Client-based Courses: Variations in Service Learning

Developing Interpersonal Skills of Evaluators: A Service-Learning Approach

“…Community-based learning pedagogies can enhance development further than the classroom experience by exposing novice evaluators to the “intricacies of conducting evaluations in real-world settings” (Trevisan, 2004, p. 256). These experiences enable students to sharpen evaluation skills by partnering with agencies through community internships, problem-based learning activities, collaborative learning, and client-based projects with program partners (Bakken et al, 2014; Dillman, 2013; Johnson et al, 2007; Lee, Wallace, & Alkin, 2007; Oliver, Casiraghi, Henderson, Brooks, & Mulsow, 2008; Stevahn, Gere, & Minnema, 2005; Waldner & Hunter, 2008). Internships offer opportunities to apply evaluation skills independently with feedback from a site supervisor and faculty advisor but with fewer opportunities to learn a range of interpersonal concepts.…”

Using eService-Learning to Practice Technical Writing Skills for Emerging Nonprofit Professionals

“…This project provides the experience of working on a team through the use of technology. Examples of these types of SL projects conducted in traditional class settings include as a policy analysis for a dentistry board (Waldner & Hunter, 2008), a review and evaluations of grant proposals for a corporation or foundation (Olberding, 2009), marketing materials for a nonprofit (Mottner, 2010), creating and implementing a social media campaigns (Messner, Medina-Messner, & Guidry, 2016), and creation of a health education brochure for an organization (Hilosky et al, 1999), which all can be completed in eSL courses. Educators can implement eSL by providing technical writing projects for their students to connect the course materials to practical experience.…”

Challenging Servant Leadership In The Nonprofit Sector: The Side Effects Of Servant Leadership

“…Research shows that experiential education approaches can be beneficial to the students who participate in them, the universities that implement and oversee the approaches, and the nonprofit community (e.g., Bacon, 2002;Bright, Bright, & Haley, 2007;Bushouse, 2005;Gazley, Bennett & Littlepage, 2013;Perry & Imperial, 2001;Schachter & Schwartz, 2009;Walder & Hunter, 2008). However, virtually all of the research has focused on experiential education used within a single university or a single approach (i.e., service-learning) implemented within a limited number of universities.…”

“…However, there is little literature that focuses on experiential education within nonprofit management education. In the literature that does exist, scholars discuss one or two types of approaches implemented in a nonprofit-focused master's degree program; for example, service-learning implemented in a MPA course (Walder & Hunter, 2008), the capstone approach used within a MPA program (Schachter & Schwartz, 2009;Smith 2005), or the experiential learning approach used within a nonprofit master's degree program (Carpenter & Krist, 2011). There is little research that discusses the variety of experiential education approaches used within multiple nonprofit-focused master's degree programs across the United States.…”