“From fear to confidence: Students’ emotional journey during a service-learning project”

Service-learning pedagogy methods are one of the most effective ways to provide college students relevant industry experience. This qualitative study aims to explore students’ emotional journey during a service-learning project to better understand the ups and downs of implementing service-learning in the university classroom. A total of 57 students (40 = F, 16 = M, Mean Age = 21.47 years) completed a survey spanning two separate semesters (Spring, 2023, N = 28; Spring, 2024, N = 29). Students participated in service-learning for a newly developed “Content Marketing” class, an area relating to digital marketing and creative production. The results showed that students experience many negative emotions when instructors implement service-learning, but those emotions move through a transformative phase in which they shift from primarily negative to more positive. The qualitative thematic analysis showed that students perceive this method to be useful for generating real-world experiences, fostering increased self-efficacy, developing their skills, and practicing teamwork skills. However, students also reported negative experiences such as difficulty working with the client, feeling increased stress, wanting more time, and recommending improved organization. These results are useful for instructors as they consider implementing service-learning and the kinds of emotions they can expect students to traverse throughout the course.