Education Commons^™

Impacts Of Service Learning On Undergraduate Teaching Assistants In An After-School Program: A Qualitative Approach To Discovery, Jennifer Goff, Jaime Bower, Eddie Hill

Human Movement Sciences & Special Education Faculty Publications

This qualitative study took a phenomenological approach to examine undergraduate teaching assistants’ experiences with CARE Now, a service learning after-school program. The purpose of this study was to identify impacts of the service learning program on the teaching assistants through semi-structured interviews. This study expands on prevalent service learning research by exploring the experiences of students’ leading their peers in a service learning project. Findings suggest that internal motivations, personal challenges and support, resiliency, contextual challenges, transformational experience, growth, and advocacy are all perceived impacts teaching assistants encounter. Suggestions for future research are provided.