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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Academic Service Learning in Human Resource
Management Education
Susan R. Madsen
To cite this article: Susan R. Madsen (2004) Academic Service Learning in Human Resource Management Education, Journal of Education for Business, 79:6, 328-332, DOI: 10.3200/ JOEB.79.6.328-332
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.79.6.328-332
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
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rnest L. Boyer’s 1990 book, Schol-arship Reconsidered, began to change the way many faculty members at institutions of higher education viewed their role as educators. He argued that current teaching practices were not fully effective in producing meaningful and long-term learning. He wrote that only through engaging the student in the learning process (an approach now termed the scholarship of engagement) would instructors enable students’ retention of course concepts and understanding of the true applica-tion of pertinent knowledge and skills. In addition, Boyer challenged members of the faculty to become reflective prac-titioners “who move back and forth between theory and practice to bring into the university classroom the daily problems of real people in real neigh-borhoods” (Hinck & Brandell, 2000, p. 26). He viewed this connection between the classroom and the community as an important component within a well-structured curriculum.
Of course, Boyer’s perspective was not necessarily new. Dewey (1938) indi-cated that education should be based on the “philosophy of experience” (p. 29) and should emphasize the “freedom of the learner” (p. 22). He taught that all principles by themselves are abstract
their application” (p. 20). Dewey was a strong proponent of providing both experience and reflective opportunities for students. In addition, he warned of a “standing danger that the material of formal instruction will be merely the subject matter of the schools, isolated from the subject matter of life experi-ence” (p. 20). Unfortunately, his fears have become reality in many of our business schools and courses.
Porter and McKibbin (1988) wrote a seminal article outlining the challenges and problems within management edu-cation. Two of the most pressing issues included management education stu-dents’ need for more breadth, interac-tion, and engagement with the external environment. The authors found that business executives were very
con-purported that both the students and the businesses in their sample would benefit from programs that offered more breadth and real-world experiences. The students may have understood the con-cepts, but most had little or no opportu-nity to apply newly acquired knowledge and skills to a real work setting. The emerging academic service-learning pedagogy appears to be one solution for these calls and concerns.
Purpose
Today, as the scholarship of engaging students in the learning process becomes more important in institutions of higher education, the emerging peda-gogy of academic service learning is becoming a focus in many schools of business. Although service-learning research has been published in a variety of business fields (e.g., accounting, eco-nomics, business communication, and management), little has been reported on its use specifically in the human resource curricula. My purpose in this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of students who had just completed a service-learning project in an undergraduate compensation and benefits course. I was interested in determining whether the findings
pub-Academic Service Learning in
Human Resource Management
Education
SUSAN R. MADSEN
Utah Valley State College Orem, Utah
E
ABSTRACT. As the scholarship of engaging students in the learning process becomes more important in institutions of higher education, the emerging pedagogy of academic ser-vice learning is becoming a focus in many schools of business. The author discusses this pedagogy in general and in a human resource undergraduate course specifically. In addition, she discusses selected findings gathered from in-depth student interviews about their feelings before, during, and after the experience and their motivations to do well.
findings in a specific human resource course. Thus, I formulated two primary research questions: (a) What were the students’ feelings before, during, and after the experience? and (b) What were students’ perceptions regarding their motivation to perform well?
To explore these research questions, I researched literature focusing on defining and providing a theoretical framework for academic service learning as well as past literature on service learning and, more specifically, on the two categories of per-ceptions (feelings and motivation). Next, I undertook an exploratory study (qualita-tive interviews) of the service-learning perceptions of students who had just completed a course in compensation and benefits.
Review of the Literature
Definition
I compiled definitions from the exist-ing literature (Godfrey, 1999; McCarthy & Tucker, 1999; Rama, Ravenscroft, Walcott, & Zlotkowski, 2000) to form the following comprehensive definition of academic service learning: a multidi-mensional pedagogy (a form of experi-ential learning) that is integrated within a credit-bearing course in the form of an organized, thoughtful, and meaningful project. Students are paired with agen-cies or organizations that have specific needs related to the content of a particu-lar course. Students then perform the needed community service while, at the same time, using course content and reflecting on their experiences for enhanced learning.
