Wikis for Collaborative Learning and
Knowledge Construction
Background information: This is long-winded, I always make things far
more complicated than they need to be.
But now this project is done, if you would like to see full course
schedule please e-mail and I will share it with you. – Lynn
Beginning Fall 2013 KSU’s College of
Business began offering a Professional MBA online (PMBA).
The curriculum of the PMBA
is the same as the traditional MBA except courses are offered in the eight-week
format. The MBA
Practicum is the capstone course in our program and serves similarly to a master’s
thesis. While I am not the instructor of
record for this course for the past 10 years I have coordinated many of the
activities of this program and have helped to maintain the continuity from year
to year. In the 16 years I have served
in my present position, there have been four Graduate Program
Directors/Assistant or Associate Deans and countless graduate committee
configurations. A video spot is posted under another post on my page.
Because the program is designed for eight-week courses everything is
being updated and changed to fit this format.
We anticipate the MBA Practicum will be offered in the online program
beginning spring 2015. I have started
the conversion process for this assignment.
Target audience -
Admission to the program
requires a minimum of 3 – 5 years of professional experience, generally appeals
to early level management professionals, professional engineers seeking higher management
level positions.
Google Docs is currently used
with the on-campus MBA Practicum it is a team project, the PMBA will be an
individual project. The Google Docs will
be used for collaboration and feedback between the student and the faculty
advisor and other campus personnel if necessary.
Zoom video conferencing will
be used for meetings and presentations not located in the Manhattan area.
GENBA 890 MBA Practicum
Course
Objective:
The objective of the MBA Practicum project is to
provide students an opportunity to carry out, under faculty supervision, an
in-depth investigation of a selected business problem within their organization
or another economic entity. In many ways, the MBA Practicum project serves the
same educational purpose as a master’s thesis. It is incumbent on MBA
candidates to approach the MBA Practicum project with the level of attention
appropriate for a final degree demonstration project at the graduate level. The
project is intended to enhance organizational diagnostic skills, develop
innovative and practical responses to complex interdisciplinary problems or
entrepreneurial opportunities, demonstrate the ability to work effectively with
executives and peers, and demonstrate professional levels of communication
skills.
The principal
players: Student, PMBA Director & Instructor (also
serves as the academic advisor to students in program), Graduate Innovation Committee
members, faculty advisor (one per student), Client/Company representatives.
Faculty Advisor: Each PMBA student will be
assigned a faculty advisor. The faculty
advisor’s role is to serve as a guide and
resource in the student’s quest to resolve the issue put forth by the client
company. The faculty advisor will
typically: See chart posted on KSOL for additional faculty advisor duties.
Course Details:
The practicum project provides MBA students with
challenging, hands-on consulting experience.
The student acts as a consultant to a corporation, not-for-profit
organization, or governmental agency. This task will include discussions with
organization management to define the scope of a significant problem focusing
on one or more functional business areas (e.g., finance, marketing, operations,
strategy, etc.). The Student is called
upon to use the knowledge and skills learned in the PMBA program to make
critical strategic recommendations for the company involved.
The
practicum is self-directed. The
student is expected to devote an average of 15-20 hours per week to the
project. The practicum is not patterned
after a normal, structured classroom course.
Instead, students will collaborate with the faculty advisor who serves
as a guide and resource in the student’s quest to resolve the issue put forth
by the client company. The final output
will typically consist of a written professional report as well as an oral
presentation to the senior management of your sponsoring firm and a campus
representative.
2.
Recommended Resources:
The following
recommendations are dependent on the type of project. Effective communication skills will be
critical to the success of your project.
Please consult with the faculty advisor for the appropriateness of a
particular resource and for additional relevant readings.
For information about basic
writing, presentation, and report writing skills:
- The Elements of Style, (2007) Author: Strunk, Coyote Canyon Press.
- Effective Communication, (1996) Authors: Woods, Whetten and Cameron, Pearson Education
For
business planning formats:
-
Business Plan Pro (http://www.paloalto.com/ps/bp)
For information about
marketing plans:
-
The
Marketing Plan, 4rd Edition (2007). Author: William Cohen, John Wiley &
Sons publisher
For information on the
consulting process:
-
The Advice Business
(2004). Fombrun and Nevins. Pearson Prentice Hall.
Critical Dates:
October – Novembers 2014–
Contact project sponsor and
schedule and Engagement Meeting prior to December 15. Create account on Google Docs for
collaboration with faculty advisor and Graduate Innovations Committee. Postings will be made each week to track
project progress. This account should be password protected as all client
information is confidential. If you have not already created an account on www.Zoom.us
face to face meetings may not be possible.
December 2014 –
Engagement Meeting. The student should meet with the project
sponsor, faculty advisor and key client personnel to identify client
expectations about the project purpose, scope, activities and deliverables and
collect initial data. Based on this
meeting, prepare a written project engagement letter. Student should include an attachment with a
list of the major tasks that need to be performed and a realistic timeline for
accomplishment. Get buy-in from your advisor prior to submitting the engagement letter to the client.
