Experiential Learning: Improving The Efficacy Of An Undergraduate Business Degree

Abstract

This article deals with a subject that is extremely important to the success of future graduates of any college or University – specifically Critical Thinking and Decision Making. Our article explains the research results and observations of critical thinking research conducted at two different colleges in the fall semester of 2011. The research prompts were used at two different colleges (Wagner College and Monmouth University) with different student profiles during the same semester. The purpose of the research was to test how critical thinking skills were affected by two different experiential programs and how “Ex-Ed” is a critical part of a student’s total education.

Experimental Education (Ex-Ed) is a very hot topic among academics these days and our research at Wagner College involved testing the improvement in critical thinking skills in a “marketing incubator” system during a Consumer Behavior class with 34 registered students in the fall semester in 2011. In this case, some of the students participated in the marketing incubator (18), while some did not (16), essentially providing a control groups for comparison. At Monmouth University, the research was testing the improvement in critical thinking skills in two entrepreneurial studies classes with a total of 67 students. Qualitative observations are included as the research is conducted, and suggestions for future related research are proposed. Our feeling is that to form a definitive conclusion, the subsequent research needs to be done in the area of both decision making and the creation of a value proposition.