Theoretical Framework
The most powerful, practical, and theoretical framework for the academic service-learning pedagogy appears to be Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle. Petkus (2000) explained that Kolb’s model is multidimensional and rich because it draws from Dewey’s educational philosophy, Piaget’s devel-opmental psychology, and Lewin’s social psychology. Kolb (1984) stated, “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the trans-formation of experience” (p. 38). His
model illustrated that the most effective learning occurs in four different ways: concrete experience, reflective observa-tion, abstract conceptualizaobserva-tion, and active experimentation. He explained that lessons, projects, and assignments should incorporate all of these types of learning for an optimal learning experi-ence. According to Petkus (2000) and others, a well-designed service learning assignment that includes all four types of learning will result in the most effec-tive and long-term learning a student can experience.
Student Learning
Results from the research literature generally suggest that service learning is an effective pedagogy for use in a college and university setting. Although some researchers pointed out challenges and problems with service learning, they still reported that in most situations the bene-fits outweigh the challenges. For exam-ple, effectively designed projects appear to assist students in the understanding, application, and retention of course con-cepts and skills (Kenworthy-U’Ren, 2000; Rama et al., 2000). Other researchers and academicians have found that service learning is effective in pro-viding learning opportunities for students to develop the additional competencies (breadth) that Porter and McKibbin (1988) discussed and that, according to the AACSB, all business graduates should embody. Examples include skills related to citizenship (Godfrey, 1999); leadership and conflict resolution (Thomas & Landau, 2002); teamwork, interaction, time management, and net-working (Tucker, McCarthy, Hoxmeier, & Lenk, 1998); cultural awareness and diversity (Vernon & Foster, 2002); and written and verbal communication (Tucker et al., 1998).
Feelings
Researchers have documented the various feelings that students experi-ence throughout a service-learning project. Easterling and Rudell (1997) explained that students initially expressed concerns regarding group dynamics, transportation, their percep-tions regarding diversity, and
self-doubts about their abilities. Yet “despite those concerns, students reported posi-tive experiences as a result of their ser-vice learning projects” (p. 57). Bush-Bacelis (1998) found that students were often suspicious of any kind of project (like service learning) whose scope was not quickly absorbed. She noted that students rarely had questions in the first class and that in subsequent classes their comments often indicated confusion. They often worried that the project would take too much time. Kohls (1996) commented that at the start of the project some students appeared to be nervous, whereas others were excited. McCarthy and Tucker (1999) claimed that some students felt anxious about undertaking such a nontraditional project and felt unprepared or unable to perform the activity. They concluded that a “stu-dent’s sense of self-efficacy may impact his or her attitude toward the desirability of service-learning requirements” (p. 558). Even with these struggles, how-ever, it does appear that by the end of the projects students primarily felt proud, satisfied, confident, fulfilled, val-ued, and excited about the experience, knowledge, and skills obtained (Bush-Bacelis, 1998; Rama et al., 2000).
Motivation
The literature appears to support the premise that students are more motivat-ed to do better and try harder on aca-demic service-learning projects com-pared with other school assignments. Schaffer (2001) explained, “. . . students may see the practitioners as potential employers and may be motivated to pre-sent their knowledge, skills, and abili-ties in the best possible manner” (p. 317). Rosile and Boje (2000) reported that the motivational value of a worthy project cannot be underestimated: “Such motivation provides the incentive for students to work through relation-ship and task difficulties that would oth-erwise likely result in apathy, poor per-formance, or constant internal conflict” (p. 80). Finally, Davis and Michel (2000) explained that students take ser-vice-learning projects much more seri-ously than other school assignments and that “through this experience, stu-dents are able to see the consequences
and human drama of significant busi-ness decisions and become more will-ing to invest in hard-won knowledge that is personally meaningful” (p. 91).
Method
My long-term research goal has been to identify and implement the teaching strategies that will provide my students with the most beneficial learning expe-riences possible. In spring 2003, I implemented an academic service learn-ing component in a new compensation and benefits course. Although I had not read the background literature, I had been told some wonderful things about the pedagogy and thus before the start of the semester decided to conduct a research study on the experiences and perceptions of these students. Even though I was optimistic about this peda-gogy, I wanted to investigate its advan-tages and disadvanadvan-tages to provide guidance for future use decisions relat-ed to this and other human resource courses. Fifteen students registered and attended the first class. After I informed the students that the project would take them between 20 to 30 hours throughout the semester and that it would account for nearly one third of their final grade, three students dropped out, claiming work and school scheduling difficulties. I asked the 12 remaining students to self-select into groups and choose a nonprofit organization (community partner) from a list that I had provided. I had previously met with organizational contacts to describe briefly the projects, which included job analyses and job evaluations for two or three positions within each organization.
