The importance of community service or volunteering to college students Running head: The importance of community service or volunteering to college

students.

The importance of volunteering: Valuing the art of growing Josette M. Tshimanga University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students Introduction: Whats important to me? Everybody is busy with something; sometimes its hard for full times student to balance their times with school, studying, work, and kids, if any, which, only means that we all need help once in a while. When we are involved in something, whether it is sports, relationships, etc. you get a sense of belonging, you have pride that you have worked so hard on something and

Comment [JG1]: So true!

accomplished it fully. And that is what I believe volunteering or doing service to your community means. You get to be who you are, meet a lot of people; help those in needs even if for a few minutes, change someones life, and that is what the school provides to student, the ability to aid others whether it be by diversifying or volunteering at a place of choice, to be able to do something we wouldnt normally do, to actually change the world one fundraiser or volunteer at a time. Like, any students, I am also full time and work full time, I would probably be the first to tell you that I have no time for socializing or doing any kind of community service. My mother always say be grateful for what you have, for being alive, for the clothes on your back, shoes on your feet, roof over your head, for having transportation, for having books for school, for even being able to be in scho ol, for you dont know that someone somewhere may lack the things youre taking for granted, and think that just to be able to have one of these things I just said to you would be heaven to them. And every time I think of this it gives me the courage to give back, to help whoever I can, yes I wont be able to help the entire universe but I believe more than anything that everything in life is a cycle, that what I do for others would be done to me and so forth. And if only everyone would help each other, if only we could all put our wants aside for a second and realize that somewhere in the world, maybe even right next door, there is someone in need of clothes, or just someone to talk to, then, as clich as this may sound, I believe that the
Comment [JG2]: Very good ending statement. This would also work well as a call to action for volunteering.

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students world would be a much better place, and we might even eliminate some of the issues we have today.

Comment [JG3]: Great introduction you can really see the passion and feeling that you hold behind these words and ideas

Literature Review: Are students motivated to service others? Chang presents a research a study that describes the level of student interactions or involvements on college campuses. Students interactions have been traditionally conceived as a form of involvement. Involvement is the quantity and quality of the physical and psychological energy that students invest in the college experience. Student development and learning are dependent on how involved or invested a student is in his/her environment. This article is significant to my research because it helps me defines what it means to be involved as a college student. It gives me the ability to further areas of research on the difference between 2-year college campuses vs. a 4-year college campus. Wittmer believes that service learning is a method where students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that is conducted in and meets the needs of communities; is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community service program; helps foster civic responsibility; is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of students. Because of service learning people have understood that they are a part of a community, and that they behave themselves in ways that will benefit the community and themselves. It doesnt matter that they could be driven by self-interest, group loyalty, etc. but that they understand the responsibility of being a part of a community. Koljatic and Kuh made a study involving student cooperation with peers, active learning practices, and faculty-student interaction.

Comment [JG4]: Did you mean to do service for others? Because to service others sounds a little weird.

Comment [JG5]: Whos Chang and where is his article? Maybe a link or a citation would help. So the reader could see the article with there own eyes or atleast get a idea on who chang is.

Comment [JG6]: Very good idea to describe both of these forms of college to draw parallels and differences.

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students

Cooperation with peers: Asked other people to read something you wrote to see if it was clear to them. Discussed with other students why some groups get along smoothly, and other groups don't. Sat around in the union or center talking with other students about your classes and other college activities. Asked a friend to tell you what he-she really thought about you. Been in a group where each person, including yourself, talked about his-her personal problems. Discussed policies and issues related to campus activities and student government. Discussed reasons for the success or lack of success of student club meetings, activities, or events. Worked in some student organization or special project (publications, student government, social event, etc.). Used the lounge(s) or meeting rooms (in Active learning) Underlined major points in the readings. Wrote a rough draft of a paper or essay and then revised it yourself before handing it in. Used a dictionary or thesaurus to look up the proper meaning of words.

Comment [JG7]: I like the way you formatted this. It helps convey the information quickly and clearly.

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students

Student-faculty contact:

Talked with a faculty member. Asked your instructor for information related to a course you were taking (grades, make-up work, assignments, etc.).

Visited informally and briefly with an instructor after class. Made an appointment to meet with a faculty member in his or her office.

Discussed ideas for a term paper or other class project with a faculty member.

Asked an instructor for advice and help to improve your writing. Asked your instructor for comments and criticisms about your work. Discussed your career plans and ambitions with a faculty member. Made an appointment to talk with an instructor who had criticized a paper you had written.

