Abstract

Principles of management is a core course required of all business majors and several non-business majors at Minnesota State University, Mankato. College of Business faculty members have determined that this course is the one where team and leadership skills are assessed. To assess these skills, students participated in a team-based project that served Campus Kitchen @ Minnesota State University, Mankato. The purpose of this project was not only to assess team and leadership skills, but also to assess the development of professional business skills and civic engagement. Campus Kitchens, a national program affiliated with colleges and universities in the United States, recovers surplus food from campus dining services and delivers it to needy community members. For their part, the principles of management students devised projects that supported the infrastructure of Campus Kitchens. Teams of students were required to write a proposal for their project, implement it, and report their results. In addition to the direct assessments (proposal and reports), indirect assessments of learning outcomes were made. Students in two different sections of the course (n = 31 and n = 54) were assessed about their service-learning experience regarding making a connection to the university and the community, participating in a real-world business application, applying problem-solving skills, applying theory to practice, practicing teamwork skills, learning workplace skills, and building professional self-confidence. When collecting this data, the authors requested additional data about the students’ class size, college major, prior service-learning experience, and sex. Noting that the results of the assessment did not appear to be uniform, the authors decided to pursue the differences in the achievement of those learning outcomes based on this additional data.