Challenging students to live e-business

Behavioral simulations are often used as a way of exposing students to "real life" situations to gain first hand experience of business problems and solutions, however at the University of the Sunshine Coast we chose to use "experiential learning" as one of the teaching strategies in the unit INF320 Electronic Commerce by exposing final year Bachelor of Business, Information Systems students to implement actual electronic commerce business solutions by drawing on their previous theoretical and behavioral classroom simulations in a tripartite collaborative activity over a whole semester involving the student, the business owner and the university. While behavioral simulations provide an effective way of exposing students to realistic situations, our experience demonstrates that the integration of the university with the local business owner not only raises the profile of university and keeps it in the public eye but also for the students gaining practical insight into the day-to-day operational forces affecting business decision. Students have the opportunity to make a worth while contribution To business, by applying, the knowledge and skills accumulated over the years and hence, build lip self-confidence before moving out into the business world as graduates.