The university is an institution responsible for the comprehensive education of its students. In the European context, the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has been developing for more than twenty years to update the university model so that it responds adequately to the needs of contemporary society. In its latest declaration (Rome Conference, 2020), it demands a university capable of: a) providing solutions to the changes facing society; b) adapting knowledge, skills and competencies to meet new challenges; c) making educational offerings more flexible to participate in programs that enable the improvement of specific skills, d) fostering student-centered learning and teaching, and e) supporting the use of digital technologies for learning, teaching and assessment, scholarly communication and research.

To make progress in these terms, Opazo et al. (2016) indicate that it is essential to use, in a well-planned and structured manner, innovative educational methodologies that complement traditional ones. At this point, the use of Service-Learning programs (SL) fits perfectly as a means for such a mission, by placing academic learning in real contexts and covering needs identified in the community.

These practices have a widely recognized potential for the attainment of transversal skills in university students (Santos Rego, Sáez-Gambín, D., González-Geraldo, et al., 2022). Such skills help prepare students for today's world, drawing links between approaches from both the academic and strictly productive spheres (Alvarez et al., 2022).

However, not all SL experiences are likely to have a positive impact on students' futures, as research to date has recognized certain factors or criteria that determine the quality of projects, and that can have an impact on the benefits provided by these experiences (Billig et al., 2005). Briefly, these "good practices" are related to: the duration and intensity of the project; its academic rigor; the creation of solid partnerships; performing a meaningful service; a correct delimitation of roles; providing diversity in the experience; carrying out an efficient evaluation; and developing an adequate reflection (Imperial et al., 2007; National Youth Leadership Council, 2008).

Among these quality criteria, there is a consensus in the literature that reflection is the most important element. Not surprisingly, reflective processes conform the identity of experience-based methodologies, as they give meaning to what has been experienced, and determine future activities and decisions (Ash & Clayton, 2009). Thus, through dialogical activities with oneself or others, or through research and observation, students question, analyze their experiences, and seek solutions to future problems (García-Romero & Lalueza, 2019).

However, there is a lack of research that empirically studies the effects of the design of service-learning projects on students. Those that have been conducted are mostly focused on describing the experience or studying how it affects students' motivation, feelings or other impressions, and not so much on how the different quality variables are related to the effectiveness of the methodology (Lin, 2021). Despite this, we can find some studies that affirm that a more complete reflection has a greater impact on variables considered mediators of academic performance (Lorenzo, et al., 2021), as well as on student satisfaction with their experience (Santos Rego, Sáez-Gambín, & Lorenzo Moledo, 2022).

Specifically, the objective of this research is to analyze how reflection is related to the development of transversal competencies in university students. This paper is framed in the Research Projects: “Service-Learning (SL) and employability of university graduates in spain: competences for employment” (EDU2017-90651-REDT) and “The impact of the university in the community through service-learning projects. A study focused on reciprocity (SL)” (PID2021-122827OB-I00).

A quasi-experimental design was conducted (pretest-posttest with a control group), in which two questionnaires were applied to students participating in 19 service-learning projects carried out in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years, in Spanish universities. First, we used the questionnaire on generic competencies of university students (COMGAU) (Regueiro et al., 2019). This instrument integrates a validated scale on transversal competencies, directly related to employability. It consists of 17, 5-point Likert-type questions that groups the competencies proposed in 5 dimensions or factors that explain 59.85% of the total variance: entrepreneurship skills, interpersonal skills, intercultural skills, networking skills, and capacity for analysis and synthesis. Students covered this instrument both at the beginning and at the end of the service-learning project. Secondly, the professors responsible for each of the projects filled out an SL Experience Registration Form at the university level, validated by a group of experts in the methodology. It included a total of 28 questions grouped into the following modules: university data, identification of the course, partners, assessment, and dissemination of the course. Specifically, the instrument requested details on how the reflection was conducted: when it was carried out (before, during and after), with whom (community, collaborating entity, course and professor, SL working group), and what the reflective process was oriented towards (sharing feelings, relating the service to the contents of the subject, analyzing the problems of the community and developing attitudes and values). Likewise, we asked if they make use of tools or follow-up mechanisms during the project that can help in the reflection process (portfolio, field diaries, interim reports, meetings, etc.). Combining both instruments, we will carry out analyses in order to: 1) study whether students participating in service-learning projects have a greater development of transversal competencies than those who do not participate in these activities; 2) find out how reflection is conducted in each of the projects; and 3) compare the type of reflection carried out with the degree of development of the students' competencies.

It is clear that reflection is a central process in SL courses and improvising its realization would be an imprudent act that could have direct repercussions on the effectiveness of the projects. Although the research is still in the process of data exploitation, the background and the academic review allow us to anticipate some of the results. From prior studies it can be concluded that students benefit from a reflection that clearly connects the service with the course objectives; that is continuous throughout the development of the project; that provides feedback from the teacher; and that allows students to explore, clarify and alter their values, as well as to make use of tools that facilitate it, such as portfolios or field diaries (Santos Rego, Sáez-Gambín et al., 2022; Lorenzo et al., 2020). With this being said, our hypothesis is that a reflection that fulfills these characteristics will also make the learners develop a variety of transversal competencies that employers demand nowadays, and that are sometimes more valued than the academic qualifications (Succi & Canovi, 2019). Finally, in addition to the fact that quality is a topic yet to be explored when it comes to SL, the strength of this proposal lies in the fact that the research design includes a quasi-experimental methodology, which is an excellent opportunity to provide the basis for future research, especially given the proliferation of papers published about this methodology in recent decades (Redondo-Corcobado & Fuentes, 2020).

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