Service Learning in Psychology: Enhancing Undergraduate Education for the Public Good

Service learning allows psychology undergraduates to improve their academic, personal, civic, and preprofessional outcomes through civic engagement. Students hone knowledge and skills from the classroom by collaborating with community organizations and residents in community-based activities. Community service that is integrated into a psychology course might include tutoring children, developing informational brochures, promoting social change, or conducting participatory community action research.

This book reviews the theory, research, and practice behind service learning, establishing it as an effective pedagogy that can help psychology departments meet the five key learning goals outlined in the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major: knowledge base in psychology, scientific inquiry and critical thinking, ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world, communication, and professional development.

Robert G. Bringle, PhD, is the Kulynych/Cline Visiting Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Appalachian State University; Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Philanthropic Studies, and Senior Scholar, Center for Service and Learning at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). He has published With Service in Mind: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Psychology (with D. Duffy), The Measure of Service Learning (with M. Phillips & M. Hudson), International Service Learning (with J. Hatcher & S. Jones), and Research on Service Learning: Conceptual Frameworks and Assessment. Vol. 2A: Students and Faculty, and Vol. 2B: Communities, Institutions, and Partnerships (with P. H. Clayton & J. A. Hatcher).

Roger N. Reeb, PhD, is a professor of psychology and Roesch Endowed Chair in the Social Sciences at University of Dayton. At this institution, he served as Director of Graduate Programs in Psychology (2006-2014). Dr. Reeb's research focuses on homelessness, psychopathology, and service learning outcomes for students and community. With approximately 30 publications and 80 conference presentations, he published Community Action Research: Benefits to Community Members and Service Providers (2006), edited a service learning research section for American Journal of Community Psychology (2010), and developed the Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale. He serves on numerous editorial boards (e.g., Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning).

As a licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Reeb serves on the Homeless Solutions Board and the National Alliance on Mental Illness Board (Montgomery County, Ohio).

Margaret A. Brown, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Seattle Pacific University. She is an experienced service learning practitioner and has won multiple awards for excellence in teaching, including the Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Washington and the endowed Patricia M. Bentz Teacher of the Year Award from Seattle Pacific University.

Dr. Brown's research interests are self-psychology and the intersection of prosocial behavior and intergroup relations. She is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters and has coauthored a text on self-psychology.

Dr. Brown has conducted rigorous theory-based, experimental research on service learning. Her examinations of service learning as a form of counternormative helping behavior have revealed its impact on social justice attitudes. This line of research has also identified multiple mediators and moderators of this relationship, such as empathy, generosity, and intergroup contact.

Ana I. Ruiz, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Alvernia University. Her publications include the book Service-Learning Code of Ethics, chapters and articles on ethical issues in international service learning and research on international service learning, the impact of service on alumni career development, and teaching ethics to undergraduate psychology students.

Dr. Ruiz is the cocreator of the online resource "Teaching Ethics to Undergraduate Psychology Students." Her scholarship has been funded by grants from Campus Compact, the Association for Psychological Science (Fund for Teaching and Public Understanding of Psychological Science), and APA (Division 2, Instructional Resource Award from Society for the Teaching of Psychology). She has presented at numerous national and international conferences.