“Why are we doing this?”: Helping students make the connection between classroom learning and their futures

Keywords: Application of learning, andragogy vs pedagogy, bridging class and work

Abstract: How many times have we heard students say things like, “I will never use information from this class” or “this is a pointless assignment”? Knowing that we as management educators have carefully and thoughtfully designed assignments, it can be frustrating when students do not make the connections between in-class learning and skill development with their future internships or jobs. During this roundtable, we will discuss this challenge and brainstorm ways to help students better make these connections. We hope attendees walk away with some tangible ideas of how to help students make these important connections.