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Teaching from Experience:

Bringing the "Real World" into the Classroom

Fran Greene and Students By Dale Smith

Many Embry-Riddle faculty members who have "day jobs" or prior careers in industry find that sharing their real-world experience is an ideal way to prepare students to handle the challenges they'll face after graduation.

In addition to being principal scientist and engineer on the International Space Station and U.S. Space Shuttle programs, James Peters has also been a part-time instructor at a number of Embry-Riddle's Extended Campus locations in the United States and Europe. "Students really enjoy and learn from the numerous examples and applications from the premier space programs in the world (while) illustrating the principles covered in the course textbooks," he explained. "The majority have benefited by receiving promotions, advancement in their organization, and increased professional credibility, expertise, and responsibility. The astronaut class of 2000 had four Embry-Riddle graduates, and one of those happened to be a former student of mine."

Students attending Embry-Riddle are faced with educational challenges and opportunities that were unheard of just a generation ago. The Internet instantly puts a world of information at their fingertips. Classrooms and laboratories are filled with equipment that was previously found only in the world's leading research facilities. And today's professors are better equipped to share their knowledge with students in the classroom and across the globe.

But with all those opportunities comes a greater challenge: namely, how do you effectively blend those classroom skills with the "real-world" insights that students need to excel in the business world? Embry-Riddle's solution to this challenge has been to use carefully selected industry professionals to teach a variety of classes at its residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and at Extended Campus locations around the world.

Experience carries weight with students
"Close to half of our full-time business faculty have worked in their functional area in a company before teaching," explained Dan Petree, dean of the College of Business at Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach campus. Before joining the university, he worked for the FAA, where he helped develop the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "It carries great weight with our students, especially those in our MBA programs. These faculty bring into the classroom experience, problems, and examples that resonate with students."

"If you haven't been anywhere else, you only teach from the textbook," added Fran Greene, chairperson of the human factors and engineering department, who worked for the U.S. Air Force for 15 years as a human factors specialist. "Textbooks only give you one view, model or theory. But faculty with experience can grow that topic and can give examples from real situations they've faced. You get a richer experience."

And sometimes those experiences travel a long way before they end up in the classroom. For Phil Jones, who teaches global security and intelligence studies at the Prescott campus, much of what he now teaches was learned while doing security consulting for U.S. corporations, including risk work and negotiations with tribal groups in the Middle East. "This experience gave me a much better sense of how the world really works," he said. "In a university that prides itself on a strong practical component in higher education, this kind of experience is invaluable."

"Certainly faculty with industry experience can be key to maintaining a beneficial research interchange between the university and the corporate world," Jones added. "And the practical element that such professors bring can help make Embry-Riddle students more attractive in the competition for jobs."

Ray Mankbadi and Student Applied concepts help job performance
"My 'real-world experience' has centered on various financial management positions in industries from manufacturing to software development," said Gene Guillemette, a software quality assurance analyst who teaches economics courses at Embry-Riddle's Extended Campus center at the McGuire Air Force Base. "When teaching my corporate finance courses, I bring in the actual screens, as shown on Bloomberg Professional Services, that the major Wall Street investment banks are accessing. Seeing core concepts applied in the business world is a great motivator to students. They see first-hand that what they are learning in my class can help them perform their jobs more effectively."

"The Extended Campus student is an adult learner with several years of work experience," he added. "Students of this nature come to appreciate instructors who have actually done the job and applied the concepts that they are learning in the field. When I reflect back on my graduate and doctoral studies, invariably I learned more from those instructors who had both the degrees and the industry experience."

Of course, a well-rounded education is a balance of accepted academics and "real-world" experiences. "I have been involved with numerous engineering conferences that were successful because of their mix of academic and industry participants," said Michael Blinn, a senior stress analysis engineer for Boeing and an Embry-Riddle Extended Campus instructor. "Attendees from industry would usually raise the real-world problems, while the attendees from academia assist in the solutions. It was a classic win-win situation. This combination of industry experience tempered with academic training provides excellent synergy for dealing with real issues in the business world."

Networking a collateral advantage
"While the biggest advantage of faculty with prior careers is the practical experience and application," he added, "another collateral advantage is the opportunity for students to network with instructors and students and explore job and career opportunities."

One beneficiary of networking is William Jacobs, who recently graduated from Embry-Riddle with a degree in professional aeronautics. "One of my instructors knew of my work and talked to the people at Lufthansa and that's how I got my interview and ultimately my current job," he said. "I got some great tips on what the airlines were looking for."

Dave Kremzar, another recent graduate with a B.S. in professional aeronautics echoed Jacobs' remarks. "I've found that learning from a working professional is much more effective for me. What better person to teach Embry-Riddle students than a successful aviation business person?"

To the majority of students, that is an invaluable asset. "Students have informed me that the insider knowledge they've learned in my lectures and exercises has helped them to better prepare for securing positions in the industry," explained Robin Sobotta, assistant professor at Embry-Riddle's Prescott campus. For 16 years she managed airports, including Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Muskegon County International Airport, San Luis County Airports, and Deer Valley Municipal Airport. "Students enjoy learning this type of real-world or industry information, which is not available in texts. Further, I have found that sharing my experiences with students helps animate my lectures and keeps students more actively engaged."

Robert McGrath and Students Preparation includes an insider view
"For example, a 2001 graduate, employed in an operations position at a California airport, informed me that his awareness of the 'insider view' of airport operations, particularly environmental issues, were instrumental in preparing him for the challenges he faces," she said.

Getting professional insight into preparing to get a job or a promotion is just the beginning of the advantages Embry-Riddle students get from working with leading industry professionals. Many times the instructors create situations where working students can bring their own problems or situations into the classroom as they search for a solution.

Richard Cavanagh, an Extended Campus instructor and senior systems engineer for the U.S. Navy's Landing Craft, Air Cushion Vehicle program, added his unique perspective. "My classroom discussions are more oriented to the realities and surprises of the real world. In several instances the lessons in class have led to contributions at work," he explained. "In an undergraduate safety class, we discussed the dangers of accepting safety axioms without thinking. One of my students noticed that his company issued steel-toed shoes to all personnel, per contract safety requirements. As we discussed his position of working with high-power electrical sources, he recognized that steel-toed shoes in this particular application were hazardous. He did some research and located nonconductive, composite shoes. He presented the solution to his management, and his performance shined."

Industry councils serve as reality checks
It takes more than the input of faculty to guide the future course of a global university like Embry-Riddle - there are just too many contributing factors. So to ensure that the current, and future, curriculum will continue to meet the needs of all the industries it serves, the university relies heavily on continual feedback from the members of its industry advisory councils.

Composed of volunteer representatives from leading companies and government agencies, the advisory councils serve important roles in guiding and shaping the individual academic programs at Embry-Riddle. "The industry advisory councils continue to be instrumental in keeping us focused on the needs of employers," explained Sobotta, at the Prescott campus. "They also share with us important changes in our industry, so we can deliver constructive and timely information to our students. In addition, council members have helped our students directly by providing mock interviews and considering them for employment opportunities."

"The industry advisory councils are very effective sounding boards and reality checks," added Petree, dean of business at Daytona Beach. "They help us sort out our truly valuable thoughts from those that are merely intellectually entertaining - they keep us anchored in reality." And creating a learning environment where real-world solutions are found for real-world questions is what a degree from Embry-Riddle is all about.