QUTopia's real world learning

On screen title: QUTopia - Snapshots of Learnign & Teaching Excellence

On screen: 2014 OLT Citation for outstanding contribution to student learning Prof Rebekah Russell-Bennett and Dr Kerri-Ann Kuhn

On screen logo: QUTopia a real-world marketing simulation

Good morning everyone, we’re a double act I’ll start the presentation off then I’ll pass you on to my esteemed colleague Kerri. I’m Rebekah and I’m going to introduce you to the world of QUTopia which we’ve developed for the last 10 years. This is our 10th anniversary, we’ve done this for 20 semesters now and, in fact, we have a big birthday party planned tomorrow night with commemorative snow globes that we’re giving away so it’s going to be quite cool.

On screen: Citation for....

On screen: - stimulating marketing students' active learning using role-play simulations

On screen: - building relationships between alumni, industry and current students to bridge the theory-practice gap

As mentioned our citation was for engaging students in learning and doing it through non-computer based simulation. We’re seeing lots of research and pedagogy around simulations and we decided to do something a bit more hands on, a bit more real than computer simulations.

On screen: Job ready workers

This is our starting point, having job ready workers.

On screen: What students think.

We started with our customers, what did students think?

On screen: "39% of students do not feel empowered by their education" 2014 Think Education Survey.

On screen: "65% of young Australians want to run their own business" 2014 Think Education Survey.

This is student’s latest thinking but it’s not that different from when we started. Essentially, research shows continuously that students don’t feel wildly empowered by their education and the statistic that I thought was interesting that is actually growing is that more and more of our undergrads, particularly in business, want to start their own business. Every semester at the start I always ask ‘who wants to start their own business’ show of hands and each semester that percentage seems to grow and I’ve certainly seen that dramatically over the last 10 years. So students are saying they want to be more engaged, they want to be more empowered and by the way they want to take over the world with a business. So that’s one challenge.

On screen: What employers think.

Secondly, what do employers think of our students and these are the top skills that they say that they want.

On screen: "We want: 1. Interpersonal and communication skills 2. Passion/knowledge of industry 3. Critical reasoning skills" Graduate Careers Survey 2013

On screen: "More than 20% of emplyers would have hired more graduates if they wer more appropriate" Graduate Careers Survey 2013

They want top interpersonal and communication skills, they want passion, they want critical reasoning skills and they want it all in an undergrad by the time there 21. What was interesting to me in the latest survey is that more than ‘20% of employers would have hired more graduates if they felt they were more appropriate'. For me when I came to QUT 10 years ago I saw this as the gap in the market and to be honest QUT really is the leader, I think, in this space. The real world positioning that we have is very well known and it is adopted and it's very clear, certainly in the marketing sector, that students are coming out more and more prepared and more and more job ready.

On screen: What is QUTopia?

On screen: A marketing simulation for the real world

What is QUTopia? For our 10th anniversary we’ve just had a banner designed by one of our students and this is the world of Oz, as in Australia. We’ve got our purple brick road and we have our simulation that is embedded within the real world and yet it is distinctive and separate from the real world, it’s a safe little bubble for our students.

On sceen: We designed a role-play simulation that would allow our students to become 'The Purple Cows; of the marketing world. A 'Purple Cow' stands out from the crowd.

It’s a role play simulation that aims for people to become a purple cow (you can see a little purple cow under the storey bridge). The purple cow is a marketing metaphor and it’s all about standing out from the crowd. If you’re walking in a field and you see a bunch of cows and there is a purple one there, the one that is going to attract your attention the most and stand out is the one that is purple. However it is rare and can also become a target because it is rare so it can be taken down by its competitors. We want our students to innovate and stand-out.

On screen: Philosphy
Experential learning, Ludic engagement, Innovation

Our philosophical base is really experiential learning, ludic engagement and I like this word I came across this when I spoke to someone from the design school recently, it's all about having fun and and it’s about innovation.

On screen: Students form business teams
Design, make, and sell a product at 2 marketdays

Our students form business teams in week 1, they have to get super organised really quickly. They have to design a product, make that product, sell it for fake money at 2 market days then they have to write a reflective case study and do a reflective video about what they’ve learnt in the whole process. It’s a full marketing management cycle all done in 13 weeks.

On screen: Started in 2005, 20 semesters, 5000+ students, 1200+ local businesses

Started 10 years ago we’ve had a fair amount of interest across the local community, its involved national companies and we’ve had people from other universities across Australia and overseas interested in replicating this. Our documentation really needs to sharpen up so there is a commercialisable brand that we can sell.

