ISEDJ

Abstract: Service learning projects serve as a valuable tool for applying course concepts in a way to bene-fit both the students and community. However, they often require a significant amount of addi-tional effort beyond that required of assigning conventional homework problems. When the projects take place in an online course setting, the level of complexity subsequently increases. Valuing the overall contribution of such projects, in light of their additional instructor and course costs, can be difficult. Such valuations are further complicated with the measures being sub-jective. In 1992, Drs. Robert Kaplan and David Norton published an article in Harvard Business Review detailing a model for measuring the effect of multiple perspectives, both financial and subjec-tive, on business performance (Kaplan & Norton, 1992). The Balanced Scorecard approach pro-vides both an internal (process based) and external (outcomes based) standpoint to evaluating an organization utilizing four perspectives: (1) Learning and Growth, (2) Business Process, (3) Customer and (4) Financial (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). With its thorough approach to evaluating objective and subjective measures of business performance, the model serves as a potential framework for use in the educational setting. In this article, the author developed and applied a modified version of Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard model to evaluate the value gener-ated by a service learning project in an online course.

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard, Management Information Systems Course, online learning, Service Learning Projects

Download this article: ISEDJ - V13 N5 Page 4.pdf

Recommended Citation: Schwieger, D. (2015). Using a Balance Scorecard Approach to Evaluate the Value of Service Learning Projects in Online Courses . Information Systems Education Journal, 13(5) pp 4-11. http://isedj.org/2015-13/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2014)