Completion deadlines,adaptive learning assignments,and student performance

The authors examine effects on student performance, from applying different deadline strategies to online assignments in face-to-face principles of macroeconomics courses. Students in one section were required to complete weekly adaptive learning assignments. Students in the second section were required to complete the adaptive assignments only before each of the three exams administered in the course, thereby giving students more control over when to complete them. The findings show that the presence of rigid deadlines detracted from student participation with the adaptive learning assignments. However, the assignments contributed positively to performance in the traditional assessment categories of homework and exams.     

Experiential Learning in International Business via the World Wide Web

Abstract

The article describes the implementation of Internet-based experiential projects within an international-business classroom setting and summarizes students' perceptions and attitudes towards the assignments. While the projects were shown to increase students' international business skills and abilities, students reported that the assignments were difficult and only mildly enjoyable. The paper discusses trends in business education and relates them to specific assignments designed to enhance learning outcomes.     

Course-Specific Motivated Learning and Outcomes: The Role of the Perceived Task Value of Course-Specific Assignments

Although the internationalization of curricula has increased steadily over the past 30 years, most universities and business schools have concentrated their efforts on program assessment activities, leaving course-level assessment as a gap in most international business assessment portfolios. To address the gap in aligning course-specific designs with course-specific learning outcomes, the current study focuses on a specific course domain. This study (1) assesses how students' subject-specific motivational beliefs and learning behavior affect their perceived learning outcomes, and (2) examines how students' perceptions of the task value of subject-specific assignments strengthen or weaken the effect of motivated learning on learning outcomes. The results highlight the critical roles of group-based term projects and individual-based IT tasks in strengthening the effect of self-efficacy and deep learning behavior on learning outcomes. International business educators are thus advised to manage students' perceived task value with regard to outcome and effort expectancy. Practicable recommendations are provided for building up students' expectations about desirable learning outcomes in relation to project-specific assignments, and fostering students' beliefs about return-on-efforts through project-specific assessment rubrics.     

The effect of class session length on student performance,homework, and instructor evaluations in an introductory accounting course

The author examines the effect of class format on student performance, time spent on homework, and instructor evaluations. The findings are unique and add to a limited body of literature. Each group comprised similar undergraduate students who received the same number of instructional hours, same assignments and were taught by the same instructor. Students in the one-day-a-week class performed significantly better than students in the two-days-a-week class. Students in the one-day-a-week class spent more time on online homework, although the difference was not statistically significant. Differences in instructor evaluation ratings were nominal.     

Performance differences between face-to-face and online students in economics

The author analyzes differences in student performance in an economics course offered face to face (F2F) and online over a period of four semesters at a comprehensive public university. Apart from mode of delivery, the characteristics of the course stayed nearly identical throughout. Exam and homework assignment scores are used as measures of performance. Although mean comparisons and basic regressions indicate that online students outperform F2F students on exams, once self-selection is addressed, online students no more outperform F2F students. Furthermore, according to assessments that gauge higher levels of learning, there is evidence that online students underperform compared with F2F students.     

Grading Innovation in an International Marketing Course: Promoting Student Collaboration and Individual Accountability

In this article, the author proposes an innovative, exam-based homework grading method to facilitate both collaboration among students and individual accountability while learning a complex theory and applying it to solve a problem. Results from this novel approach to grading a comparative advantage theory homework assignment, using an objective exam performance measure to adjust original homework grades, show that students increase their comprehension of the frequently misunderstood theory. This novel grading method can be applied in a variety of contexts to promote student collaboration in preparation of academic work while providing incentives to encourage individual accountability and engagement.     

Children's brand symbolism understanding: Links to theory of mind and executive functioning

Against a background of research suggesting that brand symbolism understanding does not develop until 7 to 11 years of age, two studies investigate various aspects of preschool children's brand knowledge. While children's recognition of child‐oriented brands is found to be significantly greater than their recognition of brands that are marketed primarily to teens and adults, these young children do recognize brands. In a second study, children's ability to form mental representations of brands is assessed, along with their understanding of brands as social symbols. Cognitive ability, theory of mind, and executive functioning are assessed as predictors of these brand‐related outcomes. Theory of mind and executive functioning are both significant predictors of the ability to form mental representations of brands. Children's brand symbolism understanding shows a significant link with theory of mind. It is concluded that 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds have emerging knowledge of brands that are relevant in their lives. The impact of individual differences in theory of mind and executive functioning on children's brand knowledge aligns with current theories of child development. Methodological contributions and societal implications are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Structuring assignments to improve understanding and presentation skills: Experiential learning in the capstone strategic management team presentation

In the strategic management course, students select, analyze, and present viable future alternatives based on information provided in cases or computer simulations. Rather than understanding the entire process, the student's focus is on the final presentation. Chickering's (1977) research on active learning suggests students learn more effectively when participating in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The authors highlight instructional changes with students, gathering primary data independently and later comparing findings in a team-based scaffolding process. Statistical analysis of students' self-reported understanding scores both before and following the experiential intervention support the benefits. Qualitative comments by the students, embedded librarian, faculty, and business practitioners also indicate improved learning resulted from course modifications.     