On screen: How does QUTopia work?

How student success is measured, How QUT supports student attainment of real world marketing skills

How does it work? It’s really focused on our core goal which is real world marketing skills.

On screen: Real World Marketing Skills, Marketing Plan, Marketdays, Case Analysis and Reflection

The assessment around it is a marketing plan, 2 market days in which they actually get to make and sell their product and then they have a case analysis and a reflection to complete the cycle.

On screen: Industry mentors, Classes, QUTopia alumni, Facebook site, QUTopia TV platform

Around that we have industry, we have industry mentors that come in and interact virtually on a virtual platform that we’ve built with videos, we have classes which they can attend face-to-face or virtually, we have the tutorials which are marketing consultants as our tutors who take them through the process of writing their plans, we have alumni that get involved through donation of products, as mentors or come back at market day. We have a Facebook site and we have the QUTopia TV platform which is a YouTube clone site where the students can post videos and questions for their mentors which they get answered.

I've got a very short one minute video to show you what a market day looks like and hopefully that can convey the sense of what the students do.

(Video played)
On screen: QUTopia a real-world marketing simulation

The students make everything. They make the stall, the products. It's about 280 students every semester.

This video gives a good sense of how the marketing day is run and as you can see it is just like a market that you might attend at Southbank or anywhere else. In the QUTopia simulation we try to make the experience real for the students but we have actually mimicked the real world more than we intended. What we tend to see is that the students really facilitate the real world in what they do as part of the simulation so we tend to see real trends in consumer behaviour reflected in the things that they are doing as part of the simulation, and the on trend products that they bring along to market day. So in essence, the students are co-creating the real world with us, so that this is truly a dynamic simulation.

So we thought it would be useful to show you some of the products that some of the past students have done, and over the years…. Over the years we’ve seen some innovative and yummy products; lots of people actually paid $50 for these bath bombs, funnily enough. These cute little herbs were sold in recycled cups. This team developed some coffee body scrubs, while another team recently sold these adorable pet rocks. We really loved this one. And of course there’s always lots of food as well.

But while we do try to provide our students a fun experience, there is a serious side of this in terms of the assessment.

On screen: Designing and assessing for learning

On screen: Acquire knowledge (passive) - Lectures (provide overview of marketing planning and management .....) - Planning Assessment Item 1 Marketing plan

On screen: Apply knowlege - Tutorials (apply concepts from lectures, develop materials for marketing plan) - Planning Assessment Item 1 Marketing plan

On screen: Test knowledge - Marketdays (implement materials and plans) - Implementaion Assessment Item 2 Marketdays

On screen: Develop new knowledge (active) - Evaluate (evaluate effectiveness of plans, reflect and develop improvements for futures plans) - Evaluation Assessment Item 2 Case-analysis.

So students effectively carry out the entire marketing, planning and management cycle, as Rebekah mentioned. And that’s directly linked to the assessment. We scaffold the curriculum so we support the students at each stage, as they progress. So first, students acquire knowledge through the lectures, and they then apply that knowledge as a part of the tutorial activities where they complete worksheets that feed directly into the first assessment task, which is a marketing plan. So for that first one, student teams essentially write a plan for their QUTopia business. The plan is then implemented at the two market days. Here we test students’ knowledge that they’ve gained, and we observe the activities at those market day events. So this constitutes their second assessment item. And then finally we have students evaluate the effectiveness of their team, their team’s performance, and to consider perhaps what they could have done differently. So this provides them with an opportunity to reflect on the simulation and as part of this process they gain new knowledge. So the final item of assessment is an individual reflective case analysis.

On screen: Engaging industry

On screen: (logos for Coca Cola, Krispy Kreme donuts, Bundaberg Ginger Beer, Sofitel, Carmans

Industry is engaged at each stage of the process. So virtual industry mentors assist students in the planning stage. Primarily they offer advice on the student’s product ideas, and they answer some other questions as well. These industry mentors come from a variety of industries; the majority are senior marketing experts. Many of them are actually QUTopians who have now graduated.

Secondly each semester we have more than 60 businesses who donate products to the student teams, for them to sell at the market day events. And many of these sponsors and industry mentors come along to see what the students come up with. And then finally after the market days, the mentors and sponsors often give the students feedback which then helps them as part of that reflection in the final assessment task.

