The Incorporation of Service-Learning into a Management Course: A Case Study of a Charity Thrift Store

Abstract

(1) Background: A charity thrift store commonly takes on employees with disabilities, but such a business model creates many challenges to overcome, as will be described. This research focuses on the satisfaction of such individuals taking service-learning courses. (2) Methods: The five management functions are planning, organization, leadership, coordination, and control. Service-learning students learn management theory to apply in practice. To test the quality of their learning, a reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, and T-test were carried out using the questionnaire survey method. (3) Results: First, there is a need for education, training, and process improvements for internal staff. Then, efforts must be made to improve customers’ perception of the charity thrift store, e.g., via beautification. Beyond that, institutional promotion may be an option, as are social media posting suggestions. Finally, real serving experience enables those in training to engage in critical self-reflection. The results of the questionnaire survey show that the students most satisfied with the service-learning training are those seeking to work in social care, rather than retail, but that all service-learning students were at least somewhat satisfied with the training provided. Significant differences were observed in service-learning satisfaction related to the students’ gender and identity. (4) Conclusions: Students’ self-reflections can enhance their self-growth and problem-solving skills. Additionally, this management course awakens respect among the students for those with disabilities. After their satisfaction is reviewed, college students are willing to continue to participate in the service-learning. This course offers sustainable results by supplying a steady stream of trained workers to charity thrift stores.

1. Introduction

Many departments, institutions, schools, corporations, and organizations are registered with the government’s volunteer service. Volunteers who perform excellently through their service may receive awards, and their performance will be positively regarded when they seek to enter higher education or find employment, as was the aim of the Volunteer Service Act [1]. There is an ongoing need to support volunteerism as it creates opportunities to develop a spirit of cooperation (33%), empathy (62%), leadership skills (80%), and human potential [2]. In recent years, service-learning, in particular, has received a lot of attention, with service organizations playing an important role [3].

The Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) initiative aims to better nurture the thinking and actions of future generations so that they will become the cornerstones of economic progress, social transformation, and sustainable development [4]. The business world and society are diverse, but universities must prepare students for their future work and life, and service-learning is a tool that can support such learning [5].

Service-learning is a method of connecting student training with local community services. This brings value to the community by addressing real needs, thus encouraging students to reflect on real-life issues. In this way, students, teachers, and community partners are stakeholders [6]. There have been many previous studies on the impact of service-learning on college students, with many of those sampled reportedly feeling they had learned a lot from service-learning [7,8], and with their participation in the courses associated with positive learning outcomes [9].

As the focus of this study, the cooperative unit providing service-learning is Carpenter’s Home, that is, a charity thrift store. The Carpenter’s Home Care Association has been in the field for 20 years, advocating for an environmentally friendly new way of life where “people rest and cherish things”. Donations of unwanted items are recycled and organized by disadvantaged employees and then sold in the Carpenter’s Home public welfare second-hand store, which creates job opportunities for those in need. Through the skillful work of the disadvantaged group, old items are refreshed and come to be cherished again, and at the same time, value is created for the disadvantaged employees.

According to the volunteer supervisor, the workers have a preliminary understanding of the aims of the Carpenter’s Home initiative. Carpenter’s Home, in its 20 years, has always welcomed those with disabilities, and employees with disabilities account for 60% of the staff. Yet, because of this mode of operation, Carpenter’s Home has many problems to overcome.

One of the big problems concerns the employees of the Carpenter’s Home second-hand store. Some employees with disabilities will inevitably work at a slow speed, or there may be a gap in understanding when they serve customers. Therefore, some people do not have a very good experience when shopping, and some even leave negative feedback. Although these situations are difficult to manage, we believe that they can be avoided through improved training methods and by posting notices in-store.

Therefore, our idea is that in addition to promoting the concept of Carpenter’s Home through different channels, we can also increase the education and training for internal staff so that all employees can better learn how to respond to and deal with unfriendly guests in the future.

There are four goals for this service-learning: first, the internal staff’s education, training, and process improvement; second, to improve customers’ perception of Carpenter’s Home; third, store beautification; last, organizational promotion and social media posting suggestions.

In a process to achieve these goals, first, one can engage with reality, then move on to reflection, and finally forge reciprocity [10]. Reality refers to the experience of bringing academic content into the real world. Reflection is then achieved through self-awareness. To that end, this research reviews relevant literature and correlates it with students’ self-reflection logs. Reciprocity, in the third step, refers to equal and trusting partners who can see the root causes and consequences of social problems.

2. Literature Review

This section presents (1) the methodology applied to design the management course, (2) the literature used to evaluate its impact, and (3) the expected benefits of the service design.

