Enriching Student Experiences: Multi-disciplinary Exercises in Service-learning

PAULA S. WEBER and BRAD SLEEPER

ENRICHING STUDENT EXPERIENCES:MULTI-DISCIPLINARY EXERCISES IN SERVICE-LEARNING

(Accepted 17 May 2002)

ABSTRACT. This paper offers two unique service-learning approaches to develop self-efficacy toward service and motivation for civic participation in college business students.The exercises utilize methodologies providing hands-on experiences for students to meetsocial needs. They also provide real-world settings for students to develop skills andpersonal growth relevant to their business careers. One exercise was used in an organiza-tional behavior course and the other in a legal environment of business course. Instructorsmay easily adapt either methodology to other business courses.

KEY WORDS: business students, legal environment of business, organization behavior,pedagogy, multi-disciplinary, seaching methods, service-learning, social responsibility

INTRODUCTION

Business school educators often struggle with the issue of what to tellstudents about business’ responsibility toward society. The concept ofsocial responsibility for both corporations and individuals crosses manydisciplines such as philosophy, ethics, religion, and the social sciences.As business educators, our accrediting institution and our stakeholderschallenge us to identify and support constructive relationships betweenbusinesses and society. The International Association for ManagementEducation (formerly the American Association of Collegiate Schools ofBusiness), the accrediting body for U.S. Colleges of Business, requires thatbusiness curricula provide an understanding of the ethical and social issuesthat form the context of business (Curriculum Content Guideline C.1.1).To that end, we are challenged to define and attempt to operationalize therelationship between business and society.

Many business schools have responded to this challenge by offeringstand-alone courses in business and society, corporate governance, or busi-ness ethics that address corporate citizenry. Most, if not all, courses in thebusiness disciplines make at least reference to those topics. However, thiscoverage often fails to provide experiential connections to make mean-ingful the relationship between business and society. This paper presents

Teaching Business Ethics 7: 417–435, 2003.© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

418 PAULA S. WEBER AND BRAD SLEEPER

two service-learning exercises that encourage students to explore theirself-efficacy toward service and motivation for civic participation meetingsocial needs.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Service-learning is a specific form of experiential learning that emphasizescompletion of tasks that meet human needs in conjunction with meetingeducational objectives (Cohen and Kinsey, 1994). Service learning isdifferentiated from volunteer work by the application of course contentto the experience and by student reflection on service-related learning.Community service pedagogy involves active learning methods, whileservice-learning instruction involves interaction between students and theenvironment (Kolb, 1984). Service-learning pedagogy attempts to create abalance between academic learning and service to community (Eyler andGiles, 1999).

The National and Community Service Act of 1990 defined four specificcriteria for service learning: “

1. Under which students learn and develop through active participa-tion in thoughtfully organized service experiences that meet actuallycommunity need and that are coordinated in collaboration with theschool and community;

2. That is integrated into the students’ academic curriculum or providesstructured time for a student to think, talk, or write about what thestudent did and saw during the actual service activity;

3. That provides students with opportunities to use newly acquired skillsand knowledge in real-life situations in their own communities; and,

4. That enhances what is taught in school by extending student learningbeyond the classroom and into the community and helps to foster thedevelopment of a sense of a caring for others.”

Service-learning is also an important tool for personal skill development.It provides important opportunities for students to interact in meaningfulways with others from diverse backgrounds. These experiences impacttheir knowledge as well as their personal and interpersonal development.Eyler and Giles (1999) report that the interpersonal skills developedthrough service-learning are integral to learning. Both cognitive andpersonal growth occurs through experiential challenges that touch feelingsas well as thought (Fisher and Bidell, 1997).

Much of the service-learning literature deals with conceptual frame-works and studies on impacts of community service work. Furco found that

ENRICHING STUDENT EXPERIENCES 419

service-learning programs in K-12 settings can enhance student learning,self-esteem, motivation, and leadership skills while building citizenship(Furco, 1994). Jones and Ottaways’s (2001) research demonstrated collegestudent attitudes toward the importance of ethics in corporations changeas a result of corporate site visits. Work by Weber and Glyptis (2000)concluded that the ethical values of college juniors improved after acommunity service experience coupled with a business ethics course.Waterman (1997) edited a compilation including articles offering a newparadigm to evaluate service-learning programs, a quantitative study oftheir impact, and an overview of the role of research and evaluation inmaking them more effective.

