UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — From constructing towers to landscapes, Penn State students are building physical representations of business strategies and practicing creative problem-solving as part of the “Lego Learning Initiative for Hospitality Management Education.”

Michael Tews, associate professor in the Penn State School of Hospitality Management, leads this learning initiative. He received a 2023-24 Teaching Transformation and Innovation Grant from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence to experiment, test or implement a teaching innovation that addresses an important instructional concern.

"This approach is hands on, visual and interactive,” Tews said. “The more we can incorporate hands on, interactive and social elements in the classroom, the more we can create engaging learning opportunities for students.”

This spring, the Lego Learning Initiative is implemented into the curriculum of the course HM366: Human Resources and Hospitality, where students take part in a few building sessions throughout the semester. Each session has three rounds of building, where students construct physical representations based on prompts Tews provides them. For example, one prompt asked students to show their interpretations of an ideal workplace by building a physical structure with Lego blocks.

Through the Lego Learning Initiative, students also learned about employee recruiting and performance management techniques. After this prompt, students built mini-Lego figures that had accessories and colors symbolizing different personality traits.

When first constructing their figures, students did not know that accessories and colors would be related to personality traits. After creating their figure, students learned which accessories and colors represented which traits. Students then had to use critical thinking to demonstrate how their figure could excel in a workplace.

The class, which is also creating episodes for a podcast named HR from Happy Valley, has used Legos to demonstrate the themes of their podcast topics, such as mental health and fun in the workplace. Once created, these podcast episodes can be found on Spotify.

“Teamwork, collaboration and communication are essential skills in hospitality,” Tews said. “The Lego Learning Initiative helps students develop these transferable skills and brings them back to the forefront of the classroom.”

At the School of Hospitality Management, students also can innovate with Lego blocks in a dedicated space outside of the classroom. The school has an Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ENTI) Lab embedded inside the Marriott Foundation Building where students can use Lego materials for creativity, brainstorming and innovation.

These creative and innovative approaches to critical thinking can help hospitality students who may want to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors and start their own businesses, from hotels and institutional management to restaurants and travel agencies, according to Tews.

To pair with their major in hospitality management, students can also pursue a minor in ENTI.

“The Lego Learning Initiative is a great way to get students quickly bonded with each other,” Tews said. “It’s a way to get them to talk to each other and is a great brainstorming technique. The benefits are having better conversations with each other.”