Previous studies have examined the effects of service-learning on student outcomes, but the dynamics and the mechanism of student development have received little attention. The present study aims to investigate how students construct their understanding of course content through service-learning, as well as the role of varied experiences. Eighty-four students were randomly assigned to two different conditions: the low-varied experiences condition (n = 36), in which students served the same child with autism throughout the programme, and the highly-varied experiences condition (n = 48), in which students served two children with autism successively. A total of 483 reflective journals written by students in a 6-week timeframe were analysed. The results indicated that students gained benefits from service-learning in terms of knowledge construction, and the overall change in students’ knowledge construction fluctuated throughout the service-learning process. In addition, students in the highly-varied experiences condition also demonstrated some differences in knowledge construction changes, indicating that varied service experiences might interfere with students’ knowledge construction at the turning point of task changing. The implications for service-learning and instruction are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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服务学习中的学生知识建设：各种经验的作用

先前的研究已经检验了服务学习对学生成果的影响，但是学生发展的动力和机制很少受到关注。本研究旨在调查学生如何通过服务学习来构建对课程内容的理解，以及各种经验的作用。八十四名学生被随机分配到两个不同的条件：低变体验条件（n = 36），其中学生在整个计划中为同一个患有自闭症的孩子服务；高变体验条件（n = 48），学生们先后为两个患有自闭症的孩子服务。在6周的时间内，共分析了483种学生撰写的反思性期刊。结果表明，学生在知识构建方面从服务学习中受益，在整个服务学习过程中，学生知识结构的总体变化是波动的。此外，处于高度变化体验状态的学生在知识结构变化上也表现出一些差异，这表明在任务变化的转折点上，不同的服务体验可能会干扰学生的知识结构。还讨论了服务学习和指导的含义。