Abstract
The European higher education area (EHEA) aims at creating a climate of less traditional learning through higher levels of interaction between the professors and the students. In that context, the use of participative tools, such as case study discussions, can be especially useful. Nevertheless, the attempt of a group of professors to implement that methodology in their classes had to face some difficulties, with the the high number of students with different goals and needs the main one. In order to deal with this situation, the students were given the possibility to choose amongst three different evaluation methods: non-continuous evaluation, continuous evaluation, and business school – the last one focused on the discussion of freshly prepared case studies about business management. The results can be considered positive, both in terms of academic progress and competencies achievement, and led to the creation of an online version of this “business school.”
TopBackground
Since its very origin, the different task groups of the EHEA fostered a competence-based learning approach instead of a pure knowledge-based one, aiming at providing the students with the tools, techniques and skills that would enable them to develop successful professional careers.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Brainstorming: A technique to drop new ideas about a matter, where the participants propose briefly their suggestions which are discussed afterwards.
Functional Conflict: It is a kind of conflict that may have positive effects when facing a decision, increasing the number and quality of the alternatives drawn and facilitating the decision-making process.
Devil’s Advocacy: A technique which tries to improve the ability to defend a position, where a devil’s advocate sets different objections to that position or idea.
Strategic Management: An academic subject that deals with some of the main decisions of a firm, mainly those ones related with their corporate (range of activities) and competitive (achieving an advantage from rivals) levels
Teaching Innovation: It includes designing and putting into practice tools and techniques different from traditional one-directional lectures, with the goal of putting the student in the centre of the learning process.
EHEA: The European Higher Education Area is an initiative which tries to create a series of commitments and agreements between different countries in order to generate some degree of homogeneity between their Educational Systems.
Elevator Pitch: A technique that gives a person or a group a very short time, usually 30 seconds, in order to present and summarize ideas about a business project.
Case Study: A recreation, or a partial description, of a real-life professional situation, that the students have to evaluate, analyse, and try to solve.
Competencies: Technical or generic abilities that a person (student) can acquire, which will enable that person to develop many possible tasks and jobs.