Outcomes of Incorporating a Service-Learning Course Trip into a Park Management Course: An Exploratory Examination of Student Perceived Personal and Professional Development.

In higher education, parks and recreation departments strive to ensure students matriculate with a diverse set of knowledge, skills, abilities, (KSAs) and experiences. Service learning is a highimpact pedagogy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience(s). While many instructors utilize service-learning, more needs to be known to understand student’s personal and professional growth during and after the experience. Through student reflection interviews, researchers found service-learning to be a valuable pedagogy that has much potential to meet various course goals while nurturing personal and professional student development through the planned experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]