National surveys routinely list the skills employers look for in new college graduates. This article describes a classroom activity that helps build those skills in your students but does not require dedicating your whole course to the effort. Guests from the business world visit class for only 1 hour and bring real problems for the students to work on while the client visits. Students must quickly analyze the client’s situation, develop possible solutions in a team and time-pressured environment, and then present their ideas to the guest within that hour. Nine iterations during the semester seems to be enough.
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