Experiential teaching in international business: research & education praxis

This paper tests Kolb’s experiential learning model by implementing experiential activity that enabled students to complete all 4 stages of Kolb’s experiential learning process for determining the feasibility of experiential learning in a large enrolment International Business class with web resources and investigate the learning experience of students. The paper presents a teaching model based on experiential learning in a large International Business unit. Preliminary analysis of 92 student evaluations determined the effectiveness of experiential learning to allow students to explore the connection between theory and practice. This was done with a specific view of assisting their development in getting work ready. While a considerable amount of research has been conducted on the use of experiential learning and teaching in small classes, not much research has been done on the adoption of experiential learning methods in large classes. Experiential learning has been described as quite unfeasible and impracticable in a large-class context, because of the need to introduce real life experiences into teaching, the extensive planning and organization required, and the additional funds and resources that this kind of learning requires. This is an empirical paper where a 15 question likert scale survey was administered to students in a semester.