University education provides an opportunity for students to build knowledge. Yet McHann and Frost (2010) suggest that a gap exists for students between knowing and doing. Doing – or applied learning – can be facilitated through experiences. Experiential learning, particularly with community partners, is considered a high impact educational practice (Kuh & O’Donnell ,2013). With experiential learning, “[k]nowledge is continuously derived from and tested out in the experience of the learner†(Kolb, 1984, p. 27). Students apply knowledge they learn in the classroom to real-world problems and situations.

These experiential opportunities have added value. Employers believe that requiring students to complete a significant applied learning project in college would improve both the quality of learning and the quality of graduates’ preparation for careers, and are more likely to consider hiring recent college graduates who have completed an applied learning or project-based learning experience. (Hart Research Associates, 2015).

Building experiences into the curriculum through service learning and community engagement can better prepare students to enter the workforce, engage civic-mindedness, and build problem-solving and critical thinking skills that can continue to serve them long after graduation. In addition, students provide reciprocal value to community partners through knowledge sharing and transfer in a mutually beneficial exchange.

In this special session, we share three experiential learning initiatives successfully integrated into distinct business courses. The existing Long Term Care Management course at Slippery Rock University has recently integrated community and civic engagement into course design and outcomes. Through community and campus partnerships with OCEL, Quality Life Services, and Don’t Stop Dreamin’, students in this course experience reciprocity in action while building civic and community identities. The Principles of Marketing course at Point Park University was adapted to integrate a community and civic engagement experience with the City of Pittsburgh Office of Nighttime Economy as a partner in three sections of the course in a way that immerses students in the community while supporting marketing course objectives, enhancing student learning and providing the community partner with valuable, needed marketing support. The Sales and Revenue Generation course at Duquesne University was designed to integrate experiential learning as a means to achieve course outcomes with an academic unit partner, enhancing students’ understanding of professional selling while assisting university athletics with ticket sales.

This proposed session will share the early successes and future opportunities of these partnerships.

Hart Research Associates. (2015). Falling short? College learning and career success. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Kuh, G. & O’Donnell, K. (2013). Ensuring Quality & Taking High-Impact Practices to Scale.Washington, DC: AAC&U.

McHann, J. C., & Frost, L. A. (2010). Integrating experiential learning into business courses: Using learning journals to create living case studies. American Journal of Business Education, 3(8), 1-12.