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The Evolution of Group Projects: Reflective Practice goes International

The Evolution of Group Projects: Reflective Practice goes International. Stuart Umpleby Department of Management The George Washington University. Overview. Assignment: work with a client to improve an organization Source of projects: usually a student, sometimes the instructor

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The Evolution of Group Projects: Reflective Practice goes International

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  1. The Evolution of Group Projects: Reflective Practice goes International Stuart Umpleby Department of Management The George Washington University

  2. Overview • Assignment: work with a client to improve an organization • Source of projects: usually a student, sometimes the instructor • 3-5 students per project

  3. Percentage of projects in recent years • Private companies 24 % • Government agencies 16 % • Universities 21 % • NGOs 39 %

  4. Examples of projectswith businesses • Henninger Media Services ROI project • Marketing of Hotel Villa Ragusa, Croatia • Cultural issues in housekeeping management at the Four Seasons Hotel • Developing a business acquisition strategy for MPR Associates • From prototype to production at Vision III Imaging

  5. Examples of projects with government agencies • Quality improvement methods for the standards authority of Ethiopia • Improving the World Bank’s Thematic Group websites (knowledge management) • Reengineering the Republic of Ghana’s Passport Office • An Economic Advisory Council for Sunshine Uzbekistan

  6. Examples of projects with universities • Cultural preparedness for students going abroad • Orientation for teachers in a School of Nursing at Wuhan University in China • Improving the Humphrey Fellowship Program at a university • Improving a university’s on-line educational program

  7. Examples of projects with NGOs • Increasing cultural competency at Rising Hope United Methodist Church • An Afgan Community Development Program • The compensation and benefits package for an international legal NGO • Increasing participation in the Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development

  8. Rationale • The project is the “laboratory” part of the course • The final report describes what was done, using as many concepts from the course as possible • The project is an example of “action research,” “action learning,” “reflective practice,” or “service learning”

  9. Stages in the development of “service learning” in the U.S. • Students work in groups to complete a large assignment • Students do group projects with clients in organizations • The term “service learning” is invented and defined as a pedagogical method • Books and articles on service learning begin to appear in the educational literature • Articles on service learning begin to appear in discipline-oriented journals

  10. Extending SL to other countries • Students work with local clients, 1970s and 1980s • Students work with foreign students via email, early 1990s • Students work with foreign clients via email, late 1990s

  11. A global network of universities • Universities exist in most countries • Student and faculty exchange programs have existed for many years • The internet makes it easy to co-author papers and do joint research with colleagues in other countries • The Bologna Process is standardizing university credits, degrees, and procedures

  12. Encouraging service learning abroad • The Research Program in Social and Organizational Learning (RPSOL) in GW SB has been hosting visiting scholars under State Department programs since 1994 • In addition to their usual work on research and revising curricula, we explain service learning and introduce them to group facilitation methods

  13. RPSOL visiting scholars by year

  14. Russia

  15. Ukraine

  16. Some obstacles to implementing service learning abroad • Low faculty salaries, little time to experiment • Service Learning is not known or understood in many countries, confusion with forced labor • The curriculum (from the Ministry of Education) prescribes teaching methods • The way courses are taught limits teaching methods (students decide to enroll at the end of the course)

  17. Recommendations for removing the obstacles • Adopt service as a mission in addition to education and research • Offer training programs to explain SL • Create incentives and rewards for faculty • Create a positive image of faculty engaged in SL • Modify the curriculum and requirements when necessary to enable SL

  18. Conclusions • With the internet student group projects are often now international projects • Service learning, or reflective practice, can make an important contribution to the development of organizations and countries • SL is interpreted differently depending on the level of development of a country

  19. References • Umpleby, Stuart and Gabriela Rakicevik, "Obstacles to the Adoption of Service Learning in Other Countries." (Paper) • Umpleby, Stuart, "How Graduate Students in Management do Projects with Local and International Organizations." (Paper) • Umpleby, Stuart, and Pavel Makeyenko, "Using Email in International Student Group Projects." (Paper)

  20. Presented by Stuart Umpleby at a panel discussion arranged by the Teaching Effectiveness Taskforce GWU School of Business Washington, DC April 19, 2007

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