2.1. Service-Learning Management Course

The management course in this study applies problem-based learning (PBL) and design thinking (DT). PBL is an active learning method where students learn subject content by gaining experience in solving real-world problems [11]. DT, meanwhile, is an approach that engages student groups in a process based on identifying real-world problems and then designing solutions by thinking about them [12]. Using innovative pedagogies, in addition to PBL and DT, the management course of this study intends to incorporate service-learning methods. Service-learning methods are incorporated, and the benefit this approach lies in the fact that it integrates learning and socializing to serve the purpose of promoting the civic and social development of college students [13]. Thus, students can obtain richer forms of learning.

At the same time, learning and community service are combined in one project based on the implementation of skills relevant to the course content in real-world situations. The main purpose is to improve the basic abilities of students while providing social benefits. Therefore, the definition includes the basic characteristics of viewing teaching activities as service-learning, that is, the key role students play in the process of course learning and social participation, thereby linking community service activities with curriculum learning objectives, etc. [8].

In business courses, student learning outcomes are assessed through a variety of methods, of which features involving professor-student interactions are the most useful [14]. Service-learning is a teaching strategy that offers students opportunities to learn both in the classroom and in the wider world [15]. The teaching strategies of the management course of this study are as follows. First, Proposal writing: Let students practice planning service-learning projects. Second, Service-learning project implementation: Students can practice planning, leadership, coordination, and control functions. Third, Semester achievement report: Students can learn the presentation of project results and the use of multimedia technology. The service-learning as a teaching tool provides students with the opportunity to directly engage with local institutions and influence change in their communities [15].

2.2. Impact of Service-Learning

The application of service-learning in a higher education context is particularly beneficial for participating students [16], as research results demonstrate that service-learning has a positive impact on students’ academic performance. In other words, the emphasis on service increases the motivation of students to study course content.

Service-learning experiences are associated with improving the ability to understand theoretical concepts, apply theory to real life, and think and solve problems [15,17,18]. Service-learning for academic progress may not be assessed by typical methods, so student self-reflection reports can be used to measure improvements in civic responsibility, interpersonal skills, and practical skills [17]. A content analysis of student reflections explained the findings and the “value added” of engaging in service-learning facilitated students’ interpersonal and personal development [16]. Service-learning can broaden and significantly improve the learning atmosphere of students [15]. To realize the impact of integrating service-learning into the professional curriculum, this case study uses management and various data sources as analytical evidence, involving each student’s reflective journal files.

Service-learning schedule for the management course executes the four stages of work preparation, service, reflection, and celebration [19]. Thus, the corresponding weeks of this study are the 1st to the 10th week, the 12th to the 16th week, the 17th week, and the 18th week. The meaning of the four stages is as follows [19]: Preparation refers to the writing of service activity plans. Service refers to providing education, training, and process improvement to charity thrift stores, store beautification, improving customer perception, organization promotion, etc. Reflection refers to reviewing the end of service activities. Finally, Celebration refers to the presentation and competition of the results.

Service-learning also builds students’ self-esteem and confidence, as well as their skills in leadership, communication, and teamwork, and these changes can be better understood from some qualitative results, including perspectives from students and charitable organizations [20]. Furthermore, the service-learning experience facilitates research on university social responsibility (USR) [21]. The value of service-learning to students is that it provides opportunities to improve individual citizenship skills [22]. Students enrolled in service-learning programs showed significant improvements in self-attitude, attitudes toward school and learning, civic engagement, social skills, and academic performance [23]. Therefore, working in areas such as social responsibility, solidarity, and sustainable development can promote their education on moral and social values and encourage their civic engagement [21,22,23]. Lessons learned, voice, community engagement, and reflection are interconnected, and they reap the greatest benefits [23].

The United Nations proposes the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal 4 of which promotes quality education. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) specifically addresses requiring individuals to acquire key competencies [24]. Education is regarded as a means of sustainable development [25]. Through education for sustainable development, people make informed decisions so that the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of present and future generations can be ensured [26].

2.3. The Expected Benefits of Service Design

Service design is a multidisciplinary approach to service innovation that can create new services or enhance existing ones [27] through understanding the user experience, rethinking the value proposition, and reflecting on the new services brought about by the technological revolution. Design thinking is an important role in innovative service design, enhancing social well-being for communities, advancing human well-being, and driving social impact [28]. The increasing importance of service design has become a critical capability for survival in a service-led economy [29]. The elements of service design are stakeholders, points of contact, services, and processes. The principle is customer-centric, and it would focus on the improvement of service experience in service links [30].

Data analysis was performed using conceptual content analysis [31]. The expected benefits of this activity will be divided into short-term, medium-term, and long-term benefits as follows:

(1) Short-term expected benefits:

Through the above-mentioned implementation, the post information of the Carpenter’s Home sales store is unified, and the template files of the announcements such as promotions and promotions are provided, which can greatly improve the uniformity of the store in a short period.

