The High Impact Practice of

Community Service-Based
Learning

Presented by Keyla Eusebio

Graduate Retention Fellow
First Year Experience
High Impact Practice
 Purpose
Day of Service is intended to have a positive impact on
students’ engagement well as positive effects on retention
and GPA. The aim is to achieve the following outcomes
as a result of completing the Day of Service:

Learning Outcome #1
• Students will gain an increased
knowledge and respect for differences in
society and identify an issue facing the
community.

Learning Outcome #2
• Students will examine personal strengths
of skills they developed.

Learning Outcome #3
• Students will build meaningful connections
with peers.
Literature on Community Service-Based Learning
• Bosnall L. David, Rachel A. Harris, Jill N. Marczak, The Community as a Classroom
– Presents an in-depth review of a community-based student leadership programs
– Showcases the benefits of student participation in community service and service learning
experiences.

• Paul Bradley, Feeding Academic Success

– Looks at the benefits of service-learning programs
– Students are motivated by service-learning in ways that are not possible in traditional
courses.

• Susan Gonsalves, Connecting Curriculum with the Community

– Discusses the educational benefits of community service learning projects.

• Judy Singleton, Taking the Class to the Community with Service-Learning: Gerontological
Macro Social Work Practice
– Successful outcomes are described in terms of community partnership, services and benefits
provided, and the degree of satisfaction by students.
 Research Question
Does the high impact practice of Salem
State’s Day of Service community
service-based learning initiative
increase retention rates as well as
student academic success?
 Methodology
• Survey Monkey distributed
to all DOS participants less
than 24 hours after DOS

• Skyfactor Mapworks data

collection on:
o DOS Cohort
o Non-DOS Cohort

• Institutional Data
o Past & Current DOS Cohort
& Non-DOS Cohort
Day of Service Survey Monkey Data
Students Who Believed DOS Increased Their Knowledge
and Respect For Differences in Society (n=218)

Disagee, 1%

Neutral,
19%
Strongly
Agree,
44%
Agree,
36%

Learning Outcome #1
Day of Service Survey Monkey Data
Students Who Believed DOS Helped Them Become
Closer To Their Peers (n=218)

Disagee, 2%

Neutral,
18% Strongly
Agree,
40%
Agree,
40%

Learning Outcome #3
 Mapworks Student Demographic
Data
DOS Participants Non-DOS Participants
Fall 2017 (n= 173) (n=921)

77% Female 62% Female

Gender
23% Male 38% male

High School GPA 3.32 Average 3.17 Average

White 70% White 63%

Hispanic 14% Hispanic 18%
Racial Composition Black 10% Black 9%
Asian 3% Asian 3%
Other 3% Other 7%
 Mapworks Student Data
MAPWORKS QUESTIONS
DOS Cohort Non-DOS Cohort
Fall 2017 Fall 2017

High overall satisfaction with the institution 45.2% 35.6%

Plans to get involved with student
organizations 49.1% 24.3%
Intended to get involved in campus/
community service 44.1% 16.2%
Plans to return to SSU next academic
school year 78.1% 76.6%

Committed to attaining a degree from SSU 76.8% 71.2%

Has made strong peer connections 58.5% 42.8%

Plans to get involved with leadership roles 19.0% 10.8%

 Institutional Data
Non- DOS
Academic Year DOS Participants
Participants

Fall 2016 to Spring

Retention 96% 90%

Fall 2016 GPA 3.13 2.83

Fall 2017-Spring 2018

Retention 92% 90%

Fall 2017 GPA 3.15 2.86

 Research Findings
• Positive correlation between participation in
Day of Service and a high GPA.

• Positive correlation between participation in

Day of Service and institutional
satisfaction.

• Positive correlation between those who

participated in Day of Service and their
engagement on campus and in the
community.
 Limitations
• The entire first year
population did not complete
Skyfactor Mapworks Survey.

• Students who skipped

questions within the
Skyfactor Mapworks Survey.

• Is Day of Service increasing

a student’s academic
success or just maintaining
it?
 Implications
• Expand the DOS experience so it is mandatory for all first
year students rather than an opt-in.

• Explore more ways to make DOS more accessible for all

students.

• Conduct further research to evaluate whether or not DOS

truly improves the grades of students who are not high
achievers.

• Determine how demographics play in role in how accessible

DOS is for students with different identities.
 References
Bonsall, D. L., Harris, R. A., & Marczak, J. N. (2002). The community as a
classroom. New Directions For Student Services, 2002(100), 85.

Bradley, P. (2011). Feeding academic success. Community College Week,

23(17), 6-7.

Forsyth, J., & Hesson, N. (2017). Benefits and challenges of transitioning to

community service multidisciplinary capstone projects. Proceedings Of The
ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, 3281-3300.

Gonsalves, S. (2011). Connecting curriculum with community. Education

Digest, 76(6), 56-59.

Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has
access to them and why they matter. Association of American Colleges and
Universities.

Singleton, J. L. (2007). Taking the class to the community with service-learning:

Gerontological macro social work practice. Journal Of Gerontological Social
Work, 50(1), 105-118.
 Questions?
Keyla Eusebio
k_eusebio@salemstate.edu