Research Service Learning: Making the Academy Relevant Again
Abstract
For at least 20 years, American universities, political scientists, and college students
each have been criticized for holding themselves aloof from public life. This article
introduces a pedagogical method – research service-learning (RSL) – and examines whether
it can provide a means of integrating scholarly theory with civic practice to enhance
student outcomes. In particular, we examine whether a modest dose of RSL in the form
of an optional course add-on (the “RSL gateway option”) is associated with higher
scores on 12 educational and civic measures. We find that the RSL gateway option did
not have effects on some important outcomes – such as intellectual engagement, problem
solving, and knowledge retention – but it did appear to open students’ eyes to future
opportunities in academic research and nonprofit and public sector work. The RSL add-on
also appears to have helped students make the intellectual link between scholarly
theory and the challenges facing volunteers and voluntary organizations. We argue
that RSL, in its gateway-option formulation, is an administratively feasible pedagogy
that can simultaneously help to resolve the relevancy dilemmas facing research universities,
political scientists, and students seeking connections between the classroom and public
policy.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6992Collections
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Kristin Anne Goss
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Professor Goss focuses on why people do (or don't) participate in political life and
how their engagement affects public policymaking. Her current research projects focus
on the role of philanthropic billionaires in policy debates and on the evolution of
gun-related advocacy over the past decade. Her recent articles and books are <a href="https://kr

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