While the literature does contain exercise-specific pedagogical treat-ises, many of them found in the Journal of Business Ethics and TeachingBusiness Ethics, we believe this paper makes a unique contribution toservice-learning pedagogy in three respects. First, the nature of service inour exercises is different than in available published models. In one exer-cise, student teams are required to creatively develop through group inter-action their service activities; they cannot simply participate in existingcommunity tasks. In the other, individual students are required to assistsenior and disabled residents of a nursing home through multi-facetedpersonal interactions.

Illustrative of published service-learning methods is a special issue ofthe Journal of Business Ethics in which Kolenko et al. (1996) summarizednine articles on various service initiatives. None required task develop-ment and only one focused on interpersonal time with elderly or disabledpopulations, the latter simply requiring students to read to elderly persons.They and many other service-learning exercises address literacy, educationof schoolchildren, city services and the needs of the poor and homeless.

Further, we provide complete turnkey instructions to instructors takingthem from identification of course goals served by the exercises to gradingsheets for evaluation of student work product. Third, service-learningarticles frequently involve program or university level initiatives. None ofthe nine pieces in the Journal of Business Ethics volume 15 involves anundergraduate course-level project. Our paper integrates service with keytopics in two specific and universally required core courses and suggestsapplications to key topics in other business disciplines.

This paper provides two new approaches to service learning experi-ences that focus on developing student self-efficacy toward service andmotivation for civic participation. These projects attempt to go beyondbuilding student awareness of the importance of civic responsibilities tofocus on student capabilities to fulfill these responsibilities.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

We use service-learning exercises in an organizational behavior course anda legal environment of business course. The exercises serve the college-wide objectives of teaching corporate social responsibility, expandingcourse content into the community, and enhancing student personal devel-opment and communication skills. Our specific learning objectives forstudents consist of the following:

1) Developing awareness and empathy for the needs of society.2) Developing responses to those needs through observation and interac-

tion.3) Applying business social responsibility theory through social action.4) Developing student skill sets including responsibility, interpersonal

communication, decision-making, moral development, and teamwork.5) Demonstrating the connection between course content and the “real

world.”

The organizational behavior course content objective is for students toexperience the need for and value of teamwork. The community settingelevates the purpose of their endeavors beyond that of course work whilecreating more realistic team dynamics. The legal environment contentobjective is that through interaction with mostly aged nursing home resi-dents, all of whom live with various mental and/or physical disabilities,students will gain appreciation for the policy reasons and potential businessrealities of two of the most legally important civil rights laws – the Amer-icans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in EmploymentAct. Further, we hope they will become more aware of the abilities andhumanity of this population.

We believe our objectives are broad and compelling and the exercisessimple and malleable so that business professors can adapt them to socialresponsibility content in other business courses. We have included poten-tial applications to the content of marketing and accounting courses in theImplementation section.

METHODOLOGY

Overview of Exercises

Our exercises are designed to motivate students to believe they have theability and increase their interest in using that ability to positively impacttheir communities as they simultaneously develop personal skills. The


exercises differ in disciplinary focus and in the nature of student exper-iences. The organizational behavior exercise involves students creatingand implementing civic improvement projects through group interaction.They must develop tasks that best meet their collective interests and abil-ities rather than simply participating in existing community activities.Our students built a swing-set for a children’s group home, establisheda recycling program, and raised funds for local food shelves, among otherprojects. After the work is done, students prepare reports and presentationsthat document their development as a team and describe their communityimpact. This exercise is the culminating experience of the course andrequires approximately twenty hours outside of class.

The legal environment exercise involves students working in an insti-tutional residential care facility where they face the needs of individualsin their communities directly affected by both corporate giving and thedisability and age laws studied in the legal environment of business course.Students must work a total of 10 to 15 hours at a large local residentialcare facility where they receive multiple and diverse opportunities forobservation and awareness of their and others’ attitudes toward residentswith mental and/or physical disabilities. The operations of the center areheavily funded by local companies and regulated by the state and federalgovernment so students can learn how a major not-for-profit institutionsurvives with public/private partnerships.

Duties primarily involve assisting residents to, during and afteractivities held both on and off site. Bingo, crafts, dances, happy hours,concerts, and birthday parties are common in-house events; bused groceryand department store shopping trips are common field trips. After theirvarious experiences, students must prepare two-page single-spaced memosaddressed to fictitious supervisors. They are encouraged to select pastemployers, or potential employers based on their intended majors, orcompanies they perceive would be interested in hearing about their exper-iences. The memo contains a summary of duties, an analysis of thoughtsand feelings grounded in the learning objectives of the exercise, and anitemized listing of recommendations for company action based on theanalysis.

