Immediate and sustained effect of a service-learning course grounded in public problem analysis
| Published date | 01 July 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/01447394231165168 |
| Author | Wan-Ling Huang |
| Date | 01 July 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Teaching Public Administration
2024, Vol. 42(2) 125–154
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/01447394231165168
journals.sagepub.com/home/tpa
Immediate and sustained effect
of a service-learning course
grounded in public problem
analysis
Wan-Ling Huang
Department of Public Administration and Policy, National Taipei University, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Abstract
This study aims to propound an instructional design for a service-learning course
grounded in public problem analysis and verify its immediate and sustained outcomes
through the actual instructional process. A quasi-experimental research design was
adopted wherein students who were enrolling in a service-learning course were con-
sidered as a treatment group, while those not enrolling in the course were categorized
into a comparison group. Three-wave surveys were distributed at the beginning, end, and
6 months after the end of the course. Our difference-in-differences (DID) analysis
showed that the project-based service-learning experience seems to be negatively related
to perceived problem-solving ability but positively associated with students’public service
motivation (PSM) in the short term. However, the above influence did not sustain as time
progressed. This study helps to clarify the relation between service-learning courses and
students’problem-solving ability as well as PSM in the field of public affairs education. It
can also serve as a foundation for efforts to improve subsequent instructional plans of
service-learning courses.
Keywords
Project-based service-learning, public affairs education, quasi-experimental research
design, difference-in-differences, problem-solving ability, public service motivation
Corresponding author:
Wan-Ling Huang, Department of Public Administration and Policy, National Taipei University, No.151,
University Rd., San-Shia Dist., New Taipei City 23741, Taiwan.
Email: whuang@mail.ntpu.edu.tw
Introduction
Traditionally, knowledge exploration and talent cultivation have been two crucial
functions that are central to the role played by a university. However, over the past few
decades, the idea of engaged scholarship has been discussed extensively (Boyer, 1996).
Some scholars have advocated a third mission of the university (Etzkowitz et al., 2000),
namely, faculty members should come out of the ivory tower of their research and move
from pure knowledge exploration to commercial applications to enhance national
competitiveness. In addition to economic development, other aspects such as environ-
mental sustainability, cultivation of humanist concern, and civic value and duty have been
included as tasks that universities can undertake. In other words, universities are expected
to assist in the attainment of the sustainable development goals through organizational
management, knowledge exploration, and social interaction—also termed as university
social responsibility (USR) (Ramos-Monge et al., 2017).
In this context, the Taiwan Ministry of Education launched a USR Program in 2017 to
encourage universities to contribute to regional development by collaborating with
community or other institutions. Many Taiwanese universities practice USR through
curriculum designs that combine both service and learning. According to the data released
by the Taiwan Open Government Data Platform, 155 out of 158 higher education in-
stitutions in Taiwan offered service-based courses as of 2015.
1
Such courses are either
offered by an academic department to pursue academic specialty with problems in the
public sphere to develop scholarship of engagement (Barker, 2004) or provided by a
center for general education at a university to give students an opportunit y of concrete
practice for civic education (Shumer et al., 2012).
Many studies on service learning have investigated students’learning experiences in
specific subject areas or have analyzed the effects of combining professional courses of a
particular field with service learning (Case et al., 2021;Gujarathi and McQuade, 2002;
Long et al., 2011). Of these, most studies have explored the fields of health and medicine
and nursing (Salam et al., 2019). Furthermore, extant research has indicated that in
addition to enhancing students’professional competencies (Lambert et al., 2022) and
social and communication skills (Sass and Coll, 2015), service-learning experience can
strengthen their civic consciousness and enhance their participation in public affairs
(Coelho and Menezes, 2021;Winston, 2015). Although service learning is a helping and
altruistic action grounded in a concern for social problems, research designing service-
learning courses from the perspective of public affairs education is scant. Moreover, little
research has analyzed the effects of service-learning courses from a more long-term
perspective according to our knowledge.
Based on the discussion above, this study propounds an instructional design for a
service-learning course grounded in public problem analysis and verifies its immediate
and sustained outcomes through the actual instructional process. The instructional design
proposed in this study was adopted in a general education course in a public university in
Taiwan. Through a quasi-experimental design, a three-wave longitudinal study was
conducted on course takers and non-course takers, and the difference-in-differences
method (DID) was used to analyze the immediate and sustained effects of the course.
126 Teaching Public Administration 42(2)
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
