Integrating the Real Estate Curriculum

Executive Summary: An integrated real estate program has tremendous potential to enhance the educational experience of students but it requires an enormous commitment of time, effort and resources on the part of faculty, the business community and the university. Emphasis on team building is combined with communication and computer skills and offers students the opportunity to go beyond simply accumulating knowledge by applying what is learned to real world projects. The use of cooperative and collaborative learning techniques in class requires considerable reeducation of the faculty. Numerous issues must be resolved for an integrated program to be successful, such as students who lack experience working in teams, developing an assessment system based on evaluating skills and personal responsibility as well as knowledge, and significant limitations on academic freedom associated with the need for classroom activities related to mutually agreed upon team cases and projects. While the time commitment is substantial on the part of affected faculty and administrators, there can be tremendous benefits to students and faculty from an integrated program.