SALES LABORATORY CONCEPT FOR PROBLEM SOLVING BASED LEARNING: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BALTIC COUNTRIES

Daina Znotiņa,Maris Igavens

doi:10.17770/lner2019vol1.11.4318

Abstract

Very often youth faces many difficulties when trying to enter the labour market. It is because of lack of experience, insufficient vocational education, inadequacy between professional education and requirements for specialists in the job market. It is necessary that students get competencies and skills needed for the labour market and increase their employment possibilities. Rezekne Academy of Technologies implemented a project, where one of the objectives was integration of problem-based learning (PBL) into study processes. The aim of the research study is to investigate problem-based learning experiences among students and lecturers. Research methods – the monographic method, the analysis and survey methods. Problem-based learning is much more exciting for students and faculty than traditional learning, but it is also more time consuming and expertise intensive.

Highlights

There is still a trend in Latvia where inhabitants tend to move from less developed areas to more developed ones, including to foreign countries, reducing the development opportunities of the least developed areas even more, the state loses both human capital and tax revenue
As this method has been used in the study process for several years by Siauliai University, the lecturers of Rezekne Academy of Technologies and Northern Lithuania College were successors and took part in trainings led by the Lithuanian representatives
Studies in higher education institutions are oriented towards a theoretical background and lack practical skills development, and there is still low integration and collaboration between the business and education sectors

Summary

Introduction

There is still a trend in Latvia where inhabitants tend to move from less developed areas to more developed ones, including to foreign countries, reducing the development opportunities of the least developed areas even more, the state loses both human capital and tax revenue. Rezekne Academy of Technologies in cooperation with Northern Lithuania College (Šiauliai) implemented an INTERREG Latvia - Lithuania project ''SalesLabs for employability competencies development'', which included the integration of problembased learning into study courses. The existing PBL teaching method focusing on hands-on sessions was enhanced with real-world situations from regional businesses by making their new products or services more available to the market (The Concept of SalesLabs..., 2017) As this method has been used in the study process for several years by Siauliai University, the lecturers of Rezekne Academy of Technologies and Northern Lithuania College were successors and took part in trainings led by the Lithuanian representatives. At the end of the training, the curricula of the courses mentioned above were modified, and the training of students was started by integrating problem-based learning into the study processes in both higher education institutions. The added value of topicality of the interdisciplinary approach offered abilities to perceive thoughts, things, phenomena which may look completely different and unite them into common, new forms, according to the co-authors of other work (Strods, et al, 2019)

Analysis of survey results

Average rating

Conclusions and suggestions