Sales Course Design Using Experiential Learning Principles and Bloom's Taxonomy.

Abstract

Practitioner concerns and the changing educational marketplace are pressuring colleges to provide more skills based learning. Among the newer skill based areas of study that is greatly in demand is professional sales. In this paper, two courses in a successful professional sales program are examined through the lenses of experiential learning theory and Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Experiential learning theory posits that cycles of experience and reflection can create greater levels of understanding and skills. Bloom’s taxonomy provides a sequence of increasingly comprehensive and complex levels of learning. These two frameworks are conceptually combined to show how experiential learning cycles can incrementally move students to higher levels of learning. The exercises and activities in the professional sales courses support and illustrate this important concept and show how tangible, marketable skills can be developed in a classroom setting.