(2) Medium-term expected benefits

Through internal staff education and training and the formulation of the checkout process, and at the same time enriching the Carpenter’s Home social media fan page posts, it is expected that it will effectively increase the customers’ and the Carpenter’s Home’s favorability, and increase the number of Carpenter’s Home’s fan page fans. In addition, promoting the implementation of the method of direct access by vulnerable groups to the required items is expected to reduce the number of clothes stacked in the current warehouse.

(3) Long-term expected benefits

Combined with the above implementation projects, it includes internal staff education, training, process improvement, beautification of stores, enriching social media post categories, and combining with corner book activities. It is expected to increase the number of fans on the fan page by about 500 (the current number of fans is about 20,000), the ratio is about 2.5%, and the number of daily customers will increase to 50 (the current number of daily customers is about 30 to 40 people).

3. Implementation of the Service-Learning of Management Course

The service content is briefly introduced in two points. The first point is the service objects; that is, the service objects of this activity include repair stations, retail stores, and workers. Another point is the number of workers. The total number of workers is about 25, of which 15 are disabled, accounting for about 60% of the total number of workers, and 10 are not without disabilities.

3.1. Work at Each Stage and Process or Service Method

The activity process includes the following sequence, focusing on the background and service time of volunteer members, interviewing and confirming needs, communication implementation methods, and specific implementation.

3.1.1. Background and Service Time

This project is a group of young volunteers who go to service units, focusing on the background and service time of their members. The person in charge of the management team contacted the supervisor of Carpenter’s Home volunteers and asked if the young volunteer team could provide service-learning at the institution.

Service-related matters included the following items:

• Attend school;
• Department;
• Each member’s expertise and special experience;
• Expected date and time of service.

3.1.2. Interviewing and Confirming Needs

After confirming the above matters with the volunteer supervisor, the young volunteer team also conducted demand interviews with the service unit in order to understand how to provide assistance based on their professional skills.

Summarize the needs and details of the service unit through the interview as follows:

• Assist in internal employee education, training, and process improvement. Since people with disabilities account for about 60% of the organization’s employees, customer service will inevitably lead to a gap in understanding and slow responses. Therefore, we hope that the young volunteer team will raise the relevant issues of suggestion in internal employee education and training;
• Optimizing the Carpenter’s Home image and assisting in social media management. Due to the slow understanding and reply of employees, some people have an unsatisfactory impression of the organization. Therefore, we hope that the volunteer team will propose a plan to optimize the Carpenter’s Home image and give advice on group media to the operating agency;
• Beautify the Carpenter’s shop. There are many reminders posted on the facade of the Carpenter’s Home, including donation time, donation location, a reminder of the classification of donated materials, and related activities of the sales base, which makes the store messier. Staff and youth units can help organize relevant information and beautify the storefront.

3.1.3. The Way of Communication

After the volunteers have supervised and communicated the required items, and combined with the situation observed by the volunteer team at the scene, they will further propose specific implementation methods and related suggestions for the needs of the service unit. The detailed implementation methods will be explained in the following paragraphs.

3.1.4. Specific Implementation

After confirming the expected implementation method with the service organization, the volunteer team will proceed to assist the service unit to complete the above-mentioned required projects through its own relevant knowledge and skills. It includes proposing internal education and training plans, improving processes, optimizing its image, assisting related social media management, and beautifying the store.

3.2. Specific Implementation Time and Corresponding Content

The specific service time and content of this event are as follows:

• 21 October (Thursday) 9:00–12:00: Visit the Carpenter’s Home and confirm the needs with the volunteer supervisor. The young volunteer team also found areas that needed adjustment through field visits and thought about possible plans for marketing the Carpenter’s Home;
• 28 October (Thursday) 9:00–12:00: The youth volunteer team will give feedback and suggestions on the needs of the service unit and further propose the implementation method expected by the team. After reaching a consensus with the volunteer supervisor, the specific follow-up method was determined; in addition, the volunteer team also communicated with the adjustment situation found in the last on-site inspection and proposed a feasible plan;
• 4 November (Thursday) 9:00–12:00: According to the conclusion of the previous demand and the feasible plan focus, the relevant finished products are provided to the volunteers for supervision. In addition, it is confirmed with the supervisor whether the finished product needs to be modified, and then corrections are made according to Supervisor feedback.

A timetable of this event (start and end date of task name):

• Confirm service unit demand on 21 October;
• Volunteer team to discuss ideas from 21 to 27 October;
• Give feedback and actionable suggestions on 28 October;
• Initiate production of finished products from 28 October to 3 November;
• Delivery of related finished product on 4 November.

3.3. Implementation Way

The needs of service units are divided into four items: the first is internal personnel education and training, the second is process improvement, the third is the optimization and beautification of stores, and the fourth is promotion agencies and social media posting suggestions. The following are the requirements put forward by the unit and the implementation methods proposed by the volunteer team.

