Integrating Service-Learning into an Introduction to Entrepreneurship Course

Abstract

Despite fairly widespread recognition that entrepreneurship occurs in both profit and nonprofit enterprises, a review of experiential learning techniques in entrepreneurship education does not explicitly mention service-learning. This omission may be because of a perceived lack of relevance of the pedagogy to entrepreneurship, the belief that inexperienced students are not interested in or capable of the work, and/or faculty concern about the approach’s time-consuming nature. Yet service-learning can be a powerful pedagogy for teaching the skills and body of knowledge pertaining to entrepreneurship. This article chronicles the author’s experience integrating service-learning into an introductory undergraduate entrepreneurship course and offers it as a model for others to adapt to their own preferences and teaching context. It includes the author’s rationale for using service-learning, an abridged course syllabus, sample student reflection assignments, a project grading rubric, and other course materials. Client and student feedback as well as the author’s personal reflections on the learning experience are also provided.