How host organizations prepare for and learn from expatriate assignments

This article reveals what goes on inside host organizations prior to and during expatriate assignments. On the basis of analyzing organizational documents and conducting 43 interviews with host country nationals (HCNs) and expatriates in 30 Vietnamese organizations that host external foreign assignments, we provide a detailed account of HCNs' experiences and unearth sophisticated preparation and management activities designed to maximize these organizations' learning. We depict what we call “a host organization lifecycle” and extract five lessons: (a) host organizations prepare carefully in advance to learn as much as possible from expatriates; (b) HCNs experience quite dramatic adjustments and burdens during expatriates' placements; (c) mutual trust between expatriates and HCNs is a prerequisite for HCNs' learning; (d) most of HCNs' learning occurs informally via interactions with expatriates or observing how they work; (e) host organization managers actively manage HCN–expatriate relationships. Our findings outline a “wish list” of practices that expatriate‐using organizations could consider deploying for expatriate assignments that focus on the benefit of the host organization' development.     

Action Learning in a Traditional Educational Setting

Traditional course-taught learning methods in Management education are challenged for their efficacy. A major problem is that in the quest to secure and please management students, the sort of choice is allowed which would allow management students to stay within their comfort zones. Here, already-held skills and competencies are refined. A method is suggested to take students out of the comfort zone and into the courage zone of unfamiliar skills. The method was tried out with Hong Kong management students whose cultural mores meant that more courage was needed to engage with confrontational skills. The OKX model was developed around two learning methods: Management Self-development and Action Learning. The importance of 'self' is discussed with reference to learned helplessness vs. selfempowerment. The role of the learner in action-planning to change others' expectations is presented. An example of the major competence of Managing Assertively, as developed for the course is given, together with suggested documentation. A methodology to proceed through the stages of self-directed learning is suggested.     

Learning Styles

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe an assessment instrument that college professors can use to identify their own teaching strategies as well as to help their students become more aware of their own learning strategies and motivation for learning. The learning styles of students in two different sections of business-economics courses at Marshall University (MU), Huntington, West Virginia, and Auckland Institute of Technology (AIT), Auckland, New Zealand are determined via the use of the VARK instrument. The information generated by the instrument informs about the general cognitive and motivational characteristics of their students. This information in turn can be used in course planning and teaching. The achievement of college students could be improved by providing instruction in a manner consistent with each student's learning style. The VARK instrument could provide both students and educators in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe with a stimulus for reflection and a change in both learning and teaching methods.     

Application of an interactive exercise tool: student activity,performance and satisfaction in a Household Technology course

ItkA is a new interactive exercise software tool, which provides both a training mode and a test mode. A random generator compiles exercises from a question database. In each test, students have the opportunity to score up to 50 points. The construction of ItkA is based on Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives in the cognitive domain. ItkA has been tested and evaluated in a Household Technology course. In addition to attending face‐to‐face lectures, students had the opportunity to practise as much as they wanted to, parallel to which seven tests were provided and evaluated. Furthermore, data were collected by use of a preliminary survey and a follow‐up survey. The aim of the study was to learn more about students' learning activities and learning behaviour in the Household Technology course. The authors evaluated the students' degree of participation and their results on the tests provided. Finally, student satisfaction with course support and with the design of the course was evaluated. The results clearly show that students only learn actively when lecturers give detailed advice or tasks. Although the test results were surprisingly good, half of the students had difficulties in organizing themselves and were not able to pass all the tests in the given period. There is a significant negative correlation between average test results and the number of questions in the database. In addition, a significant positive correlation between average test time and the number of database questions was found. To minimize this effect, the number of questions should be increased for certain topics. The participants were very satisfied with the course and software support. They rated the whole course as ‘good’ and the ItkA software as slightly, but significantly, better. In summary, ItkA contributes to the improvement of Household Technology courses. Furthermore, the whole course organization was highly consistent with the needs of the students. It is, therefore, recommended that ItkA is implemented in future courses in Household Technology as well as in other courses.     

Internationalization of Organizational Behavior:

The global structure of today's business environment mandates that business students acquire an awareness of cultural issues that have an impact on the social and business components of organizational life. Emphasizing the need to develop cross-cultural competence, an integrated communication framework is presented as a model for restructuring collegiate organizational behavior to facilitate experiential learning. Consistent with Brislin's (1989) training model, revision of course content can be structured to provide students with opportunities to internalize a set of skills that may facilitate cognition, affect, and behavior to enhance multi-cultural interactions.     

