Quality Does Matter in Your University Online Course
Debra Westerfelt, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Business Management
Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio USA
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine student satisfaction with the Quality Matters design process that was incorporated into an online MBA organizational behavior class at a Midwestern private university.
Quality Matters (QM) is a nationally recognized, research based, peer-review process designed to certify the quality of online and hybrid courses. For an online course to qualify as a QM course, it must contain specific components in its overall design.
Four research questions were examined in this study:
- Which QM design components did students find most useful in the course?
- Was it easy to access assignments in the QM format?
- Did students feel a sense of community with other students in the course?
- How did the course compare to other courses that did not use the QM format?
The author’s underlying purpose in doing this research was to determine whether this design process was effective and which specific aspects of the design were deemed as most and least useful to students.
Keywords: MBA students, online education, Quality Matters certification
We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us1:
Relative Potencies of Classroom Distractions
Frederick Tesch, Western Connecticut State University – Danbury, Connecticut USA
Donna Coelho, Western Connecticut State University – Danbury, Connecticut USA
Ronald Drozdenko, Western Connecticut State University – Danbury, Connecticut USA
ABSTRACT
Discussions and research on distractions in college classrooms have typically focused on the effects of laptops and other electronic devices (e.g., cell phones). This study approached the problem from the student’s perspective and included non-technological distractions (e.g., whispering) as well. What events of any kind are distracting to students? Do these events differ in their intensities? Does distraction due to external events (those happening to the student) differ from distraction due to self-induced (internal, student’s own behavior) events? The results of a pilot and a follow-up study validated the survey instrument used and revealed the relative potencies of 57 distracting events.
Keywords: distractions, classroom behaviors, instructional technology
March Madness in the Finance Classroom
Karl W. Einolf, Mount St. Mary’s University – Emmitsburg, Maryland, USA
ABSTRACT
The March Madness in the Finance Classroom Simulation uses the NCAA Basketball Tournament to facilitate student engagement in a simulated set of IPO investments and a subsequent secondary stock market. Students benefit from the exercise by learning how to conduct valuation analysis, by examining two different IPO pricing mechanisms, by considering their own tolerance for risk, by determining a diversification strategy, and by understanding the winner’s curse in auctions.
Keywords: initial public offering, stock simulation, IPO pricing, finance class exercise, winner’s curse
Improving Pedagogy for Online Discussions
David L. Baker, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA
ABSTRACT
Many pedagogical issues must be addressed in courses with asynchronous online discussions. This article supports business education instructors with pedagogical strategies to improve the design of their online discussions. It clarifies the different hats teachers sport in facilitating computer mediated discourse and offers approaches for consideration. It also suggests ways to design online discussions, use groups to facilitate interaction, delineate discussion boundaries, and launch well-organized discussions through the syllabus.
KEYWORDS: Online pedagogy, online discussions, group discussions, computer mediated discourse, asynchronous distance learning
Action Learning in the College Classroom
Brenda Hayden Sheets, Murray State University – Murray, Kentucky, USA
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to describe a motivational, action-based exercise that can be implemented in numerous university courses whose overall objectives include enhancing students’ skills in communication, decision making, teamwork, and problem solving. The exercise consists of teams (1) drawing a design, (2) writing a set of instructions for assembling a collection of odds-and-ends, and, simultaneously, constructing them to look like their sketched design, (3) disassembling the items, and (3) exchanging the instructions and the odds-and-ends with another team who, in turn, assembles the items to construct the object according to a given set of instructions. Teams discuss what they learned and how they may apply action learning to their careers.
Keywords: action learning, classroom exercise, communication, college students
On The Teaching of Second Order Models in Regression
Kenneth H. Sutrick, Murray State University, Kentucky, USA
ABSTRACT
The objective in teaching second order models is to have students understand how the second order terms capture the curvature in the data. Ideally one wants to use real examples but the appearance of real regression results, which look so complicated, is an obstacle in teaching these models. This paper shows how to construct data sets for teaching second order models that have very nice properties, namely that the data sets are all integers and where both first and second order models simultaneously have regression coefficients that are all integers.
Keywords: regression, second order models
Developing Bartering Skills: A Real World Exercise for a
Negotiation Course
Michael R. Carrell, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky, USA
Louis J. Manchise, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky, USA
ABSTRACT
Negotiation skills have been recognized as one of the critical “soft skills” that management and business students should develop in preparation for their careers and personal lives. In fact, a 2009 Consumer Reports poll noted that 66% of Americans had tried to negotiate in their personal lives within the past six months (large ticket items such as houses, cars, furniture, etc. as well as cell phone contracts, home repairs, etc.). However, in general negotiating is an under-developed skill. Americans routinely pass up opportunities to negotiate, partly due to their lack of skills, but also due to their discomfort with the process. In this article we describe a classroom tested negotiating exercise that students report increased their negotiation skills and their confidence to practice negotiation in their personal and professional lives. The authors discuss how to utilize a classroom tested bartering exercise which can quickly and easily be utilized in a variety of management courses including principles of management, organizational behavior, labor relations, and negotiations. Instructors in management and OB classes may use the exercise to illustrate key topics including motivation, communication, and decision-making. The Student Instructions form provided students to conduct the exercise is also included so others may use it.
