Introduction
This paper examines the application of experiential learning techniques to an undergraduate Export/Import course during the 2021 Fall Semester at Southern New Hampshire University. Titled “How to Get Started Building an Import/Export Business,” the course was designed to offer students real-world insights into the complexities of building an import/export business, including economics and politics, planning and negotiation, foreign currency transactions, shipping and insurance, documentation, and the intricacies of exporting from and importing to the United States.
Literature Review
Experiential learning, as described by psychologist David Kolb (2017), is learning by experience. Influenced by the work of other theorists including John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget, Kolb developed an influential theory about experiential learning. Differing from cognitive and behavioral theories, experiential learning uses real life experience to construct knowledge and meaning within a student’s field of interest (Cherry, 2020; Illeris, 2007). This technique allows students to interact with the subject they are learning and builds their knowledge by having multiple experiences. Once new knowledge is gained, students can apply previous experiences to further understand the learning subject (Yardley et al., 2012). Along with adaptability and togetherness, experiential learning creates an opportunity to set professional practices and boost self-confidence and leadership skills (Dean et al., 2020).
In an Australian research project conducted in 2016 by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, it was shown that students were also able to recognize the importance of lifelong learning by being able to critically reflect on their experiences. By having direct learning, they were able to better understand their subject. Students were also able to build on their communication, teamwork, time management, and critical thinking skills (Slade et al., 2016). Killorin (2021) noted that US university instructors across every discipline employ experiential learning techniques and encourage or require students to participate in internships. Regarding business majors, corporate partnerships, business plan competitions, and new venture incubators are just a few experiential learning opportunities available at US universities. Employers wanted to see candidates with resumes that demonstrated their leadership, communication, project management, and teamwork skills — all of which benefit from participatory activities both in and out of the classroom.
Research previously indicated that there are benefits and challenges to experiential learning. Some of these benefits and challenges have been explored. Experiential learning presented many applications towards the learning process that can alter the knowledge, experience, and benefits gained from said experience. The application of experiential learned was dependent upon the student, mentor, and project itself. Depending on the goal of the project the student can learn first-hand about their major/field of interest (Anticol, 2019). As experiential learning was applied and used, opportunities to improve how it was implemented and the different fields that you can enter with this process increased.
Benefits of Experiential Learning – Envision by World Strides (2020) identified seven benefits attributable to experiential learning:
Creates real-world relevance: Students may tune out lectures if they think the material does not pertain to the real world. Experiential learning takes data and concepts and applies them to hands-on tasks, yielding tangible results. As the student interacts with the information, it becomes real to them. Of course, each student’s learning experience will be guided by their unique perspective, and thus each will interact with the information and the task in diverse ways—and may have different results. In this way, the experiential classroom emulates “real” society.
Provides opportunity for creativity: In our world, problems often have more than one solution. Experiential learning enables the student to engage the creative portions of their brain and seek their own unique solution to the problem or task. This creative problem-solving, and the variety of results produced, enriches the classroom.
Provides opportunity for reflection: Reflective observation is an integral component of experiential learning theory. By incorporating concrete experiences with abstract concepts and reflecting on the outcome, students engage more regions of their brains and make personal connections with the material. They analyze how their actions affected the outcome and how their outcome may have differed from those of other students. This analysis helps them better understand how the concepts they have learned can be applied to other circumstances.
Teaches the value of mistakes: Experiential learning involves trial by error. As students engage in hands-on tasks, they find that some approaches work better than others. They discard the methods that do not work, but the act of trying something and then abandoning it becomes a valuable part of the learning process. Students learn not to fear mistakes, but to benefit from, and remember, them.
Accelerates learning: The act of practicing a skill strengthens the neural connections in the brain, making us, in effect, “smarter.” Hands-on activities require practice, problem-solving, and decision-making. As student engagement increases through these processes, learning accelerates, and retention improves.
