Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1999. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 20, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Edward R. Hines (chair), Victor J. Boschini, Ramesh B. Chaudhari, Patricia Klass. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-111) and abstract. Also available in print.

Resilience implies the concept of buoyancy. Specifically, it denotes an individual's capacity to persevere and even do well in the face of adversity. Service-learning is pedagogy often used to enable students to apply classroom learning in a real world context. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of service-learning upon college student resilience. The study utilized a convenience sample of undergraduate students (N = 172) across three disciplines including counseling, social work and kinesiology. In a pre-post test design, the CD-RISC was employed to measure resilience of the experimental and control groups. Factor analysis of the CD-RISC was also conducted in order to explore interrelationship of the variables among the data. One undergraduate sample (N = 210) was used to conduct the EFA before determining a best fit factor structure for this study's population. A repeated measures analysis of variance was employed to detect any differences between pre-post test groups. No statistical significance was found across pre and post-test among the two groups (p=.49, η2=.00). However significant results were found between the experimental and control groups (p=.00, η2 =.09). Examination of mean score differences among demographic variable yielded interesting findings across the three disciplines as well as between age and gender of the participants. Findings indicated students given freedom of choice within service-learning logistics scored greatest gains in resilience.

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship of the use of service learning in teaching and selected dimensions of college student development. The research was guided by the question, "To what extent do three levels of experience in community service, including participation with and without reflection about the service and no participation, affect students' sense of civic or citizenship responsibilities, respect for diversity, development of skills, and knowledge of self?" A pretest/posttest design was employed to measure the four dimensions of growth associated with participation in community service learning experiences. The sample was 116 students enrolled at James Madison University and Radford University. Data from the pretest and posttest was analyzed by ANOVA procedures that allowed examination by gender, race, and previous volunteer experience. Additionally, qualitative data were collected from student journal entries that displayed reflections of the students about their service learning experiences. These entries were guided by predetermined questions about written scenarios concerning service and volunteerism. The results indicated the pretest/posttest instrument reliability was in the average to low range. The subsequent analysis found no significant differences in the scores of the students on the pretest/posttest. However, there was a significant difference between the scores of men and women on both the pretest and posttest. The students' reflections in the journal entries provided many examples of student development on the four dimensions of growth. It was concluded from this examination that service learning with reflection had contributed to student development. This was inferred from both the number and quality of the student statements. The students believed the service learning experience had facilitated an increasing appreciation for diversity, the development of additional skills, and a greater awareness of self. The fourth dimension, civic awareness, was displayed by many students before they began the service learning experience, and it was harder to evaluate change on this dimension as a result of the six week experience. Additional research was suggested to refine the pretest instrument and to focus on longer service learning experiences. Findings from this research should be useful to educators interested in service learning in their instruction and provide guidance on the important role of reflection in the experience. / Ph. D.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Service-learning continues to gain in popularity across the higher education landscape and can be found in most educational institutions. Although more often found in student affairs programming, it is also viewed as a viable pedagogy. Most studies show that service-learning impacts students in various ways: academically, socially and vocationally. The research study employed quantitative methods. It analyzed prediction of participation in community service/service-learning with students' self-assessment on five outcomes: academic skills, social integration, community integration/alumni expectations, connection with the campus community and change in opinions, values and attitudes. A canonical correlation analysis was conducted on data collected on the Profile of Today's College Student administered by NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The data represent a random sample (N = 374) of undergraduate students enrolled at a mid-sized, private four-year university located in the south central United States. The study looked for statistical significance as well as employed effect size measures. The study found participation in community service/service-learning predicts on all five factors in the model. Additional analysis incorporated effect size measures to further strengthen the results. The results were both statistically (p < .001) and practically significant (Rc2 = .101). Connection with the campus community and social integration were best predicted by participation in community service/service-learning. Surprisingly, change in opinions, values and attitudes was found to be least predictive, but correlated at significant levels. Research on service-learning has focused on service-learning related to academic performance, often neglecting the co-curricular experiences and development. Since service-learning can be found in co-curricular and academic programming, more research on community service/service-learning should focus on co-curricular service experiences.

Significant changes have taken place in recent years in leadership theory and practice world wide. Theorizations of effective leadership have evolved from being authoritarian and task-centered to a model in which leaders are encouraged to look beyond their self-interest and prioritize the interests of the group. This study investigates the development of an alternative form of leadership through community building in two male school boarding houses. It attempts to ascertain whether students are able to work collaboratively towards developing an environment conducive to servant leadership. Structured according to the transformative research paradigm, this action research study was conducted in an independent school, Kingswood College, in Grahamstown, South Africa. The College is a traditional independent co-educational school that prides itself on producing leaders. As the school was in the process of reviewing its leadership system, it became an appropriate site to investigate the development of community and to explore possibilities for the emergence of an alternative form of leadership that would reflect the attributes of servant leadership. The participants in the study were volunteers from two boarding houses, who agreed to reflect on their perceptions and experiences of the way in which their houses functioned. My research findings show that through their willingness to engage in moral dialogue, students can transform their boarding houses into closely-knit communities bound together by shared values and beliefs. Closer relationships make for better understanding. As the leaders take on the responsibility of caring for their juniors, a moral obligation begins to manifest itself. Leaders will display the attributes of servant leadership if they are prepared to acknowledge in practice this moral obligation to serve others.

The purpose of this study is to develop a substantive grounded theory explaining the development of a philosophy and the practice of leadership amongst young adults who had attended Hilton College and whom were exposed to their servant leadership development programme. The grounded theory method in this study was developed using conventions identified by Strauss and Corbin (1990) and relying upon a collection of incidents noted during interviews with former students, teachers, housemasters, headmaster and Hiltonian Society board members. In total thirty-six interviews were conducted over a period of four years in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Kenya. Using the grounded theory methodology, an understanding of the theoretical model emerged through the development of a personal philosophy and the practice of servant leadership. Related to the central phenomenon of individual leadership philosophy and practice, the causal condition of opportunity to lead, influenced how the individual philosophy and practice emerged. Strategies used by the participants to nurture their philosophy and practice of leadership were the leadership development programme, community service, feedback and reflection. The data identified the intervening conditions and conditions relating to the context of the leadership philosophy and practice. The consequences of developing a leadership philosophy and practice were related to leadership behaviour; self-esteem; growth; follower relations; empowering of others; and relationship to institutions. The theoretical model illustrated the holistic nature of an individual’s leadership philosophy and practice. In this instance, the nature of the data revealed that the individual's leadership philosophy and practice that developed amongst the participants was predominately servant leadership. The different approaches to leadership development were scrutinised with the intention of locating the grounded theory that developed in this study, within the available literature. The literature did provide some useful insights, in particular the social field theory of Bourdieu (1998), which offered a more encompassing explanation and showed much promise in providing an understanding of leadership development. Wheatley's (1999) interpretation of field theory further explained the influence of servant leadership in leadership development. Finally, the researcher developed a set of propositions and recommendations for practice and future research and discussed the value of this research.