Objective:
- To use ‘field trips’ as a cost effective method of engaging with the industry or external businesses and enabling collective learning.
- To enable the learner to engage with the subject content from a ‘practitioners’ point of view.
- To prepare the learner in terms of communication, enquiry and initiative.
Overview:
The focus within this task is to help students to engage with an environment i.e. external to the University and develop inquisitive and presentation skills. Remember, “When questioning stops, progress of knowledge ceases”, the task intends to help students develop the ability to ask the right questions and develop curiosity by helping them learn through a ‘sense of discovery’. The satisfaction of discovering information independently is a effective learning tool. The task asserts that one of the key ways for a student to understand the external is to engage with people who present themselves by the method of an informal or semi-structured interview and use the findings to analyse and reflect on the ‘content’ i.e. available to them through the module at University.
Activity:
Stage 1) Fix an appointment with an external of your choice.
Stage 2) Record a video interview. Do not have a question oriented approach, this will curb the inquiry process. Ask the Entrepreneur instead to ‘tell a story’ which may include the following aspects:
a) How they got here?
b) Who helped them ?
c) What were the challenges they encountered in the process?
Stage 3) Reflect on the narrative and then relate the findings with the content of a subject you study (for example Business Planning etc.).
Stage 4) Prepare a presentation of your reflection emerging out of stage 3.
Stage 5) Play the recorded interview in the classroom for all your peers to see and hear.
Stage 6) Now present your reflection as per your understanding and allow the students to ask questions and encourage them to share their reflection.
Skill Development:
The task will allow the student to develop an inquisitive mind-set, it’s a practice of asking the right questions in order to uncover the right answers. It will also help increase the confidence of the student to communicate with Entrepreneurs and develop their network with key people in the industry. The best ways for students to learn is to have a triangular approach which involves learning (at University), researching/doing (with the interview) and reflecting (by yourself) and along with your peers.
This approach also helps students to engage with interesting businesses and Entrepreneurs who share their Effectual/Informal knowledge of Enterprise and Business. This knowledge in unique and helpful in its own right as not everything written in text books applies in the real world. This is a chance for students to experience how things ‘really happen out there’.
The students tend to learn through a variety of different business case studies and experience the knowledge of diverse entrepreneurs.
The task enables student learning through doing and reflecting. The element of discovering the facts themselves is a very effective learning tool. The students feel in charge of the task, right from choosing the external to setting the questions and presenting their reflection/findings.