The Integrative Business Experience: Real Choices and Real Consequences Create Real Thinking

This article describes an innovation called the Integrative Business Experience (IBE) that links a set of required core business courses to an entrepreneurial practicum course in which two things occur. One is that students are concurrently enrolled in the required core business courses and a practicum course while they create a start-up business (based on an actual bank loan) and use the profits to finance a hands-on community service project. The other is that the core courses are taught using the Team-Based Learning (TBL) to shift the focus of class work from content delivery to content application, and promote the development of interpersonal and team skills. The wide acceptance of the value of active learning over the past 30 years has supported the foundation of Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory, i.e., learning is transformed through experience. IBE provides students with a transformative experience that can engage them in every learning style in Kolb's model. IBE combined with TBL fosters development of the teamwork, interpersonal, and communication skills necessary for effective problem-solving. This article uses Kolb's cycle of learning to describe how and why the real experience provided by IBE enables students to develop the ability to engage in analytical thinking through practical reasoning, reflective exploration of meaning, and multiple framing. Further, because students’ experiences in IBE are real, they are able to reflect on their personal identities and values as they make decisions in both their business and service activities, and experience the consequences of their choices.