Instilling Service Learning to Undergraduate Business Students: A Case Study Approach to Understanding Business-Related Concepts with the Use of Kiva

Abstract

Higher education continues to place an emphasis on service-learning, specifically within business and management sciences (Kenworthy-U' Ren & Peterson, 2005). A local academic business organization at a small institution chose to embark on a service-learning endeavor. The purpose of this study was for business majors, active in Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), and their advisors/professors to further investigate microlending and other business-related concepts through the use of service learning. Service was provided to the campus community, area high school Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students, and to the borrowers of their Kiva loans. The research, qualitative in nature, employed case study methodology. Themes emerged in academic, personal, and civic dimensions as a result of analysis of student responses to guided questionnaires.