At the outset, we encourage students to make informal, prompt journalentries to preserve reactions to their experiences. Those entries shouldprovide most of the memo’s content.

Implementation Issues and Options

Both exercises work well if initiated during the first class period of asemester. The early start provides students with ample opportunity to


make service selections, complete their tasks, and prepare reports withinthe semester timeframe. For the law exercise, professors will need todo advance planning such as contacting local community organizationsto identify service opportunities. For the organization behavior exercise,students are encouraged to pursue social issues of interest to them. Part ofthis assignment is to build awareness of the needs of society and of localorganizations that help serve the needy by finding out what functions theseorganizations provide.

We generally begin the discussion of the exercises with brief overviewsof the Kolb model highlighting the purpose and value of a service learningexperience. We also discuss learning goals and performance evaluationbased on them (see the evaluation sections in Appendices A and B).

Professors can implement similar exercises in relation to courses inother business disciplines. In marketing, for example, issues involvingcorporate social responsibility arise in any broad-based course, includingintroduction to marketing and marketing management/strategy. In addi-tion, building an organization reputation as a good corporate citizenis often covered in company or brand name identity strategies, asMcDonald’s support to help cancer-afflicted children through its RonaldMcDonald houses.

Accounting professors can also make theory and application-basedservice connections to their courses. Across the accounting curriculumstarting with principles of accounting, service can lead to student analysesand class discussion of the social value of accounting careers. Contexts caninclude the social consequences of not-for-profit auditing errors, ethicaland social issues involved in expense reimbursement cost allocations fornot-for-profit executives and staff, and the potential for manipulation ofagency funding by umbrella organizations (like United Way) throughbudget assumptions that affect calculations of need. Service work canmake students more aware of the dependence of service agencies on publicand private funds, the direct impact of their services on the needy and theindirect impact of their services on the larger community.

The effectiveness of these exercises in advancing course content isenhanced if service work specifically requires functional skills. Examplesof marketing service include conducting a client satisfaction study for awoman’s shelter, designing an ad campaign for a Boy’s and Girl’s Club,or helping a community food shelf find a suitable site location. Potentialaccounting service includes bookkeeping, statement preparation or auditwork for the organizations in which students serve.


Limitations and Challenges

Both projects require advance planning by instructors and students. Whileprojects may span an entire semester, many of them require multiple tripsoff campus so students must begin early. In the legal environment project,instructors must work closely with volunteer coordinators in nursinghomes to find appropriate tasks in sufficient number for the class size.Students must coordinate the scheduling with the many time demands theyalready face. In the organization behavior project, students must be carefulnot to attempt to solicit funds without the formal approval of the universityor college’s institutional advancement office. It may be useful for someonefrom that office to speak to the class about how and where to conduct fundraising.

Exercise Debriefing

We ask for general feedback through class discussion several times duringthe exercises. We typically begin by asking how their experience is going.We find many commonalities exist including frustrations with co-workers,teammates, or served populations and challenges particular to their service.We then turn the discussion toward the more philosophical issues commonto both exercises. We encourage students to consider the potential relation-ships between companies and social needs in their markets as they journaland draft their reports. Specific discussion questions for each course arefound in the “Debrief” sections of the appendices.

Suggested Improvements

We suggest the exercises can be improved through diligent and continuousefforts to remind students about the relationship of their service to busi-ness. Students tend to become so absorbed in their duties and personalrelationships with those served and each other that they lose focus onthe reasons they are there. We also want to engage more students in thedebriefing sessions so they can learn from the experiences of classmates.Increased storytelling in class may also stimulate others toward journal andmemorandum reflections beyond mere recording of events.


STUDENT EXPERIENCES

Organizational Behavior Exercise

Student feedback from the organization behavior exercise was obtainedfrom weekly journals and from papers. Student comments included thefollowing organized according to our previously stated learning objectives:

* Student Awareness

• “The final project taught me that no matter our differences if westrive to work together for a common goal we will be successful.”

• “I think this class has been the most beneficial to me in that itnot only will enhance my profession, but it has enlightened mycharacter.”

• “In my culture, being united is an important value. However, wenever learned how to work as a team. Therefore, I really learneda lot in this class. Working together is not easy. We learned thattaking care of ourselves is not enough. We must help our teammatesand help others less fortunate in our community. Sometimes we hadto deal with conflicts and morale problems. We had to learn manyskills and we had many opportunities to practice them through ourfinal project assignment.”

* Involvement in Social Action

• “Our project helped me heal the hurt in our community andprovided me the opportunity to use my school time for a higherpurpose.”

