This story is featured in the Spring 2020 edition of the HPU Magazine.
Dr. Miguel Sahagun, assistant professor of marketing at HPU, knows the key to kicking off new classes each semester is starting with teamwork.
His style of teaching closely emulates different elements of sports, like the importance of practice, working together and solving problems.
“Throughout my tenure as a professor, I have learned the one industry everyone can relate to—sports,” says Sahagun. “I use sports as my teaching methodology because I know everyone can understand the analogies, and it is the only field where individuals accept the fact that they have to practice to learn and master the craft.”
Sahagun compares each component of his classes to practice sessions.
“If students follow the process I have developed, they will not need to study,” says Sahagun. “The assignments and class structure are designed to expose students to material several times and make them think about it from different angles, just like an athlete in practice.”
During each class, or practice session, students work together in groups to determine the questions that are most important for the class to address.
“This prepares them for the real world,” says Sahagun. “When students begin their careers, they will be put on a team and have to learn how to work best with people who are different from themselves.”
Asking students to work with others to think critically about an issue is just one component of the most important lesson students will learn in Sahagun’s classes—the ability to problem solve. For Sahagun, it is imperative to equip students with critical life skills.
“The one who does the work also does the learning—that’s my mantra,” says Sahagun. “I always ask questions and engage the students so they are learning without being lectured.”
Because Sahagun is such a great mentor, students like Joseph Shomaker, a senior majoring in marketing, seek out opportunities to learn from him beyond the classroom.
“Dr. Sahagun has taught me more about marketing than I could ever imagine,” says Shomaker. “He always offers suggestions and advice to engage students and makes us his top priority. He gave me the opportunity to join his undergraduate research team for my last two years at HPU to help me grow as a marketing professional and student. Without Dr. Sahagun, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m very thankful for his mentorship and guidance.”
“Without Dr. Sahagun, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m very thankful for his mentorship and guidance,” Joseph Shomaker, Senior Marketing Major and Undergraduate Research Assistant
Additionally, Sahagun takes this model outside of the classroom during a four-week “Maymester” trip. Most recently, Sahagun and Dr. Cindy Hanson, associate professor of marketing, traveled with students in the Earl N. Phillips School of Business to Spain to immerse themselves in the marketing trade on an international level.
During their time in Spain, students combined their classwork with experiential learning, utilizing space in the University of Salamanca to attend classes Monday through Thursday and traveling to different regions of the country to immerse themselves in various marketing practices on the weekends.
“Being able to learn the business practices and culture in Spain is what truly makes this trip so unique,” said Patrick Horn, a marketing major and sport management minor at HPU.
The students traveled to Segovia, Spain, to visit Alcazar of Segovia, a medieval castle, which they learned was inspiration for the castle in Walt Disney’s “Snow White.”
“In the classroom, we talk about how history and culture play into varying aspects of marketing, but it really comes to life for the students when they participate in experiential learning activities like this,” said Hanson. “It is so rewarding to see the students’ understanding grow through these experiences.”