Experiential Learning and Value Co-Creation in the Classroom: A New Examination Using Social Media Monitoring

Abstract

Recent research has explored maximizing value in classrooms through experiential learning to focus on longer-term positive benefits for students such as intellectual development, cognitive enhancement, and improved attitudes. One way to emphasize longer-term benefits is through implementing experiential learning and allowing students to co-create value in their education. In marketing, value co-creation assumes consumers’ active participation in creation of value together with the firm. A recent review outlines core elements of value co-creation to include (1) coproduction and (2) value-in-use. Value-in-use extends beyond coproduction to focus on the customer’s experiential evaluation of the product/service proposition beyond functional attributes to apply their own meaning to generate usage value. As such, value co-creation can readily take place in the classroom by giving students the opportunity to co-create their educational experience. Students are given the opportunity to take the ownership of the project and derive meaningful and transformative learning that leads to personalized value-in-use of the new skills they acquire. In this paper, we detail our experiential learning class project that allowed us to observe value co-creation in the classroom.