Development of Performance-Based Class Projects in the Arts
Universities have long understood the need to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to apply the course content within the context of a real-world scenario. Kolb (1984) stressed the importance of experience in the process of learning. The best way to achieve this requires that faculty develop a client based project which is relevant to the course. Faculty have experienced difficulties in developing project based courses because of the complexities in identifying potential clients, linking the course content to the needs of the client and determining how to measure the level of success in meeting the client’s expectations.
Most real-world projects require discussion between the client and the project team to evolve the objectives of the project and develop an integrative solution. The lack of project objectives clarity is due to the client’s initial ambiguity regarding the desired outcome and the project teams limited understanding of the relevant industry. Various literature suggest that hands-on learning can make a difference in business. For instance, competencies in business functions is essential in entrepreneurial education (Barringer and Ireland 2011). Competencies can be improved with training (Klarus, Tillema, and Veenstra 1999). Action is the foundation of entrepreneurship (McMullen and Shepherd 2006).
In addition, universities strive to promote the globalization of student experiences by asking faculty to consider the implications of global factors within the development of a project solution. Katula and Threnhauser (1999) indicated that overseas studies are a form of experiential education. International student projects in arts entrepreneurship offers unique ways for students to learn.
The advantages perceived by faculty to demonstrate course content via a global project are balanced by the perceived added logistical and cultural complexities in developing such a course.
The focus of this paper is to discuss the factors to consider in developing a client based project, the complexities added by implementing a global project, and the metrics to consider in determining success. The paper will include examples of global projects conducted as part of a Doing Business in the Dominican Republic class at Millikin University. The focus of these global projects is the promotion of entrepreneurship within the arts community in the Dominican Republic. The examples will include lessons learned on pedagogy, development of a client base and logistics of a travel based course.
Considerations in Developing an International Arts and Entrepreneurship Course
Development of a Client Base
One daunting task of a client based project is how to find clients who wish to participate. Business and art students are told about the importance of networking but many faculty have difficulty in developing and utilizing their networks. The reasons can relate to the perceived limitations of their network, a limited understanding of what their network offers and a perception that it is an imposition on their colleagues. These perceptions on networking are mostly unfounded. By making needs known, often times allows client opportunities to emerge. The issue is being prepared to know how to utilize the opportunity in the class. One of the simplest approaches is to stay in contact and let networks know topics of interest and letting others know of past project accomplishments. Using social media such as Linkedin, blogs, Twitter, and Facebook are excellent ways of letting people know about current research focus and past project successes. One key issue is the required time to keep social media outlets current. This updating takes time and must be directed in a purposeful manner.
Potential sources for identifying clients:
• Academic conferences, associations, and clubs.
• Federal, state and local government agencies can be another fruitful source of projects.
• The Chamber of Commerce is a potential source for local, state and international projects.
• Most U.S. embassies have a Trade Attaché whose role is to promote US trade in the host country.
• Local industries in the community
• Community Arts Councils, community theater companies, Local cultural organizations, community music and symphony guilds, and so on.
The key to success is to adopt a proactive follow up approach to conversations on potential projects.
Relationship to Course Content
A typical university level course has multiple objectives. A faculty member will likely structure the course to meet the objectives relative to a perceived level of importance. The inclusion of a client based project may require the prioritization of the class objectives to meet the client’s needs. Thus, a client based project may require a change from the previous course structure. Some may wonder whether the project should drive the direction of the course or should the course drive the direction of the project. The criterion for selecting a specific project should not be based solely on availability nor should it be on its match with previous pedagogy. Being open to changes in the pedagogy used to meet course objectives, is central to the selection of client based projects. Successful use of client based projects to accomplish course objectives can only be achieved when faculty have clarity on the essence of the course.
Client based projects requires students to move outside of their “comfort zone.” The integrative nature of client based projects requires the student to draw upon multiple skills and new areas of knowledge. Client based projects require both the student and the faculty to be fearless and adopt a “why not” versus a “why should we” approach to meeting a course objective.