Guides students toward the future: Many experiential learning projects are career-oriented because they are grounded in real-world activities. Through these activities, students start to discover and develop their skills, aptitudes, and passions. This self-discovery sets them on a more defined path to what they want to pursue after graduation, including college and careers.
Prepares students for adult life: Most experiential learning activities are communal in nature, with students working in groups. Through these team projects, students learn to work more effectively together, developing a plan of action and capitalizing on the unique strengths of each team member. In turn, the students learn how to lead, how to think critically, and how to adapt to changing circumstances.
Additionally, faculty benefited from having outside resources to support the traditional learning that took place in their classrooms. Nor can we ignore the benefits that external individuals, institutions, or organizations gained when students engaged in projects specific to their needs or research focused on solving individual or organizational business problems. But with benefits also came challenges.
Challenges – In an extensive study on challenges in experiential learning by Noogbahi et al (2011) four categories of challenges were identified:
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Insufficient educational spaces & equipment
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Less experienced instructors and technicians
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Not paying attention to parallel and additional experiences
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Insufficient class management by the instructors or technicians
While this study focused on experiential learning in an agriculture and natural sciences program, these components could be attributed to many programs. Other researchers have noted similar issues in experiential learning. These challenges ranged from the student not being able to fully engage in the activity to the instructor having too much influence in the experiential learning environment. Aggarwal and Wu (2019) when they commented on experiential learning in the international business field pointed out that experiential learning is pointless if the student does not feel engaged and the experience does not stimulate learning. There can also be challenges when a student enters a class not knowing that experiential learning is a part of the learning experience. This can potentially result in poor motivation and confusion for the student.
The Project
Professor Charlotte Broaden, the course instructor, determined that students would benefit from starting at the very beginning of the process, “determining if a company was adequately prepared to export their products.” The professor conducted a search to find a company that the students could assess its export readiness. During the search to find a suitable candidate, students prepared themselves by finding tools to assess a company’s readiness to export. While there were several tools available, it was important to find one that would provide the chosen company with feedback on areas of improvement if they were not ready to export as well as supporting student learning.
globalEDGE, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI B grant, delivers a comprehensive research tool for academics, students, and businesspeople. It allows users to connect with over 47,000 people using the globalEDGE Network while tapping into a directory of over five thousand quality resources. globalEDGE provides tools and resources to efficiently research any international business question you may have. As part of their database of tools, globalEDGE has CORE™ is a self-assessment tool that will allow you to determine your company’s readiness to expand its operations internationally and ascertain its ability to export a particular product. Upon completing the questionnaire, students identified the client company’s strengths and weaknesses concerning exporting systematically and objectively. CORE™ generated answers (based on responses from the client) and then placed them on two independent dimensions of readiness; “Organizational Readiness” and “Product Readiness.” The survey results were presented in a comprehensive, easy to read format for student analysis and client use.
The Client
Ms. Kristen Carter, a senior business administration major at Marquette University and owner of Carter, Health & Lifestyle, LLC volunteered to work with the class on their project. The company is an e-commerce business that sells premium health and lifestyle accessories. It aims to provide high quality products that contribute to overall wellbeing and convenience. The first product in their catalog was a hand sanitizer wristband (Krisband). On the company’s website, Carter noted that the product was currently available for US distribution, but global shipping was coming. Carter donated 11% of the firm’s earnings to nonprofit organizations and COVID-19 relief resource centers. This young entrepreneur and her company made an ideal client for students to evaluate their knowledge in export readiness, while providing valuable resources to a company in the early stages of going international.
The Assessment Process
The CORE assessment analyzed six critical areas important for exporters to have proficiency in exporting to foreign markets. These areas covered: competitive capabilities in the domestic market; the motivation for going international; a commitment of owners and top management; product readiness for a foreign market; skills, knowledge, and resources; and experience and training. The assessment document delved into critical information to provide a thorough examination of these principal factors. After Carter completed the seventy-question assessment, students entered her information into the CORE database generating several documents which created an in-depth profile of the client’s organization. The assessment also provided valuable information for students. Exhibit 1 provides a scoring and rating profile based on a 100-point scale.
