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Evidence of service-learning's impact on civic and community engagement behaviors is generally restricted to short-term evaluations of student learning outcomes (Eyler & Giles, 1999; Vogelgesang & Astin, 2000). While previous studies have examined the effects of service-learning and volunteerism on students' civic behaviors after college (Astin et al., 1999; Fenzel & Peyrot, 2005; Warchal & Ruiz 2004), few compare results with alumni who did not participate in service-learning (Astin et al., 2006), and no available studies control for consistently defined and implemented servicelearning experiences. In this study, survey research examines the long-term effects of service-learning participation on civic engagement behaviors and beliefs of students enrolled in a specific servicelearning course at one institution from 2004-2011 compared to a similar population of alumni who did not take a service-learning course.
In 2002, a course entitled "Project FOCUS - Fostering Our Community's Understanding of Science: Service-Learning Experience" was created at the University of Georgia in collaboration with the local public school system. Each semester, university science students...