Development of Empathy and Altruism in Latin American Students

This report contributes to the fields of education and psychology, as well as informs higher education practitioners in Latin America. The study described in this book frames the cognitive and socio-emotional impacts of service and other forms of experiential learning over 'book learning' by incorporating psychological constructs, such as the development of empathy and altruism, within the outcomes of this pedagogy. The study focused on an intervention that can shed light on the development of empathy and altruism in the college years, and in the possibility to intervene in this development. The intervention took the form of a mandatory service-learning course, which included conferences and a service internship with continuous and shared reflection via computer mediated discussion groups. The most important impact that this report can have is to provide an experience that can be further replicated and improved, and that can aid in a transformation of Latin American society through higher education.