Additionally, the assessment provided an overall readiness assessment which identified the actual readiness evaluation and the perceived readiness of the client. Results were compiled in Exhibit 2 below.
Perceived Benefits for the Client – Carter Health & Lifestyle received a complete package of information to assess its level of readiness. In addition to the two reports listed above, two additional reports focused on specific information for improvement. CORE provided detailed feedback on all the major dimensions assessed (see Exhibit 3). This feedback pointed to key areas for improvement for the client in the general dimensions of the assessment.
In Exhibit 4, the feedback examines specific strengths and weaknesses of the client.
This combined package of information provided to the client allowed them to prioritize the most critical areas to work on within their timeframe for building their export readiness strategy.
Perceived Benefits for the Students – Prior to collaborating with the client, students spent time reading and understanding the assessment and the questions used to analyze a company’s readiness to export. By administering the questionnaire, and compiling the results, they gained firsthand knowledge of the client’s position in the market. Because the client is still in the infant stage of their business, students are exposed to start-up activities. The knowledge gained provides more details than just reading a textbook or having a lecture. Students were exposed to researching tools to do an actual export readiness and they performed one for an actual client seeking to go global. There are some combined benefits that both the client and students gained from this exercise. For students, this feedback closes the loop on identifying problems, assessing problems, and charting a course for problem resolution. The goal would be to follow up with the client to discuss which, if any, of the suggestions were implemented. In Exhibit 3, the actual feedback was provided. This project will not allow for client follow-up, but the students’ participation in the project did not end with building the report. Students decided that they could provide further assistance to the client by identifying dimensions based on Exhibit 1 where they could provide additional information to assist the client in future decisions. Two dimensions that allowed the student to engage in related research were skill, knowledge, resources, education, and training. Based on data searched performed in class, students collected resources that the client could access via the internet of organizations in both Illinois and Wisconsin where the client lives and goes to school. It was important for students to identify resources close to the client for easy access.
Reflections
Kolb (1984) described process of experiential learning as a four-stage cycle involving for adaptive learning modes: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Following up on his discussion on reflective observation, Powell, and Wells (2002) summarized Kolb’s reflective observation stage by saying, “it allows the learner to scrutinize ideas and reflect on the information from different points of view”. It is in this section of the paper that reflective observations from both the faculty instructing the class and students were shared.
Reflections of the course professor
"One of the major challenges that I had with this course and every course that includes an experiential learning component is to find the most appropriate activity to fit the learning objective of the course. This is not always an easy task and one that takes time and care to ensure the students gain knowledge and experience from the activity. Using globalEDGE’s CORE assessment provided me the opportunity to share not only this resource, but other resources available on their website that students could use now and in the future. The ability of the tool to not only provide diagnostic capabilities but also direct feedback on improvement for the client was not something that I could have accomplished in a traditional learning environment. I have also had time to reflect on how I would incorporate this into future classes, and I will work with our state export/import center to identify clients who can benefit from this type of service. This will allow my students to see companies at various stages of export readiness." Dr. Charlotte Broaden, Professor, International Business, Southern New Hampshire University
Reflections from Course Students –
“One of the major benefits that experiential learning has given me is the opportunity to learn faster and in an interactive way, as well as it helped me to prepare for my future in a highly creative way. Being introduced to different tools in this case globalEDGE CORE is valuable as I am an International Business major, and I can use it for any other research while being a college student or in a workplace environment too. I am incredibly grateful that this class gave us the opportunity to learn through experiential learning but also being able to share about it to state the importance of it.” Isabella Andrade Silva, student, Southern New Hampshire University
“After doing extensive research into the positives and negatives of experiential learning I personally found that this type of learning is more suited for those who prefer a hands-on learning style.” Kyle Beck, Student, Southern New Hampshire University
One final activity that students engaged in during the semester was the first ever Experiential Learning Curriculum Fair held at SNHU. This fair was sponsored by the University College Center for Project Based Learning (CPBL). Faculty from across the campus in different disciplines highlight their courses for the upcoming spring semester that contained an experiential learning component. This fair gave students the opportunity to speak with the instructor before registering to find out more about the course design. The fair was so successful, the center held a second fair in the spring highlighting experiential courses to be offered in Fall, 2022.