I designed this qualitative research study to incorporate in-depth interviews with the students. This approach appeared to be very applicable to under-standing the experiences of the students in a new learning situation and environ-ment. Sixteen open-ended probing ques-tions were designed to extract all types of information about the students’ experi-ences and perceptions regarding their projects. Responses to five of these ques-tions provided the data for this article. I created and revised the instrument items
interviews with three experienced quali-tative researchers.
I scheduled the primary interviews, which lasted approximately 1 hour each, for 2 to 3 weeks after the end of the semester and after grades had been posted. I transcribed the interviews word for word and analyzed the data through a detailed theme generation process. Approximately 40–70 key phrases or ideas emerged from each interview, and 10 primary themes emerged. I discuss four of these themes.
Results and Discussion
Feelings
After transcribing each interview, I found a total of 104 phrases that related to student feelings (56 related to their ini-tial feelings and 48 to their perceptions during and after the project). Instead of creating a list of feelings with the fre-quencies of responses, I determined that a richer and more interesting report would include a summary of each stu-dent’s feelings before, during, and after the project, enabling readers to see the changes (or the evolution) of feelings student by student. In Table 1, I summa-rize briefly all of the students’ comments from interviews and journal entries. Although this is the first research report on a service-learning project undertaken in a compensation and benefits course, I found that student responses were sur-prisingly consistent and supportive of past literature on service learning in other courses. This finding provides sup-porting evidence that students have simi-lar feelings and perceptions about ser-vice-learning experiences across courses, departments, schools, and colleges. It appears that differences in perceptions may result from the depth, breadth, requirements, and design of the projects rather than from the course in which the project is assigned. In my study, all stu-dents concluded with positive, if often relieved, feelings about their learning, value, accomplishment, confidence, skills, professionalism, purpose, and more. Most students started out with uncertainty and hesitation (although some were excited), and all finished the
Motivation
All of the students interviewed con-cluded that they were more motivated to do better on this assignment than on others. One student reflected in his jour-nal, “I have no problem doing a second rate job on school assignments and try-ing to pass them off as ‘A’ work but, for a real company, I felt more of an obli-gation to perform my best.” Another stated in her interview: “We worked really hard. We wanted it to be a profes-sional looking thing. . . . If it was just for us, that’s one thing, but because it was for a real organization we wanted it to be our best work. It had our names on it and our names are important to us. We didn’t want to let people down.” Anoth-er student commented, “It’s one thing for your instructor to see it and maybe get up in front of the class and do a pre-sentation, and it’s another thing to know that someone may incorporate it into their company and use it. We definitely had more motivation to do it and do it well.” I coded and analyzed 30 state-ments (from the 10 interviews) regard-ing the motivation of students to do well on their projects (see Table 2). These findings support past literature on academic service-learning. It appears that students’ motivation to do well is heightened through well-designed, academic service learning assignments (Davis & Michel, 2000; Rosile & Boje, 2000; Schaffer, 2001).
Implications for Practice
Although there were limitations in this research (i.e., small sample, the instructor was also the primary researcher, lack of control group, limited generalizability), the results show con-sistency among students and with the reviewed literature. Even though more research is needed, these results provide support for the use of academic service learning in human resource courses, especially compensation and benefits courses. Providing these experiences for students in a human resource or man-agement curriculum can provide oppor-tunities for them to improve confidence, enhance self-efficacy, experience
fessionalism, practice citizenship, and generally feel better about themselves because they are serving others.
The results of this study suggest that educators should consider the use of academic service learning to enhance
their curriculum and courses. They also indicate that educators should expect student difficulties before and during the projects. Continuous efforts to help students reflect on their experiences and their link to course content will assist
students in an enhanced learning experi-ence. Challenging projects may be diffi-cult, but students appear to learn the most when they have to struggle in some ways. It is important, however, to pro-vide continued support, so that students
TABLE 1. Student Feelings Before, Throughout, and After an Academic Service-Learning Project
Before Throughout After
I felt excited about the application and the new environment and people. I wanted to learn about nonprofits and feel like a professional.
I felt excited and overwhelmed at the same time. I was uncertain about the project, yet it intrigued me.
