Retail Classroom Meets Business Practice through a Service-Learning Component

Service-learning is recognized in academia as a benefit to students, faculty, universities and communities. Within the community, businesses have the potential to partner with students on course-based projects. This article explains the process of creating and implementing service-learning courses in merchandising, incorporating a plan for incremental service-learning experiences by students. Junior and senior level courses were revised to provide service-learning activities and experiences closely aligned with original course objectives. After implementation, students and retail partners evaluated the courses, rating them highly with regard to increasing the depth of understanding of theory and its application.