You Can’t Get This Out of a Textbook

When Dr. Daniel Chaffin taught MGT400-Entrepreneurship for the first time, he knew exactly what to expect from the textbook and his lesson plans. 他相信他的学生在学期结束时会学到他们需要知道的东西. What he didn’t count on was the lesson that he would learn. Thanks to the feedback from one of his students, 他在bet36365体育投注(University of Nebraska at Kearney)的班级已经走出了教室的界限，蔓延到了整个校园. These days, Chaffin wouldn’t have it any other way.

像大多数教授一样，在上完一节课后，查芬希望得到学生的反馈. 他预料到必须调整一两件事，但从未想到一个诚实学生的评论会改变他对教师真正含义的看法. 他读了学生的反馈，其中“切中要害”，这对他作为一名教师来说是一次强大的经历.

当他读到他的学生期望这门课有一天能教会他经营企业的技能时, Chaffin knew he had to find a new way to teach the course. 这让他扔掉课本，集思广益，想办法让学生只有掌握了经营自己企业所需的知识，才能通过他的课程.

When students enter Chaffin’s class these days, they quickly figure out that their professor does less talking than most. By giving up his time behind the lectern, Chaffin has created an environment where his students “do a whole lot more doing.毕竟，有什么比创建和经营一家企业更好的学习方式呢?

课堂上不再是学生们在安静地完成个人作业. Thanks to the way Chaffin has completely overhauled his class, the students now “work as a team” to create and run their businesses. 几年前的那个学生希望他在上了一门大学课程后就知道如何经营一家企业. 多亏了他，每个完成MGT400的学生都可以在他们的大学曲目中添加企业主.                                                                                                 

What takes place in Chaffin’s class isn’t combined group work. 学生不能简单地把作业分开，这样每个人都能完成自己的部分. 他们很快发现，这门课的目的是让他们对彼此负责，也对客户负责.  For example, when the marketing person needs to work on their ads, they first need to find out the details of the product from the operations person. 这种程度的相互依存完美地模仿了这些bet36365体育学生毕业后进入真实的商业世界时将要做的事情.

Running a simulation of a business would be a fun project in any class, but this isn’t what Chaffin offers his students. 他们经历了压力和兴奋，所有企业家都知道这是一种生活方式. After all, 在询问100名潜在客户是否会购买他们的产品之前，他们会提交一份商业计划和一份融资提案，以获得启动资金. They then have to figure out how to turn it all into a profitable business, 这些利润将在学期结束时捐赠给他们选择的校园事业. 他们必须向查芬证明，在开始收集材料和处理产品之前，他们有“三个不同分销渠道的证据”. 除了创建网站和想办法让他们的产品出现在潜在客户面前, 这些学生经常写一些反思性的文章，探索他们正在学习的关于自己的东西, their group, and entrepreneurship in general. 查芬承认，他喜欢“观察其中的感受”，因为他的学生们可能会把一门简单的课程变成对他们来说真实的东西. 他回忆起一个学生在他的公司开业前告诉他的话, “I have hardly slept the last two nights. I’m so stressed.意识到学生们的投入程度，查芬明白了他在只教了一个学期后就放弃教科书的决定是正确的. 他很高兴学生们有机会为自己的企业提出自己的想法, a fact that makes them take a significant degree of ownership for their learning.

As for Chaffin, 这种教学方式“让(他)在校园里结交了朋友”，因为让他的学生离开舒适的教室也影响了他. 他采用这种新教学方式的第一步是成立一个专家小组，以确保一切都是正确的. By reaching out to his peers in the areas of finance, risk management, student life, facilities, and more, he makes sure to get the input his students need to experience success. The panel does more than preapprove the business plans of his students; they stick around for the entire process, seeing each group’s final presentation.

Chaffin loves the way his course has come alive for his students. As a 400-level course with no prerequisites, it’s a diverse class. 来自各个校区的学生意味着，非商业专业的学生与传统的商科学生混在一起. He shares that these non-business majors “add a dose of creativity” to his class, affecting the way he chooses his groups. Just like his groups are all different, 查芬承认，他不知道每个学期他的班级会发生什么. This dose of reality, one that he didn’t experience the first time he taught this class, has added an element of surprise which helps keep his students engaged.

When asked about his future plans for MCT400, 他将自己在课堂上所做的与其他教授在工业技术领域所做的结合起来，这是他所说的“疯狂的想法”. Not only does he want to expand the parameters of the coursework, 但他希望找到一种方法，给他的学生“更多的聚光灯平台”.毕竟，由于他的教学风格发生了改变，他的课堂反映了现实生活. Impressed with what he has seen his students accomplish, he would “love to give them a little bit more of a megaphone.”

Dr. Daniel Chaffin has created an environment where, at the end of the semester, he has watched his students learn to work as a team, 有没有看到他们经历过某种“你无法从书中得到的细微差别”,” and has gained the confidence that they are ready to launch. 他希望通过这种新的教学方式，他的学生已经学会了冒险. 他花了一学期的时间鼓励他们鼓起勇气，“即使(他们)对所有事情都不确定”，也要“勇往直前”. He knows “wonderful things can happen” for them after graduation. In MGT400, 在他们追求创业目标的过程中，查芬让他们尝到了一些伟大的东西.