Putting Business Students in the Shoes of an Executive: An Applied Learning Approach to Developing Decision Making Skills

Abstract

Students often struggle with how to translate textbook concepts into real-world applications that allow them to personally experience the importance of these concepts. This is an ongoing challenge within all disciplines in higher education. To address this, faculty design their courses using methods beyond traditional classroom lectures to facilitate and reinforce student learning. The authors believe that students who are given hands-on problem-solving opportunities are more likely to retain such knowledge and apply it outside the classroom, in the workplace, volunteer activities, and other personal pursuits. In an attempt to engage students and provide them with meaningful opportunities to apply course concepts, the authors have initiated a number of experiential learning methods in the classroom. Since fall of 2008, elements of problem-based learning were integrated in the authors’ business courses. Specifically, real-world consulting projects were introduced into their classrooms. This paper focuses on the authors’ experiences implementing problem-based learning processes and practical project assignments that actively engage students in the learning process. The experiences and the feedback gathered from students and executives who participated in the “realworld” project are reported in this paper. Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) is based on the work of Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget (Kolb, 1984). This approach is an established, integrative, holistic learning process that combines experience, perception, cognition, and behavioral learning approaches that optimize student learning and retention. Kolb and Kolb (2005) define experiential learning as a process that relies primarily on creating an environment in which students have direct experiences using concepts and theories presented in class. The goals of adopting experiential learning in the classroom include engaging students at a higher level of cognitive complexity, involving students in an active learning environment, demonstrating the application of theories in real-world situations, and developing students’ ability to make business decisions that are based on analytical approaches. Experiential learning has become a significant educational pedagogy that has influenced the teaching and learning process for faculty and instructors at many educational institutions and in and across disciplines (Daly, 2001). Common forms of experiential learning include case studies, computer simulations, service learning projects, travel study courses, internships, and real-life consulting projects. Instructors who wish to pursue experiential learning pedagogies can avail themselves of a wide range of teaching methods and approaches. Each method has distinct advantages and disadvantages. These approaches can be ranked on a continuum representing increasing levels of cognitive complexity and linkages to real-world outcomes and processes. Table 1 below summarizes various experiential