Examining Peer Support and Community Service Experiential Learning on Social Abilities among Undergraduates in Shandong, China

Abstract

This study examines the effects of peer support constructs and Community Service as Experiential Learning (CSEL) on social abilities among undergraduate students. A quantitative cross-sectional survey approach has been used in this research to collect primary data. 950 undergraduate students from 10 universities across the Shandong Province, China were surveyed using a questionnaire. A stratified random sampling approach was adopted to ensure that there were a sufficient number of participants from each of the universities that were involved in the research, as well as participants from a variety of disciplines, genders and ethnic groups. A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with bootstrapping were employed to examine relationships between variables for two peer support constructs that had significantly and positively affected social abilities. Cultural Tools and Language (? = 0.092, p = 0.004) emerged as the strongest significant peer support predictor, followed by Positive Social Comparison (? = 0.061, p = 0.049). However, Cooperative Tasks and Guidance (? = 0.059, p = 0.069), Cognitive Apprenticeship (? = 0.029, p = 0.362), and Identification and Belonging (? = 0.031, p = 0.318) did not demonstrate significant direct effects on Social Abilities. In addition to that, Community Service as Experiential Learning had strong positive and significant direct effect on Social Abilities (? = 0.520, t = 22.110, p < 0.001), which was the largest effect within the proposed structural model. This finding indicated that through communication with others, shared cultural understanding and constructive peer comparison, Community Service as Experiential Learning experience greatly contributed to the students’ social development. Thus, experiential learning through community service experiences should be provided to the students while they are learning to improve their communication, teamwork, interpersonal relationship, social awareness and social competences in general in supportive peer-learning environment in universities.