Doing by Learning: The Business Capstone Experience of a Real World, Work-based Project

From small colleges to the largest universities, Business Education is moving to make learning more real. For both undergraduate and MBA Business students the culminating learning experience is more frequently an actual project for a living, breathing organization.

Doing by Learning is a roadmap of what Business students need to know and do when faced with a field-based business capstone project. It nicely bridges the gap between students' success in Business courses and integrating their knowledge through an applied business research project. It does this by, first, helping students understand the WHY of the journey they are undertaking by reflecting on their Business education. Next, groundwork is provided on HOW experiential and work-based learning processes will now be paramount to learning from experience in a real project. Finally, the WHAT is presented through very specific methods to successfully design, research and implement a large and often loosely defined project. This book takes a very student-oriented and "hands-on" approach that captures how learning really happens in today's organizations. There is a strong emphasis, for example, on students engaging in their own primary research, since so much of work-based learning and decision making happens through social interaction and direct inquiry rather than large population, statistically-driven studies. It does this through the use of the more current, interactive and iterative tools of learning in today's workplace such as Design Thinking, Action Research, Experiential Learning, Action Learning, Appreciative Inquiry and others.

Doing by Learning also includes thirty-five experiential activities designed to make the learning more engaging and fun. While these activities are designed to be self-paced by the reader, they also make perfect assignments in a course or seminar wrapped around the student project itself. Four case studies, inspired by real student projects, are also presented throughout the text to provide living examples of the process. The steps and tools in Doing by Learning match today's fast paced academic environment. Originally designed to accommodate eight week-long online capstone courses, this book is perfect for Business capstone courses that are increasingly offered over shorter timelines and in hybrid, remote or online modes. Website: mydoingbylearning.com

Don Haggerty is a leading educator in the field of experiential learning. With decades of experience as both a business professional and professor, he has spent his life bridging the worlds of business and education. Don was educated at Providence College (B.A., Economics) and the University of Vermont where he received his Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT), Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.). Previous to joining higher education, Don enjoyed a highly successful and decades-long career in corporate business development, entrepreneurial ventures and consulting. His expertise includes economic modeling, business strategy and new business creation. For the past twenty years he has served as a professor, program developer and administrative leader in experientially-based business education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. At Champlain College where he currently teaches, Don created and launched an experientially-based MBA and then oversaw the development of ten graduate programs built around his own project-based and Action Learning inspired model, called Integrated-Reflective-Practice (IRP)(c). His most recent work has been teaching the areas of Business Strategy, Managing Innovation and Technology, Leadership and Business Capstone projects (undergraduate and MBA). He is also working with the college's online programs to include greater use of experiential learning models. He is the co-author of Leading My Department, republished as Leadership's Broken Link that connects employees at all levels with their organization's strategy through collaborative learning.