On screen: Engaging for learning Web 2.0

To support students we employ a range of technologies, these are tools of the real world so there is skill development here. QUTopia TV, as Rebekah mentioned, is a YouTube clone that we have specifically developed for QUTopia, and we did that with the support of a faculty teaching and learning grant. So for the final item of assessment, students submit a written component, but they also upload a reflective video to the QUTopia TV platform. This facilitates knowledge sharing within and across student cohorts so we can achieve greater impact. Students are given an opportunity to upload a practice video earlier in the semester, so they have a chance to practice using the technology and also to gain early feedback on their work. We incentivise that activity by engaging the industry mentors at that point.

Secondly is the Facebook site as Rebekah mentioned, so that’s another vehicle we use for knowledge sharing. We now have more than 859 members; many of them are QUTopia alumni.

Third, QUTopia is also supported by a range of surveys that students are asked to complete over the semester. That data assists them in their business operations and their business analysis. So we capture data using key survey and those data help the students with things like their market share calculations, their competitor analysis, and so on. We also embed YouTube in Blackboard to support the simulation.

On screen: How do we influence, motivate and inspire students to learn?

On screen: Real world low-risk learning: Emphasis is on what is learned, not achived; Role-playing in a safe environment

On screen: Student's active and collaborative engagement: Active and collaborative learning underpin the design; Promotes higher student engagement than traditonal format.

On screen: Structured connections with industry: Industry sponsors and mentors participate; Makes the theory practice link explicit for students.

On screen: Using reflection to motivate learning: Teaching, practising and assessing relection enhances learning; Our reflections help extend the curriculum with new innovations.

On screen: Evaluation student learning using technology: Smartphone app to gain feedback throughout the semester; Shows sustained learning, peaking when assessment is due.

So in summary, the QUTopia simulation influences, motivates and inspires students to learn in a variety of different ways and in our citation these are the five elements which we presented and essentially they summarise a decade’s worth of work. So first QUTopia exposes second–year students to the complexities of marketing problems, and engages them in an authentic learning experience. This is an experiental learning activity but is low risk. The emphasis is on what is learned, not what is achieved. So the students don’t get marks for the amount of profit they achieve or the number of sales they make. So QUTopia therefore provides a safe environment where the student teams can really you know, innovate and take risks, and through role-playing they experience first-hand the joys and challenges of working in a team based marketing role.

Active and collaborative learning underpin the design. Those kinds of approaches promote student engagement, and we found through our research (which we have published in the leading marketing education journal) that our unit is more engaging than other marketing subjects that use a more traditional approach.

Structured connections with industry make that theory-practice link more explicit for students, as we mentioned. Motivating students through reflective learning and co-creation is a central pedagogical element of our approach as well. Reflection is a critical success factor in marketing also, and it’s a skill we give the students an opportunity to practice, as part of the practice video, and then we assess it in the final assessment task. We have published a paper that looks at the value of video for teaching and assessing reflective learning. We also reflect on our own learnings and we develop our curriculum based on student feedback, and through those reflections we’ve incorporated new innovations into the simulation over the years. What we tend to see is co-creation between the teaching team, students and sometimes industry. So an example, as Rebekah mentioned with the logos; the logos for QUToptia TV and QUTopia, the students actually created those. Another example of how we use reflection to enhance student learning relates to our practice, whereby we use technology to gain feedback from our students. As part of the re-frame pilot projects we were awarded a grant to develop a smart phone app that allowed us to capture student feedback in class. So that also provided us with valuable data.

On screen: So is QUTopia a great learning experience?

On screen: Don't just take our word for it

On screen: Student evaluations of teaching - Scores range 4 3-4.9/5; "most exciting and enjoyable subject"; "QUTopia is a fantastic, rewarding experience which really does teach you real-world skills"

On screen: 2008 & 2010 QUT Vice-Chancellor's Award for teaching

On screen: 2010 Proven levels of higher engagement than a traditional unit

On screen: 2014 Federal Government Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning

In terms of our success, don’t just take our word for it. We’ve summarised the awards and things that we have won over the years. Not to boast, but we are very proud of the hard work and achieving those outcomes.

Where to from here as the real world changes? QUTopia will also change along with it and certainly continue, we hope, to be a purple cow in marketing education, and demonstrate how QUT is a university for the real world. Thank you.

On screen: Making a Real Difference: Snapshots of Learning and Teaching Excellence.