• “Knowledge learned from this project extends well beyond theclassroom and will be less likely forgotten due to the memorieswe created during the process. We learned that we can be asuccessful team and that we can contribute in an important wayto our community.”

* Development of Skills

• “The class projects have taken us through all stages of developmentfor a team to the point of successful completion. I believed theseexperiences will be of benefit to me throughout my life and career.”

• “We can honestly say we worked as a team. We never left the worksite without all of the team members. We thought as a team, weworked as a team, and we ate as a team. The best part was thefeeling of accomplishment that we achieved as a team by seeingthe results of our hard work.”


• “I have been taught the concept of teamwork and that it isimportant. I have been put in many teams before but this projecttaught me how to form a team and how to deal with interpersonaldifferences. I have become good friends with my teammates and Ifeel so proud that I have contributed to my world.”

• “When I registered for this course, I expected it to be a total wasteof time. First, I had no choice about taking the course so mynatural reflex as to resist. Two, I am from a Chinese backgroundand the proper behavior for teams has been hammered into me foryears. I thought I don’t need a class to teach me how to be a teamplayer. However, as I come to the end of the course, I find that Ireally enjoyed it and I learned a lot. What I had learned from myculture was essentially interacting with people that have similarbackgrounds as I have. But what I have learned from this courseis how to interact with people that have very different backgroundsand cultures. The kind of synergy that this diversity brings to thegroup is just amazing, and I learned to appreciate the beauty indifferences. I got to know some of my fellow students quite welland I learned some important things about my community. Totell you the truth, I enjoyed this class the most of all my classesthis semester. Thank you for giving me the opportunity for thesereal-world experiences.”

* Connection Between Course Content and Real World

• “This was a living class where I learned many different contextsfor teamwork.”

• “It is a very special experience to work with classmates on such anintense level. This final project will always keep our team togetherin our memories. The collective experience we shared allowed us tohave fun and really get to know one another. We finally worked ona project that was not directly school related so we acted more likeourselves and less like competitive students. We were all excited tosee the final results of our efforts and to know we did something tobetter our community.”

In addition, university and local newspapers often carried featurearticles about the exercises. Community organizations expressed theirthanks through letters to the students, faculty, and university regarding thevalue of the service to their organizations.


Legal Environment of Business Exercise

Student feedback from the law course exercise was obtained from the busi-ness memos submitted by students. Their analyses and recommendationsto their hypothetical companies included the following statements:

* Student Awareness

• “I realized how much people need each other throughout lifeand that people should never take for granted their families andfriends.”

• “The residents taught me that the elderly and disabled are peoplemuch like my peers with ideas, attitudes, and senses of humor.They need attention as much or more than younger people do.”

* Involvement in Social Action

• “Assisting and treating the elderly and disabled as dignified peopleinstead of children, and providing them with additional servicesas volunteers, will establish our company as a leader in civicresponsibility.”

• “When I left her room that day she þ looked at me and said ‘It ispeople like you in this world that keep it going. Thank you for yourkindness.”

* Development of Skills

• “I can honestly say my communication skills with the elderlyimproved every time I volunteered. I overcame my earlier fear anddiscomfort.”

* Connection Between Course Content and Real World

• “This experience has helped me more than any classroom lectureor handout þ going into a group of unfamiliar people and learninghow to become confident with them, expressing my feelings whilelistening to theirs.”

DISCUSSION

Student comments indicate that these exercises provide memorablelearning experiences. Students reported gaining useful knowledge andimproved skills while providing value to those they served. Their writtenand oral feedback and reflective writings reflect advancement of thelearning objectives of our courses in the following primary respects:


1) Increased awareness of the need for social service2) Increased belief in ability to serve3) Declarations of intent to increase participation in service4) Advancement of abilities in the areas of teamwork, leadership and

responsibility.5) Advancement of oral communication skills dealing with classmates

and community members.6) Advancement of written skills in drafting creative content and using

business memo format7) Satisfaction of student interest in novelty and proactivity. No student

expressed having participated in a similar class assignment and manyexpressed appreciation for a non-traditional and hands-on opportunity.

For some instructors, those results might speak for themselves and justifyadapting one of these exercises to their courses. Other instructors may wishto produce more quantitative results to justify to the time and energies ofthemselves, their programs or their universities, depending on the scopetheir adaptation. Student attitudes and attainment of educational objectivesto impact them are notoriously difficult to measure. Still, such instructorsmight benefit from “testing” their projects by administering their examquestions dealing with social responsibility both before and after the activ-ities. Alternatively, the class could be randomly divided in half, with onehalf serving as a control doing a traditional research project while the otherhalf participates in service-learning.

