Working Alongside as Pedagogy

W. Trexler Proffitt Jr., Muhlenberg College

Presented at NCIIA Open 2014San Jose, CA

March 22, 2014

Problem StatementPremises

Academics with Ph.D.s teach in higher edAcademics in higher ed teach theory, researchTeaching theory and research is a full time jobEntrepreneurship can be a full time job

ConclusionsPeople who do entrepreneurship are not

academicsAcademics cannot do entrepreneurship

QED

Notable WorkaroundsDefine teaching entrepreneurship as non

academicCall it practical trainingNon tenure trackEase up on the credentials, pay less money

Allow field-specific outside consultingThe magical 20% ruleNot good for entrepreneurship

Declare field specific exceptionsEngineering, business schools

ContextSmall liberal arts college in PA, 2400 undergrads

Branding as “strong in the performing arts”

Long-standing business, economics, finance, and accounting majors. Business is silently the largest major on campus

Entrepreneurship is a concentration within business

10-20 students per year

Classes sizes under 15

What is Working Alongside?

Do the assignments concurrently with students

Share equally with them the excellent ups and frustrating downs

Give and receive critique on all the work, even yours

It is not necessarily:Lab assignmentsTeam projectsField researchAnything with delegation in it

Is Working Alongside Anything New? Yes and

No.Common in grad schools, science and engineering labs

POGIL methodology is similar (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry and Learning)

Common in fine arts (painting), and performing arts (theater, dance)

Common apprentice structure in craft and trade fields (plumbing, electrician, nursing)

Uncommon in business education (we focus mostly on large firms)

What about entrepreneurship education?

Motivations Blending liberal arts and business

Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education: Liberal Learning for the Profession (Colby et al., Carnegie, 2011)

Business Majors, but with a Twist (Light, WSJ, 2011)

Teaching content in classrooms is not enough Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value of a Business Major

(Korn, WSJ, 2012)

“Business” students need more liberal arts

“Liberal arts” students need more business (Higdon, 2005; Regele & Neck, 2012 )

Maybe the entrepreneurial mindset is orthogonal to business the way we teach it

The First Experiment8 students in first course in entrepreneurship

“Create a new venture idea you like and develop it.”

Immediate ChallengesDon’t know how to come up with a venture ideaDon’t know how to develop itCan’t do the market research or financials without idea

Uncertainty, performance anxiety, and paralysis

Solution: Do it with them!

Roaring Brook MarketStarted modeling how to generate new ideas

Make local food systems more sustainable Formed a team outside of class (2 other students)

Showed how to ideate and iterate Many paths to same goal What I want to do, what I can do, and how it meets the

market

Forced to get into the customer/rival research Interviews with businesses, customers Analysis of competent rivals Estimates for costs, sales Organizing issues: legal, conceptual

Typical Farm

Visible Traditionalism

Mapping “Local”

Roaring Brook asIntegrated Food Hub

StorageCookingProcessing

Grocery/Café Retail Cluster

Regional Institutional Distribution(schools, hospitals)

Proprietary Farms

Jobs CreationFresh Food AccessLocal BrandingAwareness and connection

PartnerFarms

Hospitality Businesses (restaurant, hotel, tourism)

Non-farm products

Create a new social purpose business in local

food

Research is mixed on whether localism in food is good or sustainable.Work as a participant observer for 3-5 years to assess impact.Begin with a small urban retail grocery/café and build.

Street View of Store

Sample Messaging

Explicit SustainabilityReward and encourage local food producers

New farmer entry with specialty cropsShift to grocery items by existing farmers Food business partners

Food System AccessUrban small city model for fresh food accessMultiple points of contactConnection to people and food supply knowledge

Explicit Transparency

Complete labeling and source identification.Promotion of all local suppliers.Promoting connection to people.

Results So FarStudents were more motivated

Clearer performance expectations

Open dialogue and discussion

All students put their new venture into the pitch competition

2 of 8 students behaving entrepreneurially today Is this a lot in a year? What will happen later on?

Move from “Sage on the Stage” to “Guide on the Side”

But is it better than that?

“Guide on the Side” connotes helping teams of students discover.

They work as a team, asking questions of the expert.

Expert is still giving hints and asking guiding questions.

Perhaps Working Alongside is even more powerful than that.

The Usual Next StepsSeems best for small class sizes, motivated

group

May destroy formal content knowledge performances (exams)

Prof has to try to start a new venture every year!!!!Key word is “try”!Resources might help with that

Assessment is difficult unless we agree on metrics

Thank you! Please Join Me!