Item one is internal personnel education and training, and the implementation method proposed by the volunteer team is as follows:

• It is recommended to use five minutes of internal staff education and training every Wednesday to remind and list the relevant matters that need attention in the service;
• Provide service note manuals to internal staff.

For the second item, process improvement, the implementation method proposed by the volunteer team is to write the checkout SOP, that is, to write the checkout process and place the counter for the checkout staff to confirm the process and let customers know about the relevant matters.

For the third item, optimization and beautification of the store, the implementation methods proposed by the volunteer team are as follows:

• The establishment of an electronic product station; that is, the current electronic product service station does not have obvious signs or descriptions of the service items provided by the place. It is recommended to post notices to facilitate the public to inquire about these services;
• Provide a template for the announcement, that is, provide design templates of different sizes to unify the style of in-store publicity and cultural publicity. The design will combine the Carpenter’s Home’s and environmental protection concepts, and it is expected that the main colors of brown and green will be used;
• Post information collection, that is, collect the in-store leaflets and publicity items, and make a unified style poster;
• Slogan thinking, that is, slogan thinking is expected to place the slogan on the second-hand store pillar;
• Design the punch-in wall, that is, design the space outside the second-hand store and coffee shop to use the punch-in wall to attract customers.

Finally, the fourth item, the promotion agencies and social media post suggestions, the volunteer team proposed the following six points of implementation:

• Volunteer positions; that is, the Carpenter’s Home can use the experience written by volunteers;
• Daily posting of employees, that is, taking photos of employees’ daily work, expressing the concept of giving full play to their own value and providing services even if they are physically and mentally inconvenient, and asking the public to be considerate and tolerant;
• Combining posts with employee characteristics and products, that is, taking employees as an example, combining original products or items donated by the public for publicity;
• Activity lecturer introduction post, that is, become the activity lecturer of the long-term care activity of the week in order to attract the public to sign up for the event. In addition, allow the public to judge whether the professional field meets the needs of the elderly by explaining the lecturer’s experience and expertise;
• Featured donation stories: when people donate materials, you can ask if the items have a featured story, which can be used as an inspiration source for articles to promote second-hand stores;
• The remarks column at the bottom of the post provides corresponding remarks according to the different attributes of the post, such as second-hand stations, furniture stations, special information, etc.

4. Service Effectiveness and Results

4.1. Internal Personnel Education and Training

The volunteer team has prepared internal staff checkout rules and made a manual for employees in related positions to read. It also provides manual templates for service units, as shown in Figure 1, for the Carpenter’s Home management staff to make relevant service precautions and to remind the staff to carry the manual and reference it.

4.2. Process Improvement

The Carpenter’s Home staff are provided with confirmation that the checkout process is being followed by assisting with the checkout process. In reverse, the current progress of the checkout process and their own related rights and interests are made clear to the guests who want to checkout. It is also convenient for customers to be reminded that the checkout staff may be physically and mentally less convenient. The checkout process poster is shown in Figure 2.

4.3. Optimize and Beautify the Store

As shown in the previous photos, the Carpenter’s store previously posted a lot of announcement information and reminders, which caused confusion and a lack of uniformity, which easily gave an impression of chaos in the store. Therefore, the volunteer team compiled the announcement information and made a poster. Activity announcement templates of various sizes are provided for service units to use. The following are pictures of the information collection posters and pictures of the activity announcement templates produced by the volunteer team.

A collection of information posted at the door, including the location of donations and business hours, is shown in Figure 3.

A summary of the announcement information posted in the bathroom is shown in Figure 4 and the reminder of precautions for COVID-19 prevention posted in the bathroom is shown in Figure 5.

There is one template for marketing activities and announcements, as shown in Figure 6.

To design a punch-in wall, the space outside the Carpenter’s second-hand shop and coffee shop was used, and its original picture resources provide a personal message board on a blackboard to attract customers, as shown in Figure 7.

4.4. Recommendations for Promotion Agencies and Social Media Posts

Provide inspiration for service organization posts, as shown in Figure 8.

4.5. Students’ Reflection on Service-Learning

Students’ reflective journals provided an insightful way to see the positive impacts of service-learning on the students’ senses of self, as follows.

Student A wrote, “I am much honored to have the opportunity to participate in the volunteer service activities at the Carpenter’s Home. This is the first time to provide “non-pure labor” volunteer services. Combining the human resources management knowledge I have acquired so far, I can provide solutions for service organizations and observing its operation and giving relevant planning advice is a very special service experience for me.

