Project-Based Learning at the University at Buffalo School of Management Singapore campus.

Marcus Tan, a co-founder of Singapore based startup Carouselll, visited with our University at Buffalo, Singapore, School of Management Strategy students to discuss his startup. This was in 2015.

The students completed a semester-long project-based learning activity to apply what they are learning by developing a strategy for part of Carousell's business.

Thank you Mr. Marcus Tan, and recent University at Buffalo graduate Claire Yeo, who now works for Carousell. 

This is a group of my Keuka College (www.keuka.edu) Business students working on their five-week-long project through which they are applying Operation Production Management material they are learning in the classroom and in their reading. We are in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.

The students must create and run a business, recording their activities and reporting on them in the context of operations management processes at the end of the course. They must generate a profit. They then use the profit at the end of the course to support a local charitable organization that the group selects. The students usually select an orphanage or children's cancer hospital to support.

I love the high level of energy and commitment. This is Project-Based Learning, a type of experiential learning, at its best.

Last night I was honored to participate in the inaugural meeting of the ITEC Alumni Association.

ITEC is the International Training & Education Center. It is a part of the University of Science, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Within ITEC, the university offers two ​English-language degrees. One degree is from Auckland University of Technology (AUT), a New Zealand university, and is for Information Technology. The other degree is a Bachelor of Science in Management degree, from Keuka College, an accredited American four-year college from Upstate New York, USA. I teach business courses within the Keuka College program. My students receive an American Bachelor of Science degree from Keuka College.

Last night, alumni from both the AUT and Keuka College programs inaugurated their ITEC Alumni Association. The Vision of their association is "To Enhance value and strengthen status of ITEC alumni and students in workforce and society." Their Mission Statement is to:

• Expand a network in the job market for ITEC students and Alumni
• Connect, build and expand relationships
• Learn and share experiences in work and life skills
• Build a mentorship program for ITEC students and alumni

This is a first step for these recent college graduates. They are taking control of their lives and careers, benefiting from the experiential learning methods of their degree programs.

I am currently teaching Operations Management using a five-week business project for Keuka College in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. Today, I realized that it helps the students to see and understand the learning process we are using. 

After having them reflect on their project work in class, and having each of the four functional teams report on what was working and what needed to improve, I decided to show them a schematic of the experiential learning process. We talked about David Kolb's (2014) Experiential Learning Cycle. This is the learning theory that is the foundation of my teaching processes.

I believe that involving the students in understanding their learning process will help them apply the process on their own in their careers. The illustration is a simple diagram of Kolb's (2014) Experiential Learning Cycle.

Reference
Kolb, D.A. (1984/2014). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, p. 51. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

 As I near the third stage of my Ph.D. in Education at the State University of New York (SUNY) University at Buffalo (UB), in the Graduate School of Education, I will start to post some of my research and writings here. I'll keep them short and will provide resources for those who share my interest in experiential learning methods for higher education.

Check the blog frequently.

The photo here is of Vietnamese students in Ho Chi Minh City who are studying Operation Production Management for a Bachelor of Science in Management degree from Keuka College, and accredited American college in New York State. The students created a business that they will run for five weeks. They will apply what they are learning about operations management, and they will report on what they learned at the end of the course. The teaching & learning method is called Project-Based Learning.

These students are producing Vietnamese snacks to sell on their Facebook page. You can visit their Saigon Snack page at:
ttps://www.facebook.com/saigonsnackofficial/

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