« Flourishing Football at USC | Self-efficacy »
November 10, 2005
Using the IS Class for Competitive Advantage -- Vicariously ?
I've been telling the students all term that they should use knowledge from the MIS class to gain a competitive advantage in their job interviewing process. "I'm a marketing major, and I also know a lot about the use of information systems in marketing." This week, with the help of one of my students, I had a chance to motivate using Bandura's idea of vicarious experience.
One of the students wants to go to dental school. She's applying to a number of universities and each requires an in-person interview. Several weeks ago, I'd mentioned to her that she could use this class as a way of distinguishing herself in the interview process. Taking that hint, she decided to prepare a report on the role of information systems in modern dentistry. She visited two dentists and interviewed a third. Yesterday, she presented her findings to the class. It was great fun to hear her say that she was surprised and gratified to hear terms like 'local area network,' 'protocol,' 'interface,' 'architecture,' 'data storage,' 'query,' etc.
After her presentation, I asked the class to brainstorm on how she could use the knowledge she'd gained in the interviewing process. There weren't a lot of responses (surprising to me because half the class is marketing students, and I'd think they'd have an idea about how to present this 'product'). But, three or four ideas were terrific. I saw her taking notes at the podium and I hope they'll help her. Meanwhile, I hope even more that the students in the classroom were vicariously learning that they, too, can use this class to help them find and flourish in their new job. "You can use this strategy for careers besides dentistry, by the way ..."
And flourish brings me to the last of the theory, at least for this week.
Posted by DavidK at November 10, 2005 07:12 PM | Permalink