Thirty-First International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Many higher education institutions aim to promote intercultural sensibility in their students. However, most research has focused on the content of educational programs (what educators offer) rather than on pedagogical methodologies to assist students experience intercultural learning. This study fills this gap by examining the impact that Service Learning (SL) has on the development of students´ Intercultural Sensitivity (IS) in Higher Education. The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)) and a quasi-experimental design of repeated measures pretest and posttest, using a comparison group, was implemented to compare two groups of undergraduate students enrolled on the same course, and in two different formats: SL and non-SL. The sample consisted of 233 Higher Education students. Our hypothesis predicted that SL students would report higher levels of IS and the data confirmed this. The results indicate that the students of the two groups are in the minimizing phase and that the posttest scores are higher than the pretest for both groups, although the SL group reveals a significantly higher level in all subscales (reversal, acceptance/adaptation, and encapsulated marginality) with the SL course except in the denial/defence and the minimization stages. These results can guide teachers and administrators to foster SL to promote students’ IS.