Human
Subjects: Students conducting a
survey or other data collection must complete human subjects training and have
their project approved by the K-State Institutional Review Board. Online
training information is located at: http://urco.ksu.edu/. Consult with the practicum
faculty advisor concerning paperwork necessary for Institutional Review Board
approval. This can take several weeks, so plan early.
January 20,
2015 –View the Practicum overview
video posted on K-State Online (KSOL). It will be important that you stay on task on
the project. Begin journaling your project progress on Google Docs update major
tasks list. Use of Google Doc will allow
faculty advisor to make comments and offer suggestions as the project
continues.
January 26, 2015 – This week post progress, challenges and
successes to date on the project; set
your tasks for the following weeks, the faculty advisor will able to offer
guidance or point out something you are missing.
February 3, 2015 – Mid-term progress report &
presentation. This brief report and
presentation on Zoom conference; should include a revised statement of purpose,
a description of the tasks that have been completed and a list of those that
remain to be completed, with a revised time line. This should be presented
(most likely informally) to the faculty advisor and key client members. This should be posted to your Google Docs page
as well, and the faculty advisor will offer feedback via GoogleDocs.
February 9,
2015 - Continue work on project. Post to GoogleDoc the
progress being made and whether the project is progressing as it should to be
completed by early March. Be honest and realistic with projections. Ask
questions as needed of the faculty advisor and company representative. What are your major tasks for the following week?
February 17, 2015 – Outline for Anticipated Report
Due. Submit a rough outline of the project
report to faculty advisor. Consult with faculty advisor and discuss what
constitutes a good report. See “Report
Writing Guidelines” handout and PowerPoint slides posted on KSOL. Feedback and revision suggestions will be
provided.
March 3, 2015 - Submit first draft
of final project to faculty advisor. After being reviewed by the faculty advisor, constructive suggestions
will be provided to help improve the project before final presentation to the client.
March 3 – 10, 2015 – 30 minute Practice Presentation. Student will present the
final 15 – 30 minute Zoom presentation to the faculty advisor and at least one
other member of the Graduate Innovation Committee. This should be professional
and “client ready”.
March 3 – 10, 2015 – three
days prior to final presentation - Final report
submitted for approval. Before submitting the final
project report to the client, the formatting and appropriateness of language
must be approved by the faculty advisor and practicum instructor .
March 3 – 13, 2015 – Present final report and
presentation to client/company, and at least one campus representative (via
Zoom). Turn in one copy of the final report
to the faculty advisor and two copies to the PMBA Sufficient numbers of copies
of the report for client personnel should be provided at the time of the final
presentation or before. Client/Company
will be provided a rubric for evaluation of the final presentation.
March 13,
2015 – Debriefing Meeting. This meeting with the faculty advisor provides
the opportunity to discuss pertinent grading points and suggestions for
improving future projects.
Handouts and videos located on K-State Online:
Practicum overview video (still in production, I was hoping it would be ready to be included here)
Faculty Advisor responsibiites
Report Writing Guidelines and PPT presentation
Grading:
Proposal presentation/report
|
* sufficient/insufficient
|
Project update presentation/report
|
* sufficient/insufficient
|
First-draft report
|
* sufficient/insufficient
|
Practice Presentation and
Client Presentation
|
20% Includes
proposal and project update
|
Final client report
|
80% Includes first draft
|
Professional Conduct
|
May be used to adjust final grades for individual
students
|
* Items marked with an * will be evaluated as
sufficient/insufficient at the time of the presentation/report. Insufficient work must be corrected and
resubmitted until deemed sufficient. The
quality of your work on practice presentations and the draft report will be
considered when assigning a grade for the final presentation and report.
The
presentations and reports will be evaluated on a variety of factors including:
(1) quality of analysis, (2) adequacy of effort, (3) logical/supportable
inferences made from analysis of data, (4) well-grounded assumptions, (5)
thoroughness of analysis (i.e., not missing any major pieces), (6) potential
value to client, and (7) action taken on suggestions made by faculty and client
in previous meetings.
Professional conduct consists
of how you interact with the practicum client, your faculty advisor, members of
the graduate studies committee and the Associate Dean for Academic
Programs. Information will be collected
via observation and evaluations performed
by your advisor and the practicum client. At the end of the semester you will complete
a self-evaluation.
Grading Rubric are used
for evaluation of final report and presentation. (These forms are used as the
final assessment tool to fulfill our Assessment of Learning requirements for
all our accrediting organizations i.e. AACSB and HLC.) Follow-up assessment forms are sent to each client
following final presentation and report, they will also be asked to evaluate student/client
interaction during the semester. Copies can be provided upon e-mail request.
Additional resources:
West, J. & West, M. (2009). Using
Wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write web. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
