Developing marketing curriculum to make students workforce ready

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how to overcome the dilemma of the lack of student workforce readiness upon graduation. Based on experiential learning theory, the authors propose an innovative three-step approach to marketing curriculum to help address this dilemma.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines both quantitative and qualitative data. First, quantitative results were obtained from 5,222 end-of-course surveys of students taking an experiential learning course at a southeastern United States public university. Results were also obtained from 111 end-of-course surveys of students taking experiential learning courses in marketing. Second, qualitative results were obtained through a critical review of self-reflection assignments from over 1,000 students taking a variety of experiential learning marketing courses.FindingsThe authors identify a three-step process that can be used to develop curriculum that will better prepare students for entering the workforce. The advantages and disadvantages associated with this type of curriculum are also discussed. The outcomes indicate that an entire curriculum focused on experiential learning, self-reflection and ePortfolios will allow students to not only be better prepared for the workforce but also will help them be better communicators on what they have learned.Originality/valueIn this paper, the authors contribute to the literature by providing a curriculum-based approach to learning in order to minimize the gap between academic knowledge and workforce preparedness. Sample course projects, reflective prompts and grading rubrics are provided to aid others in the implementation of this type of curriculum.

Perezhivanie, Art, and Creative Traversal: A Method of Marking and Moving Through COVID and Grief

As the COVID 19 pandemic spread globally, the experiences of loss were compounded by personal loss. Through this time of collective and individual grieving I set out to “traverse” the experience and figure my “perezhivanie” or lived emotional experience, through the materiality of mark making and entanglements with people, place, and art making. Art making framed by the “massive and microscopic” reflective prompts provided the opportunity for interventions into the medicalized and clinical world of hospitals and COVID 19, enacting beauty within a time of global, local, and personal grieving.

Components of Reflection: A Longitudinal Analysis of Study Abroad Student Blog Posts

Reflection supports actively transforming perspectives regarding study abroad experiences. The current study examines the "how" of reflection. Content of reflections is dictated by questions posed. The process of reflection is less prescribed yet revealing of paths to student understanding. Students posted to a web log (blog) over six time periods during their study abroad sojourn. Five reflection components were identified and tracked via cognitively complex processes and emotional aspects of their writings as analyzed by linguistic inquiry computer software. Changes in language usage revealed patterns of how students reflected. A precipitous drop in identifying distinctions between self and the host culture during immersion seemed to indicate an intense struggle attempting to make meaning of their experience. Also, findings highlighted markedly conflicted feelings both at pre-departure and upon reentry. Linguistic analysis proved promising for both assessment and design of reflective prompts.

Learning Partnership: Students and Faculty Learning Together to Facilitate Reflection and Higher Order Thinking in a Blended Course

This article discusses a learning partnership among faculty and students to influence reflective practice in a blended course. Faculty redesigned a traditional face-to-face (FTF) introductory physician assistant course into a blended course to promote increased reflection and higher order thinking. Early student reflective writing suggested a need for learner familiarization with levels of learning, types of reflection, and levels of reflective practice and for revision of writing prompts to encourage greater depth and breadth of reflection. This article presents results from an analysis of students’ writings prior to and after the learning intervention and revision of writing prompts. Writings from Week 1 and Week 8 of the course were analyzed for level of reflective practice, depth and breadth of reflection, and depth of higher order thinking. Results indicate an increase in level, depth, and breadth of reflection post-intervention. Results also indicate an increase in occurrences in higher order thinking post-intervention. Findings suggest that purposive course design, combined with instruction on reflection and appropriate reflective prompts, can influence breadth and depth of reflection and higher order thinking in a blended course.

The Financial Statement Interview: Intentional Learning in the First Accounting Course

ABSTRACT The first accounting course should do more than equip students with technical knowledge and skills. It should also engender respect for the accounting profession and help students explore accounting-related careers. Above all, it should help students develop intentional learning skills and become life-long learners. To help students achieve these goals, we developed an exercise that incorporates the five-part intentional learning model created by Francis et al. (1995). Students identify a professional to interview about the uses and limitations of financial statements, conduct the interview, and then reflect on the experience using an instrument with reflective prompts. In this paper we discuss our motivation for the exercise, review the literature that guided our use of the exercise, and use qualitative research techniques to assess its effectiveness for achieving objectives of the first course. We conclude that the exercise is highly effective in helping students achieve intentional learning in the first accounting course and in promoting respect for the profession. It is effective in helping students identify accounting-related careers, but less effective in prompting them to consider the suitability of such careers for themselves. We provide recommendations to improve the exercise and address potential concerns that instructors may face as they implement this effective learning strategy.

Supporting Experts’ Written Knowledge Communication Through Reflective Prompts on the Use of Specialist Concepts

Communicating expert knowledge to a lay addressee in writing is a demanding task that requires a great deal of mental effort. This article reports on a study in which experts were prompted to reflect either on a text they had produced (content focus condition) or on its comprehensibility to a layperson (recipient focus condition). A software tool highlighted the specialist terms or concepts used by the expert writers and guided the reflection process. Subsequent to this reflection phase, writers had the opportunity to revise their texts. Experts in the recipient focus condition significantly expanded their texts and made more meaningful revisions. For example, they were more likely than experts in the content focus condition to explain central concepts in their revision. Results are discussed from the perspective of writing theories and in terms of their practical implications for written knowledge communication.