The multifunctional nature of decision making can be incorporated into the project by collaborating with other courses, both within and outside of the faculty and student area of expertise. The inclusion of courses outside the student’s area of expertise promotes team building and how to seek out, analyze and incorporate information in the project solution.
International Influences
The internationalization of a project can provide immense benefits in terms of exposure to experiences beyond the student’s current comprehension to the challenge of creating a more realistic solution (Rambler 1991). However, the inclusion of a global influence to a project brings added challenges especially if it includes a travel component. The challenges include local customs and cultural differences, language barrier, transportation logistics, accommodation preferences, dietary considerations, to name a few. These challenges can impact both the student perceptions on the value of the experience and the client’s perception of the project’s success. The authors’ personal experience is that these challenges prevent faculty from considering the inclusion of travel component as they do not know how to address these concerns. The logistical and pedagogical complexities of implementing an international travel course are discussed in the lessons learned segment of this paper. Many university curriculums require the students to read about cultural differences but it is only abstract concepts until the student experiences it in action.
Learning from Successes and Failures: International Student Projects in Arts Entrepreneurship
Millikin University has offered a course titled Doing Business in the Dominican Republic (DR) since 2011. The course has evolved over time to adjust to the clients’ needs and the expansion of the local network in the Dominican Republic. The class focused on exploring solutions for projects which impacted Dominican artists. These projects have ranged from developing ways to finance local artists to development of an entrepreneurship hub with an Arts emphasis. Participation has varied from 12 to 18 students per course with the majority being junior and senior business, nursing, fine arts and arts and science majors, with the majority being business majors. The intentional and cognizant approach of recruiting students across multiple disciplines provided value due to the different approaches of developing solutions, providing benefit to the course and the client.
The inaugural class focused on how to create a microfinance fund focusing on women artists in the Dominican Republic. The course structure required the students to meet with faculty a few times in a traditional classroom setting prior to traveling to the Dominican Republic for eight days. The focus was to gather information for the development of a business plan for a new student organization titled the Millikin Microfinance Fund (MMF). The travel component was essential as a source of secondary research on women artists in the Dominican Republic. Using online databases and interviewing faculty who had traveled to the Dominican Republic, provided little information. The research identified a single point of contact based on discussions with other business and education faculty which had visited the Dominican Republic four or five years previously. In addition, the online research identified an obscure startup magazine, La Lengua, which focused on local art and related cultural events. The founders of La Lengua were alumni of the art school Altos de Chavon. They studied drawing, sculpture and painting. The focus of the magazine was to promote art, not arts and crafts. The publishers tried to develop a means by which other alumni of art schools could show their work, discuss current trends and promote the business aspects of the art world. The Millikin group learned much about the struggles which local artists faced in marketing their art.
Operational Learning Points
The initial trip had multiple objectives: (1) explore the needs of the art community in the Dominican Republic, primarily women artists with entrepreneurial intent; (2) discuss microfinance structure and opportunities with a local microfinance organization; and (3) acclimatize the faculty in the logistics and cultural differences that would be involved with a project based course.
This initial trip taught the faculty and students the following about international operations:
1. A client based course could not be satisfactorily completed during a two-week immersion course.
2. The focus of the microfinance project needed to be redefined to women entrepreneurs, with a preference to be given to artists.
3. For the microfinance project to be successful it needed to partner with a local microfinance organization which knew the locals, had a selection process and a collection process already developed.
4. Faculty started a database which included accommodations, restaurants, local cultural sites and transportation which meet the expectations of the students.
5. Faculty explored the balance between emphasizing the need for students to spend the time to create a viable solution with the need to make this experience enjoyable.
International Research Learning Points
The second course focused on the implementation of the microfinance business plan and lessons learned from the first trip. The course structure changed from an immersion course to a ten-week course offered in the Fall semester. The faculty identified several potential partners which had existing local support structures and a network of local entrepreneurs. The focus was to develop a method to interview and select a partner, with the intent of signing a contract during an in-country visit. The groups were broken up by potential partners for due diligence purposes. The selection method identified included financial stability, extensiveness of network, potential return on investment, how well they could implement the strategic intent of loaning to women artists. The group followed up with the La Lingua team, only to find out the magazine had folded. The La Lengua team shared some lessons learned and what they were considering for future projects.
