Promoting democratic engagement during college: Looking beyond service-learning

Abstract

Preparing students to be engaged participants in our democratic society has long been an important college outcome. Over the past few decades, postsecondary institutions have primarily attempted to improve civic outcomes by integrating service activities into their curricula. While research on the effects of service-learning are plentiful, research on how other educationally beneficial activities influence democratic outcomes is scarce. In this study, we find that service-learning may not be the only means for promoting democratic outcomes because other high impact practices, most prominently learning communities, have greater or equivalent relationship to two dimensions of democratic engagement.