TY - JOUR
T1 - Benefits Derived by College Students from Mentoring At-Risk Youth in a Service-Learning Course
AU - Weiler, Lindsey
AU - Haddock, Shelley
AU - Zimmerman, Toni S.
AU - Krafchick, Jen
AU - Henry, Kimberly
AU - Rudisill, Sarah
PY - 2013/12
Y1 - 2013/12
N2 - Service learning is increasingly being used as a pedagogical strategy for promoting the development of civic-mindedness among university students. Despite the use of this strategy, little is known about the benefits derived from specific types of service-learning experiences. Additionally, few notable studies have examined the unique outcomes experienced by mentors of at-risk youth. Therefore, this study examines the civic-related benefits that college students derive from mentoring at-risk youth within a structured, service-learning course. A series of linear regression models were estimated to determine if there were significant post-intervention differences between the treatment and comparison condition for the variables of interest, after adjusting for key background factors and pre-intervention levels of all variables. The results indicated that, in comparison to college students who did not participate in the course (n = 258), college student in Campus Corps, a youth mentoring program, (n = 390) had significantly higher scores at post-intervention regarding mentors' civic attitudes, community service self-efficacy, self-esteem, interpersonal and problem solving skills, political awareness, and civic action. Findings hold important implications for youth mentoring programs and future research.
AB - Service learning is increasingly being used as a pedagogical strategy for promoting the development of civic-mindedness among university students. Despite the use of this strategy, little is known about the benefits derived from specific types of service-learning experiences. Additionally, few notable studies have examined the unique outcomes experienced by mentors of at-risk youth. Therefore, this study examines the civic-related benefits that college students derive from mentoring at-risk youth within a structured, service-learning course. A series of linear regression models were estimated to determine if there were significant post-intervention differences between the treatment and comparison condition for the variables of interest, after adjusting for key background factors and pre-intervention levels of all variables. The results indicated that, in comparison to college students who did not participate in the course (n = 258), college student in Campus Corps, a youth mentoring program, (n = 390) had significantly higher scores at post-intervention regarding mentors' civic attitudes, community service self-efficacy, self-esteem, interpersonal and problem solving skills, political awareness, and civic action. Findings hold important implications for youth mentoring programs and future research.
KW - At-risk youth
KW - Civic-related outcomes
KW - College students
KW - Experiential learning
KW - Service-learning
KW - Youth mentoring
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84886750391&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84886750391&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10464-013-9589-z
DO - 10.1007/s10464-013-9589-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 23835781
AN - SCOPUS:84886750391
SN - 0091-0562
VL - 52
SP - 236
EP - 248
JO - American Journal of Community Psychology
JF - American Journal of Community Psychology
IS - 3-4
ER -