Increasing Learning While Serving the Community: Student Engagement as the Key to Learning in a Basic Public Speaking Course

Despite the significant amount of research published regarding the effect of service-learning on attitudinal measures such as empathy and civic engagement, little is known about how service-learning influences direct student learning outcomes. This pilot study employed a repeated measures, quasi-experimental design with a comparison group to compare cognitive and behavioral learning outcomes of students in two courses: a service-learning public speaking course (n = 84) and a traditionally taught public speaking course (n = 92). No significant differences were revealed between service-learning and non-servicelearning students on measures of cognitive learning. However, servicelearning student groups significantly outperformed their non-servicelearning counterparts on measures of behavioral learning (application/ performance of a skill). The article concludes by addressing issues uncovered in this pilot project and offering suggestions for additional research.