I was apprehensive and thought it would be really hard. I was terrified and uncertain. Yet, I thought it would be good for my résumé.
I was confused, frustrated, angry, stressed, and nervous. I wanted to drop [it] because it sounded overwhelming and time consuming.
I was petrified. I really felt uncertainty and thought, How can I do this?
I felt overwhelmed, confused, uncertain, and unconfident. It sounded time consum-ing yet interestconsum-ing. I was nervous because I had never had to act like a professional and I didn’t know what to expect.
It sounds hard and time consuming. I don’t see the benefit and am concerned, but it is a new experience and interesting. I wonder how companies will accept students from my school.
It sounds interesting, a new experience. It is intriguing, but I am uncertain about my effectiveness. I am unconfident and hesitant but know I needed to do well.
I am uncertain, stressed, and overwhelmed. Would it be good for me? I knew I would learn the content well. Can I fit it in my life? I’m uncertain about my capabilities to do well.
I knew it would be a good experience and opportunity. I like big projects. The real-world experience will be good. I am confused and question the benefit.
I felt uncertainty about how it would come together. It was overwhelming, and I wonder if it would be good enough. I liked the experience.
The time element of the project remained difficult throughout the semester so I con-tinued to feel overwhelmed.
I was more confident as we went along and it became easier. It felt like it would be a beneficial, good experience. It would be different.
This project is stressful, intimidating, and frustrating. I’m uncertain as to whether I’ll be able to do well.
It got easier and it wasn’t as big of a pro-ject as I thought. I understood why we were doing it, and I think I’ve gained more confidence.
I am comfortable and more confident (it’s not as difficult as I thought). I started enjoying it and it is fun. I think it will be valuable for them. I didn’t know if I could be professional but I think I can now. I like it.
I am liking it. It is awesome. It is becom-ing excitbecom-ing and interestbecom-ing. I am gainbecom-ing confidence in myself.
I am frustrated with the organization. I have gained some confidence. Things are starting to make sense. It is good.
Will it be good enough? Will they like it? I have gained more confidence. We are going great and we feel good about our-selves.
It is fun to work with people who have real jobs. It is ending and is a relief. It is fun overall and working okay.
I felt like I did something of true value for the organization. I knew I had learned from the experience. It made sense and was actually fun in some ways.
The experience overall was very good. We had an opportunity that other students have not had. I like feeling that I have helped someone else (fulfillment). This experience will be great for my résumé. I gained confidence in my abili-ties. I enjoyed myself. I learned a lot.
I have more confidence now. I wouldn’t be scared next time. It all came together and was good at the end.
I have more confidence. It was good for me. I learned to figure things out on my own. I know I can do it now. It was a good learning experience. I felt accom-plishment.
I learned to communicate more. I have more confidence in my abilities and knowledge. I can act and talk profession-al!
I liked applying what we learned. I under-stand why you didn’t give us all of the answers—I think I learned more this way. I’d be comfortable now going in and doing it again. We did a good job, and it feels good.
Things came together. The confidence came. Things made sense. I think I’ll have an edge over other students now. This was a very valuable experience. I’ll remember this stuff.
I feel confident in doing these things again. It has been valuable. This is good for my résumé. I accomplished something important. This project will impress peo-ple. This project pushed me, but I am glad now.
I don’t know exactly if I learned more, but I have more confidence. Experience gives me confidence. I liked going into the organization. It was fun. This will look good on my résumé.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education.New York: Collier Books.
Easterling, D., & Rudell, F. (1997). Rational ben-efits and methods of service-learning in mar-keting education. Journal of Education for Business, 73(1), 58–61.
Godfrey, P. C. (1999). Service-learning and man-agement education: A call to action. Journal of Management Inquiry, 8(4), 363–379. Hinck, S. S., & Brandell, M. E. (2000). The
rela-tionship between institutional support and cam-pus acceptance of academic service learning. The American Behavioral Scientist, 43(5), 868–882.
Kenworthy-U’Ren, A. L. (2000). Management students as consultants: A strategy for service-learning in management education. In P. C. Godfrey & E. T. Grasso (Eds.), Working for the common good: Concepts and models for service-learning in management(pp. 55–67). Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
Kohls, J. (1996). Student experiences with service learning in a business ethics course. Journal of Business Ethics, 15(1), 45–57.
Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: Experi-ence as the source of learning and develop-ment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. McCarthy, A. M., & Tucker, M. L. (1999). Student
attitudes toward service-learning: Implications for implementation. Journal of Management Education, 23(5), 554–573.
Petkus, E. J. (2000). A theoretical and practical framework for service-learning in marketing: Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. Journal of Marketing Education, 22(1), 64–71.
Porter, L. W., & McKibbin, L. E. (1988). Man-agement education and development: Drift or thrust into the 21st century? New York: McGraw-Hill.
Rama, D. V., Ravenscroft, S. P., Walcott, S. K., & Zlotkowski, E. (2000). Service-learning out-comes: Guidelines for educators and researchers. Issues in Accounting Education, 15(4), 657–693.
Rosile, G. A., & Boje, D. (2000). A postmodern service-learning pedagogy: The story of the Greenback Company. In P. C. Godfrey & E. T. Grasso (Eds.),Working for the common good: Concepts and models for service-learning in management (pp. 68–87). Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education. Schaffer, R. A. (2001). Student reactions to
indus-try involvement in case delivery: Supportive evidence from three distinct studies. Industry & Higher Education, 15(5), 315–321.
Thomas, K. M., & Landau, H. (2002). Organiza-tional development students as engaged learn-ers and reflective practitionlearn-ers: The role of ser-vice learning in teaching OD. Organization Development Journal, 20(3), 88–100. Tucker, M. L., McCarthy A. M., Hoxmeier, J. A.,
& Lenk, M. M. (1998). Community service learning increases communication skills across the business curriculum. Business Communica-tion Quarterly,61(2), 88–99.
Vernon, A., & Foster, L. (2002). Nonprofit agency perspectives of higher education service-learning and volunteerism. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing,10(2), 207–230.
can move forward and learn the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed. As Dewey (1938) explained, “Every experi-ence is a moving force. Its value can be judged only on the grounds of what it moved toward and into. . . It is then the business of the educator to see in what direction an experience is heading” (p. 38). If the educator carefully designs a meaningful academic service-learning project with direction and focus, busi-ness students should be able to benefit substantially from the opportunities pro-vided from interaction with the commu-nity and real-world experiences. Accord-ing to Dewey, “It is through what we do in and with the world that we read its meaning and measure its value” (p. 17).
If educators think beyond the classroom walls, they can strengthen, deepen, and broaden the content and impact of a course. These efforts can make a true difference for many students.
REFERENCES
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Bush-Bacelis, J. L. (1998). Innovative pedagogy: Academic service-learning for business commu-nication. Business Communication Quarterly, 61(3), 20–34.
Davis, J. H., & Michel, J. G. (2000). Experiencing strategy at the University of Notre Dame. In P. C. Godfrey & E. T. Grasso (Eds.),Working for the common good: Concepts and models for service-learning in management(pp. 89–110). Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
TABLE 2. Service-Learning Students’ Perceptions of Their Motivation
General
• The project helped me stay motivated to learn and do well. • I felt more responsibility to do a good job.
• Group members helped keep me motivated.
• Going beyond the classroom helped me be more motivated to do well on this project.
• I took ownership of the project and wanted to make it good.
• I think I felt more motivated in this class . . . I was working for an actual organization.
Others
• Our input for the organization felt meaningful, so I wanted to do well. • They [community partners] needed the information we provided to them.
• There were more people watching, and they gave us their time, so I knew I needed to do well and not waste their time.
• Doing this project for a nonprofit made us put more of an effort into it. • I wanted to provide a real benefit—not because of the grade.
• I knew we needed to give them something worthwhile, so it took more time. • There is a difference in just trying to make a teacher happy and making an
organization satisfied.
• I was motivated because I realized how hard these people are working for so little. • I wanted to make sure it was good because the final product was theirs to keep. Self
• I really wanted to do well on this project. • I always want to do good work no matter what.
• We worked hard because we wanted it to be professional.
• When more work is required of me I do better and learn more . . . this was more work.
• I didn’t want them to think students at our college were stupid.
• Because you are working for a real organization you don’t want to just do some crap job.
• It was the first time that I’d ever done anything like that so I figured I’d want to make my expectations high as well.
• I had to show someone else I knew what I was talking about so I needed to do well. • I was more motivated because I didn’t want them to think we were dumb.
• I didn’t want to put together a piece of junk because it was my project.
