Integrating Service-Learning into an Introduction to Entrepreneurship Course

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 servicelearning 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.