Keywords: negotiation, bartering, exercise
The Classroom as a Virtual Community:
An Experience with Student Backchannel Discourse
John J. Cronin, Ph.D.
Western Connecticut State University
Danbury, CT, 06810, USA
ABSTRACT
Backchannel discourse is defined as electronic communication between students in an “on-ground” class. Since students in many classes are likely to engage in back-channel discourse anyway, instructors should consider using it for their benefit, and perhaps even proactively encourage it. The author’s experience with the Twitter backchannel is described. It is concluded that the backchannel can provide insights and feedback in upper level and graduate courses that is not otherwise obtainable. Strategies are provided that other instructors interested in using the backchannel in the classroom can use to make the experience fulfilling for both instructor and students.
Keywords: backchannel discourse, Twitter, virtual communication
An Integrated Approach to Teaching the Capstone Strategic Management Course: A Left- and Right-Brained Approach
Mark O. Lewis, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA
ABSTRACT
The objective of the integrated approach to teaching strategic management is to combine the traditional strategic management process with an innovation management process. In doing so, students learn to generate creative ideas to real-world problems while also ensuring they are strategically viable from a competitive strategy perspective. By combining both approaches into one capstone course, students are able to further develop both their analytical and creative capabilities. Most importantly, they are able to enter the working world with a tenacity and passion for generating new ideas to create long-term value for new and existing firms.
Keywords: Innovation, strategic management, experience-based learning
EFFECT OF GLOBAL BUSINESS CURRICULUM ON STUDENT ATTITUDES
Dr. David W. Brasfield, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, USA
Dr. James P. McCoy, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, USA
Mary Tripp Reed, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, USA
ABSTRACT
Business schools have internationalized their curriculum to prepare students for work in the global economy. This internationalization rests on the assumption that exposure to international business content will lead students to be more open to doing international business. Traditionally, schools infused core courses with international business content, however while we find that international knowledge is gained, there is little effect on student attitudes. Rather, we find evidence that more experiential approaches such as exchange and study abroad programs may enhance a global curriculum through encouraging desired attitudinal changes regarding doing business with other cultures and nations. While additional research is needed to make firm conclusions, international content with experiential, international learning activities may increase the global knowledgebase and skills of students as well as increase the likelihood that they actually make use of these skills.
Keywords: international curriculum, AACSB, global issues
The Web-enhanced Instruction Mode: Evidence from Undergraduate Finance Graduates with Embedded Online Assessments
Zhuoming (Joe) Peng, University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA
Abstract
This paper examines applications of the web-enhanced instruction mode. Giving online quizzes does appear to be a better use of class seat time. Results of the embedded online assessment given in a undergraduate finance capstone course delivered by this instruction mode are analyzed. Students’ learning achievement of this newer pedagogical method is evident. Most students perceive this method as beneficial to their studies in finance. Hence, university administrators should provide encouragements and incentives for finance faculty members to use Internet-based technologies in face-to-face instructions.
Keywords: web-enhanced instruction mode, course embedded online assessments, learning achievement
Managerial Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Emotional Intelligence: Convergence in Course Design
Michael J. “Mick” Fekula, The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the rationale and design for a course in managerial creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence. While these skills are thought to be essential to managers and leaders, many management textbooks limit coverage to a chapter and often a few pages or paragraphs. Time and curriculum constraints pose challenges to offering entire courses in each area, even though books and materials exist to do so. Because some of the principles in these three topic areas converge, they are suitable for both conceptual coverage and skill development within a single course.
Keywords: Course design, pedagogy, creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence
Profitable Dentistry: A Teaching Case in Entrepreneurship
Michael Harris, PhD
Indiana University – Southeast
Indiana, USA
ABSTRACT
This teaching case examines a consulting practice that helps dentists achieve profitability. The case provides an interesting contrast between the management advice offered to the clients (dentists) and the management style used for the consulting company itself. Clients are provided with a proven plan that spells out specific actions for success; however, the consulting practice is managed in a more experimental fashion. Since the same individual is responsible for both approaches, this leads to an opportunity for discussion of the relative advantages of each approach. The case culminates with a decision point for the founder where he considers the impact of free internet resources on his business. The case may have applicability in a wide range of settings: 1) It can be used to discuss the difference in plan-based management and experimental management; 2) It can be used to examine the management of practices in the health care industry; 3) It reveals the evolution of an entrepreneur and his business; and 4) It provides an example of an entrepreneur facing transformative forces from the Internet. In this latter example, the case itself does not provide detail on the Internet transformation, rather it provides a setting that might be a starting point for a written analysis by students.
Keywords
Entrepreneurship, Teaching Case Study, Business Planning, Dental Practices, Internet and Commerce, Professional Services
A Pedagogical Approach to Teaching Senior Business Majors in a SmalL
Liberal Arts University: Creating and Operating a Real Business
Dirk Barram, George Fox University School of Business – Newberg, Oregon, USA
ABSTRACT
The question of how to motivate students in today’s college classroom has plagued college faculty members. We ask faculty to be competent in their subject area, yet how much focus is there on the art of motivating students in their classroom? The purpose of this article is to describe one unique pedagogical approach with senior business majors in one small liberal arts university in a senior business class.
Keywords: Motivation, teaching, experiential learning, creative pedagogy.
|