In this experience, faculty and students learned about international research and cross-cultural activities:
1. Even an expansion of the course to allow students to perform more in-depth research and explore new possible solutions did not fully remove the ambiguities of a client based project.
2. Technology in the form of emails, phone calls and even Skype did not fully address the students’ questions, which could only be answered during the international travel part of the course.
3. Students enjoy learning about the cultural and historical aspects of country.
Management Learning Points
The faculty’s work with the microfinance project expanded to include a new project by the La Lengua team. The La Lengua team determined that local artists needed a space to interface with their peers, hold meetings with potential clients and to learn about marketing their art. The year’s trip held a dual purpose which included the evaluation of the microfinance fund success and working with the group of local artists developing an entrepreneurship hub in Santo Domingo. The student group was divided into smaller teams to work with La Lengua to develop a marketing plan, an organizational structure, pricing schedule, potential arts related business courses and an initial budget. Though the students had developed each of these business plan components in previous courses using case studies and textbook exercises, they found that working with a client was different. The faculty and students learned the following about management:
1. Gathering information by listening was much different than by reading. If one did not understand a certain point in a case study, assumptions would be made. If client comments are not understood, one can ask for clarification.
2. Client objectives can be conflicting.
3. Client preferred solutions may be based on satisfying a singular objective.
4. Interview questions need to seek client’s intent as well as content.
5. How the solution is presented to the client is important in gaining acceptance.
Arts and Entrepreneurship Learning Points
The following year, the faculty expanded relationships to include the school from which the La Lengua team graduated, La Escuela de Diseno Altos de Chavon. The school has been identified as one of the 13 best design schools in the world. The school provides instruction in the areas of communication design, fashion design, fine arts, illustration, digital design, interior design, photography, film production, and architecture. The school is located in a resort community which limits access primarily to guests, homeowners and tourists from cruise lines. It had a renowned faculty and produce skilled artists that exhibit select works in an on-site gallery. The course focus was to explore ways to promote both student and faculty work through the development of a website, involvement with tourism outside the resort community and promotion to the resort’s upscale clientele. The faculty and students continued involvement with the microfinance project by refining contracts and focus on fund recipients. Faculty and student lessons regarding arts and entrepreneurship included the following:
1. Limited knowledge in a technical area should not prevent exploring an opportunity. No one in the group had experience in developing a website. But by seeking expert help and perseverance the group created a professional grade website.
2. To be successful, it is important to know who the decision maker is on the client side. Though the website was enthusiastically received by the client, it was later uncovered that the client was not the final decision maker. This resulted in an extensive delay in its implementation.
3. A successful solution needs to be of sufficient detail regarding time-line, resource needs and budget. Groups that presented general ideas without the detail were not received well by the client. The client wants to know the how, the who, how much and how long.
4. Students learned that the valuation of an item especially art is very subjective. The student art pricing schedule presented by the tourist marketing group was not in line with the value defined by the artist.
Developing and Presenting a Solution Learning Points
The contacts faculty and students made with members of the local art and cultural community in the city of La Romana through the school formed the basis for the year’s projects. Working with the Provincial Director of Culture of La Romana led to the identification of several other potential projects. These projects included development of a strategic plan for a new cultural center which was being transformed from an infamous local prison. The projects included how to market to locals and tourists, providing master classes for local artists, and development of relationships with international partners. The work with La Escuela de Diseno Altos de Chavon continued with the exploration of ways to find opportunities to market student work. The learning points were as follows:
1. The development of actions in the absence of a strategic plan that is accepted at all levels makes it difficult to develop a viable plan.
2. The students discovered the need to understand the organizational chart and who is responsible for making the final decision.
3. The acceptable time to accomplish a task can vary and is related to cultural norms.
4. Look for solutions which may require inclusions of partnerships which complement the skills of the local organization.
5. To create a meaningful solution requires an understanding of where the local organization is in achieving their current objectives, past solutions tried and what level of achievement is sought.
Recommendations for International Projects in Arts and Entrepreneurship
The authors’ experience in developing international client based projects with an arts and entrepreneurship focus may help in the development of similar projects in arts education.
