Thinking Beyond the Classroom in Management Education: Implementing Academic Service-Learning for a Comprehensive Learning Experience

Ovilla Turnbull, Utah Valley University
Susan R. Madsen, Utah Valley University

Abstract

The business environment has gradually become more dynamic and complex throughout the past decades. Today, businesses struggle with complicated issues that were not discussed and/or did not exist 25 to 30 years ago. Yet, according to Dallimore (2002), “higher education has not adequately responded to the need to prepare students from this complex environment” (p. 86). Educators have found that experiential teaching methods, including academic service-learning, address these current challenges in higher education. The purpose of this paper is to assist management educators and practitioners in understanding the service-learning pedagogy and its worth and applicability to management education. We will do this by defining academic service-learning, reviewing related theory and literature, sharing ideas and examples of projects that can be implemented in various business classes, discuss educator challenges, and providing a list of resources that may be helpful in implementing this pedagogy.