Application of Astin's theory of students' involvement in service learning at higher education

Abstract

Service-learning is gaining high popularity all over the world. It is believed to effectively promote students' learning and development. This paper examines how service-learning links service experience to students' learning by applying Astin's theory of involvement in higher education. Much research exists on theory of involvement in other fields. However, little research has highlighted the multidimensional applications of this theory in service-learning field especially in higher education. This paper reviews Astin's theory of involvement that how it applies to students' learning and development in higher education. Theoretically, the paper contributes to service-learning literature in two ways: first it highlights the role of service-learning for students' active learning in higher education and second, it explains Astin's theory of involvement as a model of service-learning in higher education. This paper provides some insights about using the theory of involvement for making effective student development interventions in higher education through service-learning programmes.