These exercises and their impact on students may offer another poten-tial value. For many years, the AACSB has required business schoolsapplying for accreditation or re-accreditation to show how the school meetsthe Assembly’s standard with respect to coverage of business ethics andsocial responsibility. Qualitative student feedback or quantitative examresults would certainly be considered valid assessment that a course,program and college are meaningfully encouraging students to develop alife-lasting sense and habit of good citizenship.

APPENDIX A – ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR COURSEEXERCISE

Objectives

I have used this exercise as the culminating assignment in a semester long course onteamwork or group dynamics. Its goal is to provide students with a unique opportunityto build a cohesive team. This is accomplished by focusing the team’s efforts on work thatis “above and beyond” that of a typical class assignment. Students go outside the classroomto learn lessons that affect their grades and their community.


Time Required

This exercise is generally assigned at the beginning of the semester and is due at the endof the semester. I have found that results are more successful if students are allowed themaximum time possible. In-class time required is approximately three hours. The first houris needed for the initial explanation and the remaining two hours for updates during thesemester. Outside of class time is approximately 20 hours per student including planning,execution, and report writing.

Number of Students

Students are placed in teams of 4–6 members. Larger or smaller team sizes are not advis-able given the volume of work required and the need to fully engage each student in theexercise.

Exercise Instructions

Teams are formed the first week of class for the duration of the semester. Since teammembers in the workplace rarely get to select their team partners, the instructor places thestudents in teams. The professor does team selection with the only criteria being an attemptto balance teams based on gender and race.

Students receive an assignment sheet (see Appendix A-1) informing students that theexercise requires them to “make a difference in the world by maximizing the impact theycan have on their surrounding environment.” Environment is defined as anything in theirworld including “green” issues, social and political issues, legal, economic or religiousissues. Students are required to select service that combines their values and interestswith their skill sets. A key evaluation criterion is the degree to which teams demonstratetheir knowledge of their teammates strengths, weaknesses, interests and values in selectingservice that makes the best use of the team’s collective skills.

The selected service must be one to which all team members can be personallycommitted. It must be the idea of the team and all team members must be equally involved.The team cannot assist a community organization with existing tasks. For example, theteam cannot offer to help build a Habitat for Humanity house or work at the Boy Scout’spancake breakfast. However, creating a software package for inventorying Habitat forHumanity’s donated materials, or developing and implementing their own fundraisingconcept for the Boy Scouts would be acceptable activities. The key is that the servicemust represent their collective interests and skills and must flow from the teams’ ability tounderstand and work with each other for the good of others.

Some examples of previous activities included:

1) Working with third graders to inform them of the value of recycling and to motivatethem to recycle newspapers. The team met with four third-grade classes in a localschool and explained the importance of recycling and then outlined a contest for theclasses to collect the most recycling possible in a two-week period. The reward for theclass with the largest volume of recycled papers over a two-week period was a pizzaparty. The team solicited the pizza donation from a local restaurant. In the end, overtwo tons of newspapers were collected! The team was very motivated and inspiredby the third-graders’ enthusiastic response. The team spent many hours weighing andhauling the papers.

2) Creating a $1,000 performing arts scholarship by making and selling concessions at alocal community theater and by organizing and conducting a silent auction.


3) Preparing a marketing plan for a local crisis center’s fund raising efforts.4) Building a swing-set for a local home for mentally ill children. The team met with

the organization to identify possible needs and then suggested service that was wellaligned with their skill sets and interests. They selected the plan, obtained the lumber,and built the swing-set.

5) Organizing food or clothing drives to raise needed materials for local charities.6) Creating web pages for organizations.

Reflective Writing

Each team is required to prepare a paper that demonstrates the following: 1) the devel-opment of their team as a cohesive unit with emphasis on internal group dynamics andthe stages of group formation, 2) the soundness of the logic in service selection, 3) anexplanation of how the team researched and organized their work, 4) a discussion of serviceimplementation, 5) outcomes of the service, and 6) collective learning from the service.Papers were generally 10–15 pages in length. In addition to the paper, each team presentedtheir experiences to the class. The presentation must be creative and informative and mustdemonstrate team cohesiveness. Team presentations generally lasted 20 minutes followedby 10 minutes for questions and discussion.

