Creating Impactful Student Learning in a Business Analytics Program through Leveraging Scholar-Practitioner Engagement

Industry demand for talented analytics professionals has created a significant increase in degree programs (e.g., MS in Analytics) around the globe. Many of these programs incorporate experiential learning in the curriculum to foster a deeper understanding. This paper focuses on the value and challenges in implementing experiential learning in an analytics-focused degree program by incorporating and scaffolding multiple organizational analytics projects throughout the curriculum. In addition, this paper focuses on the manner in which these organizational analytics projects can create value for scholars, beyond student learning. Scholar-practitioner partnerships have the potential to advance not only the field of academic research but also the rigor of actual practice. We report our experiences and best practices in creating and leveraging scholar-practitioner partnerships in the context of project-based experiential learning in a Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program. We provide motivation for creating such partnerships for teaching analytics, document student and organizational success, offer illustrations of exemplary experiential learning projects, and discuss the challenges that need to be managed