Meaning Making in College Student Service Learning
Open AccessThis study examined how college students made meaning of their service learning (SL) experiences. Two sets of semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with six undergraduate students at George Washington University—a large private research institution in Washington, DC. A modified version of Seidman’s (2006) phenomenological interview model was used to structure these interviews. Data analysis was guided by the phenomenological epistemology, as it allowed for a deeper exploration of each participant’s lived experiences in relation to their SL. Self-authorship theory was selected as the theoretical framework, and was also used in data analysis to adequately address the research question: How do college students make meaning of their SL experiences? Thematic clusters of common experiences emerged from the data: wanting to do more, connecting with the population, challenging social interactions, acknowledging privilege and addressing injustices, religious and political beliefs as motivations, self-care and support, and new career insights. While each participant made meaning of their respective SL experiences in different ways, this meaning was most frequent and significant through challenging, difficult, and/or stressful interactions with others on site. These findings complement the largely outcomes-oriented SL body of literature and reveal new information about how college students navigate, process, and make meaning of their SL experiences. Recommendations for practitioners are discussed, including the foremost recommendation to enact a careful and involved design of SL projects. The findings also reveal new avenues for future research on the college student SL experience.
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