From Minnesota to Cairo: Student perceptions of community-based learning

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. This study explored perceptions of community-based learning in a sample of 176 students at a liberal arts college in Cairo, Egypt, and a sample of 176 students at a liberal arts college in the Midwestern United States. Students responded to a 38-item rating scale that assessed gains in several domains as a result of engaging in community-based learning and provided ratings of their level of interest in and satisfaction with the community-based learning experience. The rating scale revealed differences in the extent of gains in several domains reported by each sample, as indicated by the results of independent samples t tests. Open-ended questions were used to solicit student opinions about their community-based learning experiences. These questions revealed differences in the benefits, challenges, and types of recommendations that were reported by the students in both samples. Suggestions are offered for culturally relevant administration of community-based learning pedagogy as well as for future research