This time, the Carpenter’s Home volunteer service project includes some areas that I am more familiar with and have never been exposed to. Regarding the employee education and training part, since more than half of the Carpenter’s Home employees are physically and mentally handicapped, it is different from the previous employee education and training in the company. Compared with the previous experience, it is relatively different and special. It is difficult to use the previous experience to think about the education and training methods. Due to the special nature of the staff, it is also necessary to conduct research and discussion with other students who have not participated in the volunteer service activities. It is a rare experience for us in resource management! In addition, I also started the design of poster posting information collection and announcement template, which is also a novel and unforgettable attempt for myself, who has never designed posters and announcements before. From several actual visits, it can be found that the Carpenter’s employees still try their best to give full play to their value even if they are inconvenient physically and mentally. Such spirit and efforts are both touching and impressive. I hope that if you encounter any setbacks in the future when things happen, I can remember the optimism of the supervisor and the appearance of the employees trying to overcome their physical and mental inconvenience, which becomes the driving force for me to work hard to overcome setbacks and difficulties.”

Student B wrote, “In the Carpenter’s second-hand store, we choose the actual customer service for the first time, and experience the entire checkout process to find out the deficiencies in the service and the areas that can be improved. The second-hand shop of the Carpenter’s Home is actually very easy to browse, and the items in it are varied and even new. It’s a pity that the display of items and the paper announcements in the store make the overall feeling of the store a little chaotic.

After communicating with the volunteer supervisors, we proposed some education improvement plans for the store staff. Although we are limited in what we can do because we cannot actually participate in their employee education and training courses. But I am very happy to be able to apply what I have learned and do my best. In arranging theCarpenter’s second-hand shop, we also helped organize those messy posters, plus some obvious signs and indicators. We were also very satisfied to hear the volunteer supervisors praise the posters for their well-done work.

In this service-learning activity, we had relatively few contacts. Most of them are to assist and improve some problems within the organization. In the process of service-learning, we deeply realized that Carpenter’s Home attaches great importance to and takes care of employees with disabilities. I’m glad to be able to do my little for them and hope to help them improve their problems.”

Student C wrote, “From the beginning of the contact with the Carpenter’s Home volunteer supervisor to the on-site visit, it can be clearly seen how much the supervisor loves the Carpenter’s Home. He can hardly leave this unit without a word, which makes me want to help as much as possible. The demand presented by this unit. The staff structure in its organization is different from that of most companies. The proportion of members with physical and mental disabilities is as high as 60%. When it is necessary to implement improvements, there are many difficulties.

The needs put forward by the Carpenter’s Home are roughly divided into three parts: “education and training”, “environmental planning”, and “process improvement”. As mentioned above, as many as 60% of our colleagues are physically and mentally handicapped, so the education and training adopted is also different from that of general companies. The strategies implemented are repeated weekly reminders and exhortations, which are slowly engraved on daily actions. In terms of environmental planning, too much information is scattered in different places, and the announcement information in the original second-hand store is too disorganized, so that the customer’s consumption experience is not a good experience, so a plan to design a notice board is adopted. Unify and improve the state where the amount of information is too cluttered; finally, in the part of process improvement, the reason is that the checkout staff are employees with disabilities, so the speed of checkout is relatively slow, and this part is compared to assist in sorting out the SOP in terms of overall assistance. In order to let employees comply, or let customers know which part of the checkout process is currently in.

Overall, it was truly an unprecedented service-learning experience. This kind of labor project that is biased towards mental work, mental assistance has never been experienced. However, our team provides improvement items or suggestions as much as possible, hoping to help improve some items, or leave some seeds so that the unit can think about the next items. Finally, thanks again to the Carpenter’s Home for giving our team this opportunity, allowing us to use our professional knowledge when serving, giving our team a different service process from the past.”

Student D wrote, “Just communicated with the leader and decided to go to the Carpenter’s Home, the leader hoped that we could provide brainpower to provide the Carpenter’s Home with some ideas to improve their current environment and give their employees some new perspectives on customer service. After the actual participation, I also absorbed and observed a lot of information. The Carpenter’s Home has a very warm atmosphere. During the service-learning period, whenever I see guests or some senior members of the community only here, my face is always full of smiles, as if to say thank you. The Carpenter’s Home is a home for people who have lost their way, and the staff inside are also very warm to welcome everyone.

In this service-learning activity, I learned the skills of teamwork and activity planning. I also understand that it is not easy for many people with disabilities. For example, sometimes they may just be slow, not polite. All they need is the understanding and patience of the people around them, including customers, as long as they believe they can do it. On the other hand, the Carpenter’s Home upholds the spirit of recycling and reusing second-hand items, which made me realize that there are many things, we only see the bright side of him, and we don’t care about the other side of him. Maybe there are many things in this world that lose their value if they are not damaged. As long as we are willing to spend a little ingenuity and care, we can even make those things better and make people like and accept them again.

I am honored to have this opportunity to do service-learning at the Carpenter’s Home. Although this is my first experience of volunteering, it is really worthwhile for me. It turns out that helping others will also make me happy.”