Consider cultural implications. It has been well documented that the internationalization of a project requires the participants to respect cultural differences. What one person believes is important does not mean that others share that belief. This statement is applicable when the client is of a different nationality or a different mindset. Cultural differences were found across multiple projects in the Dominican Republic. Different cultural mindsets were noticed between the business students and the clients with artistic backgrounds. The timelines for project completion promoted by the business students and the clients varied. The mindset on the value of a piece of art was viewed differently between the students and the client, even where the subjectivity of the pricing was considered.
Socialize and communicate clearly. The development of a network, which began with one person, was the result of successful communication, wishes of past clients, people clients knew and sources outside both networks. When expanding a network, there will be other parties who will think that efforts placed are self-benefiting only. It is, therefore important to make sure that faculty and students express capabilities clearly and that intentions are well articulated and highlight benefits to the client.
Adapt and build efficiencies. Success can be found by building on the work of other’s previous efforts. “Do not try not to reinvent the wheel.” If other projects are successful in a geographic region or in an academic area outside one’s expertise, then consider ways where past lessons learned can be adapted to the new project. An important approach is to provide an experience for the students to apply course content. The benefits can include adaption of a project, knowledge about the geographic region, contact and logistics such as hotel and transportation costs.
Find strategic partners. Seek out partners who may have complementary objectives and knowledge. The projects included efforts to collaborate with other programs such as: nursing, education, entrepreneurship and fine arts.
Offer out-of-the-box learning. Most students do not have the confidence to develop a solution which they feel will be meaningful to the client. The typical responses concerns collected from students who participated in the projects included: (1) lack of industry experience; (2) lack of experience with defining client expectations; (3) lack of experience working with ambiguous objectives; (4) fear of working outside comfort zone; and (5) most solutions require and integrative approach using content learned in multiple classes. The authors found the need to develop teams which have complementary strengths. Seeking out and partnering with experts in fields outside their own helped students reduce their knowledge gap, analyze key data and review solutions from different perspectives.
Focus on value. Present information that not only meets the needs of the client but also presented in a format which is understandable and direct. Some students want to do a data dump and provide both relevant and irrelevant data. By working with the client, the students learned the importance of presenting in terms of what the client could relate to in actions, resources and measurements for success.
Make students the “stars.” Faculty need to allow students to learn their own way, and present their solutions, not those of the faculty. The authors were acutely aware that the success of the current project may impact the ability of the faculty to work on future projects with the client. The question of how to guide, versus dictate, the students to a potential solution was present in every project. Setting the bar at a high level at the very beginning helped in this regard. Constant reminder of expectations and accountability was helpful. But, ultimately, helping the students shine and run their own show led to very positive results.
Undertaking an international client based project focused on arts and entrepreneurship is a challenge. Nevertheless, the benefits are significant to both faculty and students. All participants must go in to the project with a positive and fearless mindset in seeking to accomplish at most times an ambiguous effort. Considering the increasing interest in arts and entrepreneurship and its growing practice worldwide, merging academic and practical experiences could be an effective way to groom the next generation of artists and prepare them for professional success.
References
Barringer, B.R., and R.D. Ireland. 2011. Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, 4th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.
Katula, R., and E. Threnhauser. 1999. Experiential Education in the Undergraduate Curriculum. Communication Education 48, pp. 238–55.
Klarus, R., H. Tillema, and J. Veenstra. 1999. “Beoordelen: Met Competentieprofielen of Kwalificatiestructuren: Onderwijs en Bedrijfsleven Staan Weliswaar nog ver van Elkaar af in de Wijze Waarop zij Beoordelen, Maar Groeien Meer en Meer naar Elkaar toe in Denken over en Kiezen van de Wijze van Beoordeling van Medewerkers.” Opleiding and Ontwikkeling 12, no. 11, pp. 15–26.
Kolb, D. 1984. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, 20–38. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
McMullen, J., and D. Shepherd. 2006. “Entrepreneurial Action and the Role of Uncertainty in the Theory of the Entrepreneur.” Academy of Management Review 31, pp. 132–152.