Hope College Management Program
Teaching and Learning Styles

To satisfy educational outcomes relating to doing well and doing good, we seek to develop in students intellectual characteristics and dispositions. How do we satisfy these outcomes? We desire to teach students the language, logic, and rhetoric of business. To do this we believe in implementing three key pedagogical strategies: (1) “Perspectival Learning,” which develops critical learning skills, (2) Experiential Learning, which enhances critical learning skills and dispositions, and Service Learning, which reinforces both intellectual characteristics and dispositions toward learning and toward serving God and humanity. We incorporate these teaching and learning styles in our management curriculum, and, unique to Hope College, our Baker Scholar’s program.

“Perspectival Learning” helps us see phenomena from various points of view. Perspectival learning prepares students to be effective managers because effective management requires the ability to see phenomena through theories grounded in multiple perspectives. One way of implementing Perspectival Learning is to engage students in readings from primary sources, including readings from primary sources that emphasize Christian perspectives. In other works, when studying management theory, we read works by the major theorists and ask questions concerning their theories, how these theories are applied, and the assumptions underlying these theories. Then we might consider these assumptions in light of Christian perspectives.

Experiential Learning allows us to learn how to learn because it encourages us to reflect on what we see, rethink existing theories, relate these theories to practice, and reflect again on the results of this application. One way of implementing Experiential Learning is by engaging students in computer simulation, the same computer simulation that executives at a Fortune 500 company use. Computer simulation allows students the opportunity for reflecting on and rethinking business theories, relating these theories to practice by competing with other student teams, and reflecting, rethinking, and relating again.

Service Learning is experiential learning that serves the community. Students at Hope College have the opportunity to learn by serving through the Institute for Student Consulting. The teaching and learning strategies of Perspectival Learning, Experiential Learning, and Service Learning are made more powerful in the intimate academic environment that exists at Hope College and by the active, curious learners that it attracts.