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University of South Florida
Polytechnic
3433 Winter Lake Road
Lakeland, FL 33803
(863) 667-7077
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Contact:
Tom Hagerty
(863)
667-7077
LAKELAND,
FL (May 14, 2008) -
Students in Dr. Andrew Artis's International Marketing class will go places when they graduate. Places like Russia, India and China. Maybe Japan, Ireland or Germany. Perhaps New Zealand, Prague or Israel.
As part of the senior-level class at the University of South Florida Lakeland, Artis requires each student to pick a travel destination, arrange transportation and accommodations, plan an itinerary, and budget expenses. And while Artis admits not every student will actually journey overseas, he says the project still serves as a powerful learning experience.
Why does a marketing professor tell students to act as their own travel agents?
"In this class we study globalization and international marketing," says Artis. "I aim to prepare students to be citizens of the world. I remind them that there's only one group that we're all part of - the human race - and I encourage students to see themselves as part of a global community. I'm trying to help them change their mindset, to see themselves as citizens of the world."
Throughout the semester, students study different cultures and how business works in those cultures. And while students can learn theory in a classroom, only by traveling, says Artis, can a person experience globalization on a personal level.
"In this class we focus on using business as a tool for good," he says. "For a solution to work, it must work economically. For example, if you want people in the rain forest to stop cutting down trees, you have to help them see why doing so makes economic sense for them. So if you want to work in a local community, you must first understand the people -- how they live and work, what they value -- before you can do business or establish a partnership with them. "
The travel project also helps students become self-directed learners, one of Dr. Artis's main goals. In his international marketing class, students form small groups and become a "community of practice." Each group must learn one topic and then teach it to the rest of the class. That experience often requires students to get out of their comfort zones.
"I was a little apprehensive at first because the presentation involved two other people," says Michelle Richardson. "Having to coordinate with my group members and work together as a team, to bounce ideas off of one another, to come to an agreement on how we were going to execute our tasks was an eye opener."
“I have learned that to achieve a true global mindset you must travel,” says Michelle Richardson.
That experience, says Richardson, became a key part of her education: "I now know how it will feel when I have to work in a team to get a task completed. This was the first time in my college experience where I felt like this is really going to help me with my future career."
Brandon Snively says the focus on applied learning made the class "unlike anything I had ever taken before.
"Dr. Artis's unique self-directed learning approach puts students in charge of the lectures, so they have to know the subject inside and out. This approach caused students to learn differently because we became the teachers. Each of us had to be just as proficient in our knowledge of the topic as the professor. After all, if you don't know the material, how can you ever expect to teach it?"
For the travel project, Snively selected New Zealand because it's "off the beaten path" but has no language barrier.
"I realize that learning new languages is important in the business world," he says, "but for a short trip I decided it would be better if I could communicate effectively."
He also discovered he could effectively stretch his dollars in New Zealand.
Brandon Snively discusses his plans for a trip to New Zealand.
"I knew I would have to keep a reasonable budget in mind so I did some research and found that the New Zealand dollar holds about four-fifths the value of the U.S. dollar, so it would give me a 20 percent increase in purchasing power."
Richardson chose Dublin, Ireland, for two reasons: "One, because I have always wanted to experience the culture and the beauty. Two, because I want to become a pharmaceutical representative for Eli Lilly, which has offices in Dublin. I think that when I have an interview one day and can say I have visited their Dublin location it will show them I have a global mindset and a better understanding of how they do business."
The hands-on process of selecting a destination and planning a trip taught students valuable lessons.
"The assignment has many benefits," says Snively. "Aside from the value of experiencing life abroad, students also learn the importance of budgets and proper planning, and they gain a greater appreciation for not only other cultures, but also the world we live in and the people we do business with. "
Richardson agrees: " This project opened my eyes to how much planning is involved when going overseas; flight information needs to be considered, planning your trip with a map in hand so you know the distances from everything, knowing what the currency rate is and how much or little the dollar is worth there. And lastly having a sense of what type of budget you are on is something that needs to be thought out carefully.
"I have learned that to achieve a true global mindset you must travel," she says. "People need to let go of the security blanket and go out and explore. Traveling lets you see things from a new perspective and benefits you in so many ways."
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