Met with a faculty adviser or administrator to discuss the activities of a student organization.

This study is a survey that measures college students engagements with their faculty, their activities in communities, and their learning opportunities. This is significant to my research because it helps me determine the number of students that actually are involved in something and the ones that needs to be involved. "the time and energy students devote to educationally sound activities inside and outside of the classroom" (p. 25, Kuh 2003). This literature suggests that

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students students more engaged in student faculty interactions, community based activities, and

transformational learning opportunities have higher graduation rates, better grades, better holds of their surroundings, and have greater educational satisfaction levels. The survey was conducted in three different categories: Student faculty engagement scale, community based activities engagement scale and transformational learning opportunities. Student-Faculty Engagement (SFE) Scale: For the student-faculty engagement (SFE) scale, we selected five items to measure the extent to which students engaged with faculty. Using the four point polytomy (1 = 'Never' to 4 = 'Very Often'), students indicated the extent to which they had engaged in each of the following forms of interaction with professors: (1) used email for communication, (2) talked about career plans, (3) discussed grades or assignments, (4) discussed class ideas or readings outside of class, and (5) worked on activities other than coursework.
Comment [JG9]: Very diverse list of activities. Comment [JG8]: Good use of scales

Community Based Activities (CBA) Engagement Scale: We intended the Community Based Activities Engagement scale (CBA) to measure the extent to which students engage with the community, as part of their program or not. From the NSSE, we selected four items to measure CBA. Using a four point polytomy (1 = 'Never', 2 = 'Sometimes', 3 = 'Often', 4 = 'Very Often'), one item examined the extent to which students participated in community based projects as part of a regular course. On a different four point polytomy (1 = "Have not Decided", 2 =

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students "Do not plan to", 3 = "Plan to do", & 4 = "Done") two items asked about students' intentions to conduct (1) community or volunteer service1 or (2)

practicums, internships, etc. A fourth item used a four point polytomy (1 = 'Very Little', 2 = 'Some', 3 = 'Quite a bit', 4 = 'Very Much ') to measure the extent to which the student's experience at the institution contributed to their (the student's) knowledge, skills, and personal development with regard to contributing to the welfare of their (the student's) community.

Transformational Learning Opportunities (TLO) Engagement Scale: To measure the extent to which students engaged in transformational learning opportunities, we selected six NSSE items. Using the four point polytomy (1 = "Have not Decided" to, 4 = "Done"), five items examined the extent to which students planned to or had: (1) studied abroad, (2) worked on a research project with a faculty member outside course or program requirements, (3) engaged in a practicum, internship, co-op, etc.), (4) engaged in a culminating senior experience (e.g., capstone course, senior thesis, etc., or (5) engaged in independent study or self-designed major. A sixth item used the four point polytomy (1 = 'Never' to 4 = 'Very Often') to examine the extent to which students participated in communitybased projects as part of a regular course. Table 1 Item response theory discrimination and location parameters for each engagement scale (locations describe the level of engagement needed

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students before participants will likely endorse a higher as opposed to lower category (e.g., "Never = 1" versus "Sometimes = 2)) Scale Items Discrimination Location Location Location (1-2) (2-3) (3-^) Student faculty engagement scale Discussed grades 1.98 -2.2 -0.18 0.95 Discussed career plans 1.86 -0.77 0.67 1.68 Discussed ideas outside class 1.65 -0.45 1.1 2.28 Worked with faculty outside 1.12 0.38 1.85 3.26 class Communicated using email 1.47 -3.67 -1.20 0.16 Community based activities engagement scale Community project 2.78 0.28 1.2 1.71 Practicum 0.88 -2.58 -1.48 1.21 Volunteer 1.43 -1.87 -0.92 0.09 Contribute to community 1.03 -1.22 0.49 2.07 welfare Transformational learning opportunities engagement scale Community project 0.63 0.66 2.9 4.21 Practicum 0.87 -2.57 -1.47 1.21 Research project 1.26 -0.97 1.1 2.37 Study abroad 0.48 -2.58 1.81 5.41 Independent study 1.8 -0.91 1.22 2.14 Senior experience 1.46 -0.86 0.1 1.73

Porter in his research talks about how student engagement is correlated with learning and personal development. He also talks about the differences the size of the school makes to students

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students and how it might affects the students engagements. Sometimes depending on the students the bigger the school the more they are engaged, the less they study, which put them behind for graduation. And the smaller the school, the less they are engaged, the more they are interested in finishing school. This research is of used to me because it helps me see how being involved in anything can help student developments and shape eventually who they are or might become.