Debriefing

Debriefing discussions occur three or four times during the semester. After questions andanswers dealing with logistical details and arrangements, I ask students questions relatedto our service-learning objectives. What role if any should corporations play in supportingtheir communities? What have they learned about community service from their exercises?What have they learned that they can apply to other aspects of their lives and careers? Havethey changed any attitudes toward the people they are serving? Do they see themselves ortheir future companies contributing to service work? This discussion seems to help studentsbuild awareness of societal needs and discern their responsibility as individuals and asfuture members of corporations to meet those needs.

I also ask questions related to course content objectives. What roles did each teammember take during the service? How did these roles change? Which behaviors wereproductive or unproductive? Which ones helped unite your team? At what stage of groupformation is your team? Why? What leadership behaviors have you seen?

Evaluation

Appendix A-2 presents examples of professor and peer evaluation formats. This exercisehas worked effectively at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

APPENDIX A-1 TEAM PAPER AND PRESENTATIONGUIDELINES

The goal of this exercise is to make a difference in the world by maximizing the impactyou and your team can have on your surrounding environment. Environment is not limitedto “green” issues but also includes social, legal, political, cultural and religious issues.Think of this exercise as a refreshing change from your work or school responsibilities.


Chose something that is perhaps a bit idealistic in that it captures your vision of an ideal orperfect world.

The key components of this service are to demonstrate that you truly got to know yourteammates and that you were able to function smoothly as a team. This includes assessingeach other’s strengths and weaknesses and interests so as to determine the best use of yourCOLLECTIVE skills. You should demonstrate an understanding if each other’s values andbelief systems so that the service you select is one to which all team members can bepersonally committed.

The team paper should demonstrate the following:

1) development of your group into a team2) soundness of your logic in selecting your service3) explanation of how you researched and organized your service4) description of service implementation5) outcome of your efforts6) summary of your collective learning.

Papers should be approximately 10–15 pages in length. However, length is never asimportant as content!

The team presentation should be:

1) creative (I don’t want to be bored and neither do your classmates)2) informative about your service3) demonstrative of your team cohesiveness.

Presentation length should be approximately twenty minutes followed by ten minutes forquestions and discussion.

APPENDIX A-2 PROFESSOR EVALUATION CHECKLIST100 POINTS

Name:

Content Evaluation (84 pts)Collective Learnings (34 pts)

(10 pts) Description of student awareness of societal needs(14 pts) Recognition of student ability/need to impact society(10 pts) Discussion of corporate ability/need to impact society

Exercise Outcomes (50 pts)(20 pts) Results of student involvement in community including specific accom-plishments and impact to include documentation highlighting implementationsuch as service plan, time line, etc.(20 pts) Discussion of skill development including responsibility, communica-tion, decision-making, moral reasoning and teamwork(10 pts) Discussion of development of team cohesion or lack thereof

Writing Evaluation (16 pts)(8 pts) Organization of Paper including length and headings(8 pts) Writing Clarity including grammar and spelling


PEER EVALUATION

Name:

1. Please note the best team presentation based on your assessment of how informativetheir presentation was (Exclude your own team.)

2. Please note the best team presentation based on your assessment of the creativity ofthe service and presentation. (Exclude your own team.)

3. What team do you feel did the best job of presenting or demonstrating their teamdynamic and learning of teamwork skills? (Exclude your own team.)

4. Now, please rank your team on the above areas in comparison to the team listed (1 =best to 5 = worst). (Varies with number of teams.)

a. I rank our team on quality of informationb. I rank our team on creativityc. I rank our team on demonstration of teamwork.

5. Give your team an honest, fair letter grade .6. Please evaluate yourself and your team members. List their name and yours. Briefly

highlight contributions and indicate percent of effort. For example, if there were fourmembers on your team and miraculously you all contributed equally, then each personwould receive a 25%.

7. What recommendations do you have for improvements to the exercise?

APPENDIX B LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESSCOURSE EXERCISE

Objectives

The legal environment class service exercise is part of a core business course requiredfor all business majors and minors. Students taking this course typically are sophomoreswith little or no background in business ethics, employment civil rights and businesswriting. They are given the opportunity to serve an aged, disabled culture far differentthan their own in hopes of expanding their respect for that culture, awareness of social andcivic responsibilities of business, and individual skills including teamwork, written andinterpersonal communication, leadership, and personal responsibility.

Time Required

In-class time required is approximately one hour during first week of term to explain theexercise. Outside class time is approximately 10 to 15 hours per student of service timeplus transportation time. The exercise is generally conducted during the first half of thesemester.

