Contact: Dr. Betsy Holloway, Assistant Professor of Marketing, 205-726-4109, bbhollow@samford.edu

Innovation in "Intro to Business" course

Teaching in universities is slowly but irrevocably shifting from passive approaches to learning to active and experiential learning.

The Samford University School of Business strives to remain at the forefront of innovative business learning. One example includes the school's multi-disciplinary introduction to business course, which has been developed around a computer simulation and involves the application of business concepts in the context of managing a $40 million electronic sensor company.

The course is taught in the first year of the business school's four year undergraduate program. Predominant goals of the course are for students to develop an awareness of the interrelationships among the various disciplines affecting business operations, effective team work, the co-dependency of one function upon another, and the broad scope and objectives of business viability.

"In this situation, technology does not reinforce passive learning, but rather facilitates active learning," explains Dr. Betsy Holloway, assistant professor of marketing in the Samford School of Business. "The advantages of this pedagogical approach serve to enrich student knowledge by providing an integrative format for active learning in a group setting," adds Holloway.

Three Samford Business faculty have assessed the course and recently presented their findings at the 2006 Academic Business World Congress. Their research will be published in a forthcoming edition of The Journal of Learning in Higher Education. The study addresses both the benefits and the unique challenges associated with this approach to business education, as well as the specific course objectives, activities, and means of student assessment.

"We hope that our experience may encourage others to consider integrating similar pedagogical techniques into their business curricula," notes Holloway.

Joining Holloway in the study are Samford's director of undergraduate studies and assistant professor of management, Barbara Cartledge, and director of the Center for Teaching, Learning, & Scholarship, Mary Sue Baldwin.