Comment [JG10]: Interesting colorations.

Zhao and Kuh believed that students who participated in out of class activities are more likely to connect with a group of people from different countries and cultures. This is important to my research because it shows that being involved in something means you're going to learn different things from different cultures and develop personally. As a result, learning is deeper, more personally relevant, and becomes a part of who the student is, not just something the student has. Learning communities are intentionally structured to help students make two types of connections consistent with this theoretical orientation. The first is encouraging students to connect ideas from different disciplines, which is aided by being co-enrolled in two or more courses (Klein, 2000; MacGregor, 1991). The second connection is the linking of students through ongoing social interactions afforded by being with the same students for an extended period of time. As a result, students become members of a community focused on academic content, which allows them to further develop their identify and discover their voice as well as to integrate what they are learning into their worldview and other academic and social experiences.

Jones and Hill conducted a survey of whether or not students are motivated by their volunteer work, or just simply doing it because it is required or because they are being forced to do it. this is important to my research because i believe that in order to succeed in life you have to

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students be motivated to put in the work, meaning that you have to be open minded to the outside influences. Doing volunteer work needs to be where students are doing it more for personal satisfaction than a requirement. Findings from the 2000 survey of first-year college students report that just over 81% of students had performed volunteer work in the past year. However, only 22.7% of students indicated that it was important to participate in a community action program, and 30.9% indicated they valued becoming a community leader (Higher Education Research Institute, 2001). In one study when asked why they were involved, 80% of student respondents cited personal satisfaction from helping others, 56% gave as a reason a perceived requirement through a course or organization, and 54% indicated a sense of responsibility to correct social and community problems. In both studies, community service contributed to the

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process of the development of a sense of self and social responsibility. Involvement in community service engaged students in developing greater knowledge of self through meaningful work with others, which resulted in the development of both a personal and collective identity.

Joining in on the conversation: The importance of community service or volunteering to college students Everyone has a choice. Our entire lives are full of choices, some we made ourselves, some made by others, regardless of how all if any of these choices were made, and it just shows that we do have the power to change what can be changed. And that is what I believe all these research put together is trying to say. All these authors know that as students we need to be more involved, more engaged, because we are always going to end up learning something important, something that might change our way of thinking, or acting, something that might change our lives and maybe also the lives of people we dont know. So yes, I say lets go out there and do

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students something we havent done, help someone in ways that will change their life, not because its required, not because our parents wants us to, but because we want to, because we want to get something good out of it, and also because its going to be self-satisfying, worthwhile to us

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personally but most importantly it makes us happy to do good unto other as they have done good unto us.
Comment [JG11]: Where are your sources?

Joe end Comment: This paper was well put together and excellently organized! There are only a few things that need to be changed that I specified in my comments such as sources and a bit of clarification on said sources. But over all I am very impressed with this paper its flow and structure. Good work, keep it up!!!!!

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students

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Reference Page Carle, A. C., Jaffee, D., Vaughan, N. W., & Eder, D. (2009). Psychometric properties of three new national survey of student engagement based engagement scales: An item response theory analysis. Research in Higher Education, 50(8), 775-794. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40542343 . Chang, J. C. (2005). Faculty Student Interaction at the Community College: A Focus on Students of Color. Research in Higher Education, 46(7), 769-802. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40197445 . Jones, S. R., & Hill, K. E. (2003). Understanding patterns of commitment: Student motivation for community service involvement. The Journal of Higher Education, 75(5), 516-539. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3648282 Koljatic, M., & Kuh, G. D. (2001). A longitudinal assessment of college student engagement in good practices in undergraduate education. Higher Education, 42(3), 351-371. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3448001 . Marks, H. M., & Jones, S. R. (2004). Community service in the transition: Shifts and continuities in participation from high school to college. The Journal of Higher Education, 75(3), 307-339. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3838818 . Musick, M. A., & Wilson, J. (2008). Volunteers: a social profile. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

The importance of community service or volunteering to college students Porter, S. R. (2006). Institutional structures and student engagement. Research in Higher Education, 47(5), 521-558. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40197601 . Ryan, J. F. (2005). Institutional expenditures and student engagement: A role for financial

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resources in enhancing student learning and development? Research in Higher Education, 46(2), 235-249. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40197354 . Wittmer, D. P. (2004). Business and Community: Integrating Service Learning In Graduate Business Education. Journal of Business Ethics, 51(4), 359-371. Zhao, C.-, & Kuh, G. D. (2004). Adding value: Learning communities and student engagement. Research in Higher Education, 45(2), 115-138. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3448001.
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