Understanding University-Industry Collaboration on Project-based Learning in Business Education

Abstract

The literature suggests that the use of project-based learning (PBL) in business education through university-industry or academic-corporate collaboration could cultivate well-educated graduates for the workplace, whereas little research has been conducted to address the motivations, implementation and management of a collaborative PBL course in the field. It is against this background that this qualitative study attempts to explore the know-how behind the scenes and shed light on how PBL courses are initiated, collaborated, and managed by the faculty and industry partners in business education through the lens of a 3-Pillar Framework, that of Partnership, Pedagogy, Procedure. An Asian pilot case study and three European case studies were conducted, and perspectives of multiple stakeholders (the faculty, the industry partners and the students) have been analyzed. Results reveal that partner recruitment is the top challenge of project course implementation, and different partner recruitment strategies imply different organizational structures. Different pedagogical practices in terms of course structure and student group formation strategy are applied due to dissimilar instructors’ beliefs. Four typical project phases of a university-industry project course collaboration are outlined. A series of practical recommendations are proposed to support the effective implementation of collaborative PBL courses.