Does educational gamification improve students’ motivation? If so,which game elements work best?

Educational gamification is a growing field. The authors answer the following important questions: (a) To what degree does educational gamification, in general, increase students' perceived motivation in learning? (b) To what degree do specific game elements impact perceived motivation in learning? and (c) Are the benefits of gamification limited to or enhanced in participants with specific demographic characteristics? A survey of organizational behavior students' perceptions (n?=?124) investigated how participating in a gamified course motivated students overall and examined the individual effect of specific game elements. Of the participants, 67.7% reported that the gamified course was more or much more motivating than a traditional course. Correlational data indicated that being a member of any measured demographic (e.g., gender, age, student status) was not a barrier to finding gamification motivating.     

The FairWear Campaign: An Ethical Network in the Australian Garment Industry

In many parts of the world, homework is a form of labour characterised by precariousness, lack of regulation, and invisibility and lack of protection of the workers who are often amongst the world’s poorest and most exploited. Homework is spreading, due to firm practices such as outsourcing. The analysis and understanding of complex corporate networks may assist with the identification and protection of those most at risk within the supply chain network. It can also expose some of the key ethical issues and dilemmas of supply chain management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on a case-study of the Australian FairWear Campaign (FWC), this article identifies an ethical network that aims to increase corporate accountability (CA) via greater transparency in corporate supply chains and improve work conditions for homeworkers and increase their recognition in the supply chain.     

The effects of educational delivery methods on knowledge retention

In today's dynamic learning environment, educational delivery methods have become increasingly diverse. Using a unique opportunity to assess three types of course delivery—face-to-face, interactive television (iTV), and purely online delivery—the authors look at both initial knowledge acquisition and the retention of this knowledge. The results indicate that the online class outperformed the face-to-face and iTV sections on the initial performance evaluation; however, knowledge retention was greater in the face-to-face and iTV sections. The authors' findings suggest that diverse educational delivery methods provide unique benefits to students, but these benefits vary in relation to immediate learning outcomes and knowledge retention.     

Can Anticipating Time Pressure Reduce the Likelihood of Unethical Behaviour Occurring?

Academic integrity (AI) violations on college campuses continue to be a significant concern that draws public attention. Even though AI has been the subject of numerous studies offering explanations and recommendations, academic dishonesty persists. Consequently, this has rekindled interest in understanding AI behavior and its influencers. This paper focuses on the AI violations of plagiarism and sharing homework for freshman business students, examining the factors that influence a student’s intention to plagiarize or share homework with others. Using a sample of more than 1300 freshman business students over 2 years, we modeled intent to plagiarize and intent to share homework using factors in the Theory of Planned Behavior in addition to past violation behavior and moral obligation (feelings of guilt). Based on the results of this study, attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, and in addition past behavior and moral obligation, were found to significantly influence an individual’s intention to violate academic integrity (for plagiarism and sharing homework when asked not to do so), explaining 33 and 35 % of the variance in intention to commit an AI violation for sharing homework and plagiarism, respectively. These results contribute to a better understanding of individuals’ motivations for plagiarizing and sharing homework, which is a necessary step toward reducing academic integrity violations.     

Factors involved in the learning of consumer studies

This study explored links between students’ psychological traits and their expressed preferences for learning approaches, and performance, on a consumer studies degree course. Measures to assess field independence, convergence–divergence and Perry position (a developmental classification based on students’ attitudes to knowledge and learning), and students’ preferences with regard to directed, group, project and practical learning approaches, were administered to 60 final‐year and 56 first‐year students on a consumer studies degree course. Perry position and a preference for a project learning approach were found to correlate most highly with overall performance. Field independence and convergence–divergence did not correlate at statistically significant levels with any element of final degree performance. As students proceeded through the course, they developed an enhanced view of a project learning approach and a diminished view of a group learning approach. On the basis of these findings, a number of recommendations for the teaching and learning consumer studies are put forward.     

浅谈案例教学法在《财经法规与会计职业道德》教学中的应用

《财经法规与会计职业道德》是会计人员必修的核心课程，主要目的是培养会计人员理解和运用财经法规的能力以及良好的会计职业素养。传统的以讲授式为主的教学方法已经无法满足教学目标需求，而采用案例教学法能够充分调动学生自主学习和独立思考的积极性和主动性。案例教学法不仅能丰富教学内容，而且能培养学生分析问题和解决问题的能力，以达到良好的教学效果。本文就案例教学法在《财经法规与会计职业道德》教学中的应用谈几点初步的认识。