PSY 685 Applied Research Study Capstone

This class was much different from the other classes that were connected to the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project during the Spring 2021 semester.

This class did not award funds but it did have community partners, as service learning classes do at NKU. But in this case, one of those partners (or clients) was NKU’s Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement, which oversees the student philanthropy program. The center asked the class to evaluate a program assessment tool and recommend improvements.

The center administers a student survey at the beginning of the semester and a second survey toward the end of the semester to all students taking a student philanthropy class. The purpose is to assess the experience, particularly around two outcomes:

1. Stewardship: Did students learn more about community nonprofits, how to partner with those nonprofits and gain a sense of commitment to doing so?
2. Academic: Did the philanthropy component help students learn their course material and connect more to the experience of college – making them more likely to continue toward graduation?

The Scripps Center has used the same survey construct since the program started. Students in PSY 685 examined whether the survey construct could and should be improved.

PSY 685 is a class that divides into teams, each team with a community client and an analytical need. The Scripps Center was among the Spring 2021 clients. This was the team of students who worked on our analytical question:

• Hannah Dykes, M.S. Industrial/Organizational Psychology ‘21
• Jacob Carter, M.S. Industrial/Organizational Psychology ‘21
• Josh Lanning, M.S. Industrial/Organizational Psychology ‘21
• Clare Pangallo, M.S. Industrial/Organizational Psychology ‘22
• Dr. Philip Moberg, Department of Psychological Science

Their recommendations will guide a revision of the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project class surveys. Read the report.