The academic study may be in any discipline or combination of fields. The community service may be direct service to people in need, community outreach and education, or policy analysis. Advocates of the pedagogy have tried to emphasize that it can include both. Our hypothesis is that students who participate in community service-learning projects increase their teamwork skills, leadership skills and oral presentation skills. Results indicate success, as evidenced by annual, external evaluations by independent judges in regional and national competitions against other universities.
Judges are business leaders, managers and entrepreneurs.
Introductory accounting students who sign up for the optional service-learning project usually do so because of the extra points attached. However, once they join the SIFE team and become active, many students' intrinsic motivation to learn is tapped. By structuring learning situations cooperatively, students see the value of working together to achieve shared goals, for reasons other than solely to improve their course grade.