Preparation

The instructor should begin by contacting large care facilities such an elderly residentialnursing care facility or another facility offering enough service opportunities for the poten-tial number of students involved. The institution should be within practical car and public


transportation reach of students. The instructor should visit the volunteer coordinator at thefacility to learn about all available on- and off-site (such as bused shopping trips) activities.

In evaluating the potential association between students and the facility, the instructormust recognize and make clear to the coordinator the need for all or most hours to involvepersonal, physically proximate interaction between students and care-receivers. Within thatparameter, all potential service approaches are explored, including one-on-one pairings,field trips with bus time conversations, and activities created and/or conducted by groupsof students.

Once the instructor and the facility agree on the service program, the coordinatorprepares a calendar and listing of activities, dates, beginning and end times, and briefdescriptions to give students. Students use this list to select their activities placing theirnames and telephone numbers on the list. The instructor should ask the volunteer coordin-ator to provide application forms, maps and bus schedules expediting travel to and fromthe facility to share with the students. The instructors can invite the volunteer coordinatorto come to the classroom to meet with students and describe the institution and availableactivities. The application form should give notice that student participants must complywith the university code of conduct or the facility equivalent.

Exercise Instructions

During the first day of class, when students usually resist coverage of course material, Iintroduce the service-learning assignment. The volunteer coordinator or other representa-tive from the chosen facility spends 15 to 20 minutes explaining service roles and providesan overview of service activities and approaches. This particular residential care facilityhas students accompany residents to, during and from inside activities (games, parties,dances), shopping field trips and extended one-on-one visits. I explain that each studentmust commit to a certain number of hours (a total of between 10 to 15 hours over fourweeks is recommended). Students sign service applications and confidentiality agreementsprovided by the facility.

I then explain for the first but not last time the learning objectives of the exercisedescribed on page 4. The connections between the course and the service are not easilymade by most students, so they should be given every opportunity hear and ask questionsabout them. Most accept the notion that every business faces the issue of communityinvolvement externally through public relations and internally through employee nonprofitcontacts and interests.

I distribute a business memo explaining the writing portion of the assignment. Thememo describes the form and substance for communication of the experience to ficti-tious supervisors they create in companies in which they may seek professional positions.Student can find and choose from the memo templates found in MS Word under File,New, Memos. One purpose of the “memo to supervisor” format is to offer students anintroduction to common business communication. Another is to provide a more realisticbusiness setting in which they can apply their service. Though initially surprised by theformat, most students quickly choose or create actual or fictional companies that relate totheir topics or intended careers or both. The memo length is roughly three pages with 1 1

2line spacing to allow room for evaluation

Students are advised to keep informal service journals to help them recall facts, opin-ions, and emotions generated by their experiences. The memo should consist entirely ofwhat they do, think and feel.


Due dates are important for both students and instructors. Allow students five weeksto fulfill their service (assuming a 10 to 15 hour requirement) and write their first drafts.Allowing more time has not resulted in higher levels of service or writing. The rest of theterm is open for redrafting, class presentations or other exercise phases, and grading.

After the first class, we place volunteer coordinator’s activity signup calendars wherestudents can easily access them. We have placed clipboards organized by facility locationin the department office throughout the service period. The completed signups are faxedshortly before the activity dates to the facility so the coordinator knows how many studentsto expect and whom to contact for any cancellations.

Reflective Writing

The reflective writing and debriefing aspects of the exercise convert the student serviceexperiences to service-learning experiences. The writing consists of the followingelements:

• A standard memo opening with To, From, Date and Subject lines• An introductory paragraph in which students explain their purpose for the service

from the perspectives of their chosen companies• A brief summary of their duties at the facility• An evaluation of the potential value of their service to their companies’ corporate

citizenship and business strategies such as customer marketing and employee recruit-ment and morale. The evaluation can also contain their observations, reactions andopinions about the needs of residents and the degree the facility meets those needs,but their comments must remain in the context of company interests

• Two or three recommendations to their companies for action based on the evaluations

Students are told about the learning objective purposes for the exercise and the inclusion ofthe objectives in the content portion of the memo evaluation. A sample evaluation schemewith content and writing components is provided as Appendix B-1.

Debriefing

Debriefing consists of general class discussions scheduled after all students have loggedsome hours and before their memos are due. I first encourage them to address schedulingchallenges and express their reactions to the process and people involved. I then remindthem of the exercise’s purpose to increase their awareness of the social needs of the agingand disabled and the role of business in helping meet those needs. I ask what role if anyshould corporations play in supporting their communities? What have they learned aboutcommunity service from this exercise? What have they learned that they can apply toother aspects of their lives and careers? Have they changed any attitudes toward the peoplethey are serving? Do they see themselves or their future companies contributing to servicework?

