Shared Enquiry: the path to becoming a self-reliant thinker

Shared Enquiry = the path to becoming a self-reliant thinker

Right answers do not exist in MBA-level discussions; everyone

in the classroom should actively engage in the discovery of knowledge.

The Otago MBA management team and our lecturers subscribe to an active learning model in which students participate in the learning process and daily practice their thinking skills, while demonstrating the ability to apply course material (e.g., marketing, finance, organizational leadership, economics, statistics) to complex business problems. In other words, we encourage shared enquiry as the path to becoming a self-reliant thinker, someone who can express him or herself with clarity and conviction; who can think conceptually (e.g., identify and define key terms); as well as contribute to the collaborative discovery of a deeper understanding of fundamental challenges facing global businesses.

Our students are asked to adhere to essential guidelines for engaging in productive discourse in our small seminar-style classes:

• Resist overly quick judgements
• Avoid arguing from small-N experience (e.g., we did it this way) and opinion
• Support your reasoning using credible references (e.g., course materials)
• Relate comments to the ongoing discussion
• Strive for dialogue rather than a monologue
• Seek to include all others in the conversation
• Do not direct all discussions through the lecturer
• Consider questions as a good way to enter the conversation
• Avoid dominating with comments that are too lengthy or of little interest to others
• Use courtesy and civility in all communications
• Feel encouraged to continue lively debates outside the classroom

I will have more to say about the importance of building powerful thinking

skills in future posts: we consider this as fundamental to the transformation our students

experience in our programme.

Cheers,

David