INVESTIGATING THE VALUE OF AN UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY: ENHANCING STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH SERVICE

Back to Page Authors: Lori Simons, Charlotte Marshall

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Keywords: student learning outcomes, internship, service-learning, psychology

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Abstract: A total of 226 undergraduate students enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses that utilize practicum/internship and service-learning as primary instructional methods took part in the study. Interns improved their understanding of the integration of diversity content in the course, awareness of gender and racial inequality, and general empathy from the beginning to the end of the practicum/internship program. Interns also reported being prepared for fieldwork and appraised their fieldwork favorably. Results from a repeated measures analyses of variance further indicate that interns had higher ratings of ethnocultural awareness and lower ratings for interpersonal engagement and civic responsibility compared to service-learners from the beginning to the end of the semester. Internship and service-learning courses contribute to different student learning outcomes. Implications for infusing both service-learning and fieldwork in beginning, middle, and ending psychology courses are discussed.

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