4.6. Feedback from Service Objects

She wrote, “Service-learning, taken literally—Learning from service. There are many ways of service-learning. From the standpoint of a win-win situation for schools, students, and units, the school encourages students to serve learning, and students provide their strengths to solve the needs of the unit. This should be good service-learning. Thank you to the Youth Volunteer Team for clearly explaining the background and expertise when submitting the service application, so that the service content direction can be quickly focused, providing suggestions and implementing them. Personally, I think this is a great cooperation. I would like to thank you for being organized, polite, smiling, humble, generous and enthusiastic. Although it is my personal feeling, I hope you will continue to maintain such an attitude. Thank you again students, and wish you a bright future in your life.”

5. Service-Learning Satisfaction Survey

5.1. Motivation and Purposes

If we want to change the current situation, we need to start with the satisfaction of college students participating in service-learning. Only by understanding the satisfaction situation can we know whether college students are willing to continue to participate in service-learning. Therefore, the researchers hope to use this study to understand the participation satisfaction of college students in service-learning and provide relevant units as a basis to change the current situation of college students’ indifference to service-learning.

In view of the above, the purpose of this study is as follows:

• To investigate the satisfaction of college students’ participation in service-learning;
• To explore whether college students’ satisfaction with participating in service-learning is different because of gender and identity.

According to the purpose of this research, the research questions are as follows:

• What is the satisfaction level of college students participating in service-learning?
• What is the satisfaction level of college students of different genders participating in service-learning?
• What is the satisfaction level of college students with different identities participating in service-learning?

5.2. Research Architecture Design

The purpose of this study is to explore the satisfaction of college students’ participation in service-learning. The independent variable is gender and identity, and the dependent variable is service-learning satisfaction. The research structure of this study is shown in

Table 1. Research Structure Table.

Independent Variable	Dependent Variable
Gender	Service-learning satisfaction
Identity	Self-knowledge
	Social care
	Interpersonal interaction
	Problem solving
	Course recognition

below.

5.3. Research Objects

Students who are studying management courses at a university in the northern part of this study are currently engaged in service-learning activities as the main targets of this study.

5.4. Research Tool

This study refers to the “College Student Service-learning Course Learning Satisfaction Questionnaire” (Appendix A) as a research tool [32]. The questionnaire design includes personal basic information (gender, identity) and participation in service-learning satisfaction (23 questions). As mentioned above, this study divides the scale into five levels, including problem solving (understanding social problems and being able to solve problems, demonstrating analytical and critical thinking skills, and self-reflection ability), self-understanding (self-improvement, self-confidence, self-affirmation, etc.), interpersonal interaction (learning to understand, cooperation, communication, respect, listening, interaction, etc.), social care (knowing how to help others, contribute to society, encourage others to participate in services, etc.), and curriculum recognition (promoting employment opportunities, meeting expectations, recommending to others, exchanging ideas, integrating into life, etc.). The scale is based on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from very satisfied to very dissatisfied, and the higher the score, the higher the satisfaction [33].

5.5. Reliability Analysis

In the Service-learning Satisfaction Scale, the reliability analysis is based on five aspects of interpersonal interaction, self-actualization, social care, problem solving, and curriculum recognition, as shown in

Table 2. Reliability analysis.

Facets	Question	Reliability
Self-knowledge	1. To learn the skills of dealing with people?	0.776
	2. Gaining a sense of achievement?
	3. Improve self-confidence?
	4. Can you use your expertise?
	5. How about your own service-learning performance?
Social care	6. How to help others in learning?	0.896
	7. Contribute to helping others or society?
	8. For participation in local or community affairs?
	9. For cultivating my civic responsibility (such as caring about society)?
	10. For encouraging others to participate in social service?
Interpersonal interaction	11. To develop my listening skills?	0.866
	12. To improve the ability to communicate and express with others?
	13. To enhance the ability to cooperate with others?
	14. Ability to learn to respect others?
	15. To enhance interaction with people from different backgrounds (community or organization members)?
Problem solving	16. To have the opportunity to understand the complex issues facing society?	0.855
	17. Confidence in handling emergencies?
	18. To increase the ability to analyze problems?
	19. Have the ability to solve difficult problems for yourself?
	20. For self-reflection through review?
Course recognition	21. Recommend this course to others?	0.863
	22. Will this course help increase employment opportunities?
	23. Can this course meet my expectations?

. The credibility of each sub-level of the scale is above 0.776, and the overall reliability is 0.952, which shows that the internal consistency of this scale is quite high and has a high degree of reliability.

5.6. Research Results

5.6.1. Sample Structure Analysis

A total of 53 questionnaires were recovered, 1 of which had incomplete answers, so 52 were valid questionnaires, accounting for 98% of the total sample. The characteristics of the sample in this study are as follows: gender: 23 males (44%) and 29 females (56%); identity: 10 group leaders (24%) and 42 group members (76%).

