volunteer activities’ as defined in the LAC survey. Participants also appeared to have a stronger affinity to their alma mater than non-participants as a result of the experience. Study results identify effects of student FOCUS participation on postgraduate civic attitudes and behaviors and contribute to broader scholarly understanding of service-learning’s long-term impact.

Astin, A. W., Vogelgesang, L. J., Misa, K., Anderson, J., Denson, N., Jayakumar, U., Saenz, V., & Yamamura, E. (2006). //Understanding the effects of service-learning: A study of students and faculty//. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles.
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