Learning by Doing: Studio Classes in MIS Education

The idea of a “studio class” is a foreign concept in many traditional business schools. In a school of Art or Architecture, studio classes are the standard format for practical learning. In a studio class much less time is devoted to traditional lecture, instead students focus on doing their own projects, in essence, “learning by doing”. A concept that is even more foreign than a studio class is the concept of a “vertical studio”. In a vertical studio, students of varying levels of advancement work together as a unified team on a single project. As with a typical studio course, the emphasis is on experiential learning, but with a vertical studio format, students at different points in their education can make different contributions to the team based on their skills and ability. In this paper we will discuss an innovative approach to basic MIS education that we modeled on design studio formats and introduced at the Fox School at Temple University. We will discuss MIS3504 – Digital Design and Innovation and MIS3535 – Change Leadership. Each of these courses is a studio course where the emphasis is on learning by doing. These two courses are linked together to form a vertical studio helping students to not only master the content from their respective courses but also to learn to work together as a cohesive team. This paper documents our observations over the last 4 years since we implemented this format in the Fall semester of 2011. This paper serves as the launch point for framing a more formalized study, data collection and analysis of the learning outcomes observed.