5.6.2. Service-Learning Satisfaction Analysis

The satisfaction of service-learning is shown in

Table 3. Average Value of Service-Learning Satisfaction.

	Average
Self-knowledge	3.465
Social care	3.715
Interpersonal interaction	3.654
Problem solving	3.585
Course recognition	3.410
Satisfaction	3.579

, indicating the satisfaction of college students’ participation, and the overall average is in the upper middle. The satisfaction surface is sorted from highest to lowest in the following order: social care, interpersonal interaction, problem solving, self-understanding, and curriculum recognition.

5.6.3. Gender Analysis

The analysis of the results is shown in

Table 4. Analysis of Different Genders’ Satisfaction with Service-learning.

Facets	Gender	Number	Average	Standard Deviation	t-Value	p-Value
Self-knowledge	man	23	3.417	0.078	−0.567	0.589
	woman	29	3.503	0.037
Social care	man	23	3.643	0.001	−2.475	0.056
	woman	29	3.772	0.012
Interpersonal interaction	man	23	3.522	0.050	−1.755	0.117
	woman	29	3.759	0.041
Problem solving	man	23	3.539	0.019	−0.801	0.449
	woman	29	3.621	0.033
Course recognition	man	23	3.377	0.050	−0.347	0.746
	woman	29	3.437	0.040
Satisfaction	man	23	3.510	0.040	−2.057	0.046
	woman	29	3.634	0.043

. In order to test whether there are differences in the satisfaction of college students of different genders participating in service-learning, the null hypothesis has an equal sign (equal), and the opposite hypothesis does not have an equal sign (not equal). The two-tailed p-value of the two-tailed test for each dimension was greater than α = 0.05, and no significant difference was judged (H0 was accepted).

However, overall satisfaction, with a two-tailed p-value = 0.045 < α = 0.05, was judged to be significantly different (reject H0). Looking at the average, the service-learning satisfaction of both men and women is in the upper-middle level, and women’s satisfaction with service-learning is significantly higher than men’s.

From the results, it is found that men’s rankings in each dimension of satisfaction are social care, problem solving, interpersonal interaction, self-understanding, and curriculum identification, while women’s rankings are social care, interpersonal interaction, problem solving, self-understanding, and curriculum identification. Therefore, there is a difference in the ranking of males and females in the dimension satisfaction. Men’s problem solving is higher than interpersonal interaction, while women’s interpersonal interaction is higher than problem solving.

5.6.4. Identity Analysis

The analysis of the results is shown in

Table 5. Analysis of Satisfaction with Service-learning by Different Identities.

Facets	Identity	Number	Average	Standard Deviation	t-Value	p-Value
Self-knowledge	leader	23	3.417	0.078	−0.567	0.589
	member	29	3.503	0.037
Social care	leader	23	3.643	0.001	−2.475	0.056
	member	29	3.772	0.012
Interpersonal interaction	leader	23	3.522	0.050	−1.755	0.117
	member	29	3.759	0.041
Problem solving	leader	23	3.539	0.019	−0.801	0.449
	member	29	3.621	0.033
Course recognition	leader	23	3.377	0.050	−0.347	0.746
	member	29	3.437	0.040
Satisfaction	leader	23	3.510	0.040	−2.057	0.046
	member	29	3.634	0.043

. In order to test whether there are differences in the satisfaction of college students with different identities participating in service-learning, the null hypothesis has an equal sign (equal), and the opposite hypothesis has no equal sign (not equal). The overall satisfaction, self-understanding, interpersonal interaction, and respective two-tailed p-value were 0.000, 0.000, and 0.018, respectively (<α = 0.05), which were judged to be significantly different (reject H0). In terms of the average, the satisfaction of the group leader is very high, and the satisfaction of the group members is medium to high.

In addition, the two-tailed p-values of the other three dimensions, namely, social care, problem solving, and curriculum identification, are all greater than α = 0.05, indicating that there is no significant difference (accept H0). Among them, in terms of social care and problem solving, the satisfaction of the group leader is very high, and the satisfaction of the group member is medium to high. In curriculum recognition, no matter what the status is, there is only middle and upper satisfaction.

We found that the ranking of the satisfaction aspects of the group leader is social care, interpersonal interaction, problem solving, self-understanding, and curriculum identification, while the results of the group members are social care, interpersonal interaction, self-understanding, and problems, in that order. There is a difference in the ranking of identity in the dimension satisfaction, the problem solving of the team leader is higher than the self-understanding, and the self-understanding of the team members is higher than the problem solving.