For the discussion on age and disability law awareness, I ask what physical and mentaldisabilities did they see and experience? What accommodations did the staff make andwhat ones did students make to communicate with and serve residents? Do they think thesocial and disability needs of the residents were satisfactorily met? Could and should theirfictitious company play a role in satisfying those needs?


Evaluation

As stated, the primary purpose of this exercise is to stimulate and challenge student atti-tudes toward populations served by care facilities in local communities and for students toconsider their role and responsibility for that population as future business professionals. Ievaluate objective and subjective student reactions to their experiences through the memowriting assignment and evaluation criteria (Appendix B-1). I would be pleased to share onrequest more detailed writing assignment instructions and writing evaluation rubrics.

I encourage the use of technical draft reviewers or institutional student writing centersto evaluate preliminary drafts to reinforce the progressive, work-in-process nature ofwriting and to provide essential feedback. I encourage the grading of all drafts to motivatestudents away from “rough” draft mentality that slows the process for everyone.

APPENDIX B-1 LAW SERVICE LEARNING EXERCISEEVALUATION

Student Identification Number:Content Evaluation:

(20%) Description of student awareness of community social needs; attitudes ofstudent and others toward elderly and disabled persons

(20%) Explanation of the need, ability and benefits of business improving socialconditions; logic of student recommendations to the hypothetical business

(15%) Explanation of the need, ability and personal/professional benefits of anindividual business professional improving social conditions

(15%) Description of student awareness and any growth in use of personaland professional skills such as personal responsibility, interpersonalcommunication, moral development, teamwork, and decision-making

NOTE: Negative content is as valid as positive content. Be honest.

Writing Evaluation:

(10%) Organization – proper format, sentence order, transitions(10%) Expression – formal language, word accuracy, active voice, conciseness(10%) Grammar/Mechanics – verb tense, pronoun use, subject/verb agreement,

proofreading100% TOTAL SCORE

REFERENCES

Cohen, J. and D. Kinsey: 1984, ‘Doing Good and Scholarship: A Service Learning Study’,The Journalism Educator 48(4), 4–14.

Curriculum Content Guideline C.1.1: 1991, ‘Achieving Quality and Continuous Improve-ment through Self-Evaluation and Peer Review – Guidance for Self-Evaluation’, InternalPublication of the International Association for Management Education.

Delve, C.L., S.D. Mintz and G.M. Stewart: 1990, ‘Promoting Values DevelopmentThrough Community Service: A Design’, New Directions for Student Services 4, 7–29.


Eyler, J. and D.E. Giles: 1999, Where’s the Learning in Service-learning?, Jossey-Bass,San Francisco, California.

Fisher, K.W. and T.R. Bidell: 1997, ‘Dynamic Development of Psychological Structuresin Action and Thought’, in R.M. Lerner (ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 1:Theoretical Models of Human Development, 5th ed., Wiley, New York.

Furco, A.: 1994, ‘A Conceptual Framework for the Institutionalization of Your ServicePrograms in Primary and Secondary Education’, Journal of Adolescence 17, 395–409.

Jones, G.E. and R.N. Ottaway: 2001, ‘The Effectiveness of Corporate Ethics On-site Visitsfor Teaching Business Ethics’, Teaching Business Ethics 5, 141–156.

Kolb, D.A.: 1984, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning andDevelopment, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Kolenko, T.A., G. Porter, W.J. Wheatley and M. Colby: 1996, ‘A Critique of ServiceLearning Projects in Management Education: Pedagogical Foundations, Barriers, andGuidelines’, Journal of Business Ethics 15, 133–142.

Maignan, I.: 2001, ‘Consumer’s Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibilities: A Cross-cultural Comparison’, Journal of Business Ethics 1, 57–72.

Waterman, A.S.: 1997, Service-Learning: Applications From the Research, LawrenceErlbaum Associates, Mahway, NJ.

Weber, J. and S.M. Glyptis: 2000, ‘Measuring the Impact of a Business Ethics Course andCommunity Service Experience on Students’ Values and Opinions’, Teaching BusinessEthics 4, 341–358.

Paula S. WeberSt. Cloud State University720 Fourth Avenue SouthSt. Cloud, MN 56301USAE-mail: [email protected]

Brad SleeperSt. Cloud State University720 Fourth Avenue SouthSt. Cloud, MN 56301USAE-mail: [email protected]

Documents

Enriching Student Experiences: Multi-disciplinary Exercises in Service-learning