'Real World': Cases vs. Competitions

The most rewarding and engaging learning experiences I have had throughout my university career have consistently been consulting projects for people in real organizations. I find it odd that many professor's solution to providing students with 'real world' or 'hands on' experience comes through case studies that they have been recycling for years. First off, after the third or forth presentation, the professor is probably bored and has already set an idea of exactly what they think is the ideal "A" presentation. Second, how can a student interact with a course pack? In the 'real world' consultants are people who consult- ask questions, learn the ins and outs of an organization, and ideally co-create strategies with people in the organization.

While I see the value of learning from the past and attempting to avoid making the same mistakes, I am worried that we are, in effect, just sending our young minds into the work force with a set of 'best practices' that, as the economic crisis has shown us, don't work anymore. Talking with other students, I have consistently found that the greatest learning has come through projects like this Microsoft competition or other case competitions and club involvements. Why is it that we are not getting the same value from inside the classroom? I think that our universities need to innovate the system from within or we are just going to continue sending people into the work force with the same faulty mind-sets that lead us to this crisis in the first place. There is such high potential to learn from group work but we can't continue with the same cases and same best practices that have been used for decades.

-SR