Memorandum for the Integration of Practical Context in the Business Curriculum Through the Use of a Tailored Social Media Platform

Background

Students come to university to learn, or in more direct terms, to absorb and assimilate information about skills that are deemed to be useful for their professional career. Therefore, the responsibility of a university is to offer courses that can provide such information and make sure students have integrated well with them. Course syllabus is designed to present students with the theoretical and practical learning structure of their courses. It usually includes among other things: the order and progression of the chapters covered, the topic description for each chapter, a case study or a practical problematic related to the chapter, questions or homework, the evaluation framework, learning objectives, the textbook and the reading list including other textbooks and academic articles.

It is possible to divide a course syllabus into two parts: a theoretical oriented part and a practical context-oriented part. First, the theoretical part focuses on presenting theoretical concepts that students need to learn through the chapter`s progression. Each chapter at the beginning shows students what concepts they will be required to assimilate. And it is the responsibility of the lecturer to assist in this assimilation. In addition, a reading list composed of textbooks and academic articles is here to help students to learn more about those theoretical learning objectives. Then quizzes, tests and examinations are scheduled to assess the level of assimilation. Second, the practical part focuses on showing the context around theoretical concepts. It is usually implemented on the syllabus for each chapter through discussion topics, presentation of a problematic, or case studies. The purpose is to help students understand why those theoretical concepts are critical for managers. Then, students in management courses are usually asked to perform a practical task through a group report and presentation where they can use a real case and address several problematics.