The Center supports six "educational anchors "or models. Each model includes the process of teaching and learning experientially, including shared pedagogical qualities that systematically guide learners through the meaning-making process. Through experience, critical reflection and active experimentation, learners construct new knowledge and perspectives that lead to deep thinking and transferable skills. Additionally, learners engaged in experiential opportunities are more likely to find relevance and persist in their studies through to graduation, and they are more likely to become life-long and self-directed learners. Experiential learning has become an integral part of the university’s institutional culture.
Exhibit 5 is a listing of the experiential anchors included in SNHU’s Experiential Learning.
Putting into Practice What was Learned from the Research on Experiential Learning
Hess (2018) identifies numerous critical skills that students may acquire through experiential learning courses. These include how to manage fears and emotional defensiveness; how to overcome reflexive ways of thinking; how to listen, communicate, and connect with others; how to learn from failure; and how to work effectively in diverse teams. Many of these skills were learned in this project. This was a remarkably diverse team with students of Asian, Hispanic, and African heritage. There was also a study abroad student from Cologne Business School, who had to become acclimated to Southern New Hampshire University’s academic environment, including the university’s Brightspace system for academics. The team became dependent upon each other to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses as they navigated the learning challenges and tools required to accomplish the project.
Throughout this course, students learned the value of their mistakes and reflected on their actions as the project moved forward. For example, the paper’s original intention was to include a survey of SNHU students and their views on experiential learning. While the survey was developed and the students were confident on the structure, they ran into problems with meeting the criteria of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and what they needed to do to meet the requirements for using human subjects. While disappointed, they rebounded, used the information from the proposed survey to identify what each had learned, and restructured the focus of the paper. This allowed students to display their creativity by adjusting to unforeseen challenges.
With the use of globalEDGE, the group gained experience using real life tools that could benefit them in the future as all were International Business majors looking to develop a career in this field. By working within a group, the students built on their communication skills to form a cohesive work environment. It was enlightening for students to apply technical skills to the project and to comprehend and apply what they learned from the research conducted for authoring the paper.
Through the work with Carter Health & Lifestyle LLC, the students were presented with the opportunity to provide a service for the company while learning about the process that an organization must go through to expand their business globally. This experience allowed the students to develop a deeper understanding of imports and exports and give the experience of collaborating with a company instead of a simulation. For the company, this service benefited them by being able to see where their business lies within the expectations for businesses who want to move forward into exporting their product. With the feedback from the service, it allows the business to assess their weak points and strong points to grow their business. By having this experience with Carter Health & Lifestyle LLC students were able to become more independent during the learning process. With little guidance from the instructor, students were able to build trust with their peers and develop their own ideas without outside influences. This enhances the learning environment through the freedom to conduct a project based on the students’ ideas and individual experiences that can contribute to a group setting.
Service learning seeks chiefly to promote civic and community engagement, and stimulate personal growth (Wang & Calvano, 2018). Professor Broaden reminded us of what we learned from the research by Killorin (2021) that the business world wants to know how we can transfer skills learned in the classroom to the workplace. Service-learning projects are important items to put on your resume as it shows the technical skills acquired and writing a journal article is an excellent example of our writing skills and both are key transferable skills for the business world.
Conclusion
This unique and innovative course provided students with real world insights into the process of importing and exporting. During the course students evaluated the export readiness of a product designed by entrepreneur Kristen Carter, owner of Carter Health & Lifestyle and provided the company with valuable information about potential overseas markets. Experiential learning will continue to be a tool that shows multiple benefits on students and teachers, both inside and outside a classroom. As students, we were fortunate to be part of an institution that has developed opportunities for students to learn and grow in their educational programs through experiential programs and activities.