6. Discussion

In conclusion, the growth in self-reflection in core workplace competencies provides qualitative evidence. In addition, real-world problems are more complex than classroom simulations and may require knowledge and skills beyond what is taught in the classroom, thus developing students’ problem-solving skills. This service-learning activity offered real-world scenarios and authentic experience, giving younger students an opportunity to engage in social issues while students can gain from enhancing their academic and professional study. Via social engagement, young students engage with disadvantaged disabilities, learn about the lives and diversity of disadvantaged groups, and care for disadvantaged groups. In the service-learning course, participating students served a non-profit organization for disabilities, we gain valuable real-world experience and learn to respect vulnerable groups [34]. All in all, the combination of service-learning and professional skills development courses not only provides knowledge dissemination and training skills but also develops better learning attitudes and develops problem-solving strategies in complex real-world scenarios. In addition to personal growth in core work competencies, it also offers sustainability results by service-learning to charity thrift stores. This study is a reference for business schools that would incorporate service-learning into their curricula design [35].

According to the analysis of the results in Chapter 5, they are listed as follows:

• The most satisfied dimension with the service-learning satisfaction of college students is social care (knowing how to help others, contributing to the society, encouraging others to participate in service, etc.; expectations, recommending to others, exchanging ideas, and integrating into life, etc.). The overall scale analysis shows that the service-learning satisfaction scale is in the upper middle.
• There is a significant correlation between the service-learning satisfaction of college students and gender.
• There is a significant correlation between college students’ service-learning satisfaction and identity.

In the part of service-learning satisfaction, the results of this study found that the most satisfied with college students’ participation in service-learning is “social care”; other dimensions vary slightly due to gender and identity. In terms of gender, problem-solving is higher than interpersonal interaction for boys, while interpersonal interaction is higher than problem-solving for girls. In terms of identity, the team leader’s problem-solving is higher than self-understanding, and the team members’ self-understanding is higher than problem-solving. Overall, regardless of gender and identity, subjects’ satisfaction with service-learning was relatively high.

7. Conclusions

7.1. Contributions

Overall, our study makes many significant contributions to Sustainability. First, our study describes a case study of a charity thrift store as a reference for business schools that would incorporate service-learning into their curricula design. The study describes a social experiment involving the implementation of the Service-Learning Management Course. The method we used is also applicable in some similar courses because of its significant effect on long-term participant tracking. We used qualitative research methods for the proposed method, which can be defined as an education research method that focuses on obtaining data through open-ended and conversational communication. In the “Service-learning for Management Course”, we mentioned that this approach lies in the fact that it can integrate learning and socializing to serve the purpose of promoting the civic and social development of college students. Second, in order to improve the effectiveness of the experiment, we add a questionnaire study to refine the evaluation section. We have added a quantitative experimental study in Chapter 5 to design a research architecture, develop hypotheses, and perform a reliability analysis. Third, for more scientific and rigorous research, the study not only uses qualitative research but also takes a quantitative questionnaire study in order to assess the effectiveness of the experiment. The study emphasizes the research design and hypotheses development to verify the significant effects on other more widely business courses in near future works.

7.2. Service Review and Future Planning Suggestions

The items of this youth volunteer service review are as follows:

• The service time is limited, and it is difficult to fully observe students; that is, the service hours of the youth team are all on Thursday mornings, and the employees who come into contact with the Carpenter’s Home are relatively repetitive, so it is difficult to comprehensively observe the characteristics of all employees who need to be educated and trained. Employees with disabilities have their own particularities, but these are difficult to observe comprehensively due to the limited service time. It is a pity to think about the education and training mode for employees with different conditions;
• The benefit observation time is too short; that is, since this service is mainly based on operational improvement plans, it is difficult for most projects to produce significant benefits in a short period of time, so it is difficult to implement and communicate with each other the revision of relevant strategies and suggestions within a semester.

The two future planning suggestions for the Carpenter’s Home are as follows:

• The first corner of the book is children’s reading time. The proposed implementation method is to hold a guided reading time for children. Parents are invited to have fun with their children. Parents can also shop in the second-hand stores during this time.
• The second point is that too much clothing inventory causes labor and storage costs. It is recommended that disadvantaged groups can directly take the items they need and provide them to those who really need assistance while reducing the burden of inventory space.

Students are the main body of service-learning because management courses are taken during the freshman year. The results found that the most dissatisfaction was course identification (improving employment opportunities, meeting expectations, recommending to others, exchanging ideas and integrating into life, etc.). Judging from the currently promoted service-learning course plan, this is a compulsory course, and the practice is mandatory participation. Other plans can be conceived, such as studying the satisfaction of service-learning in senior courses or elective courses. In the future, students are still encouraged to take a proactive and positive attitude to engage in service-learning course activities, improve their learning effectiveness, and develop their sense of responsibility. At the same time, students participating in service-learning should prepare themselves psychologically and adjust their emotions.

Future research could explore the impact of service-learning experiences on newcomers in the workplace. That said, it would also be useful to perform longitudinal monitoring of the service students to detect the possible effect of service-learning experiences in their future professional lives [36].