Context Of Business Education Research Articles

A critical evaluation of the usefulness of a coding scheme to categorise levels of reflective thinking

The use of reflective learning journals to encourage higher order learning outcomes is a growing area in higher education research and practice. However, without a unified and clear definition of reflection, identifying and assessing reflection is problematic for educators. In an attempt to address this issue, in 1999 Kember and colleagues devised a coding scheme based on the work of Mezirow, to identify and assess levels of reflective thinking in students' written journals. We evaluated the usefulness of this coding scheme in a business education context. Findings revealed that the scheme was useful in identifying categories of reflective thinking. Inter‐coder agreement was 0.802 which is satisfactory. On average, 65% of the journal content was coded as non‐reflection and 35% as reflection. A further outcome of the research was to refine the coding scheme and to provide suggestions for its application in teaching practice.

Enhancing learning outcomes through group work in an internationalised undergraduate business education context

AbstractEmployers of business graduates require them to be effective communicators and team members in twenty-first century work environments. As a means of developing these skills, we believe group work is important to an undergraduate business teaching pedagogy preparing graduates for the challenges of modern workplaces. Student responses to a series of qualitative and quantitative focus group activities highlighted the ‘big issues’ encountered in group activities involving an increasingly internationalised and diverse cohort of students. These issues related mainly to communication within the group and the fear of social-loafers. These insights established the basis on which proactive strategies were introduced in a subsequent teaching period to nurture and advance the quality of the learning experience within a tertiary undergraduate business education setting. Given that reduced Government funding to Australian universities has prompted the management of institutions to look to full-fee paying international students to offset shortfalls in their operating budgets, this paper explores the particular impact of increasing numbers of English as a Second Language (ESL) students on the quality of, and student receptiveness to, group based study activities.

Enhancing learning outcomes through group work in an internationalised undergraduate business education context

AbstractEmployers of business graduates require them to be effective communicators and team members in twenty-first century work environments. As a means of developing these skills, we believe group work is important to an undergraduate business teaching pedagogy preparing graduates for the challenges of modern workplaces. Student responses to a series of qualitative and quantitative focus group activities highlighted the ‘big issues’ encountered in group activities involving an increasingly internationalised and diverse cohort of students. These issues related mainly to communication within the group and the fear of social-loafers. These insights established the basis on which proactive strategies were introduced in a subsequent teaching period to nurture and advance the quality of the learning experience within a tertiary undergraduate business education setting. Given that reduced Government funding to Australian universities has prompted the management of institutions to look to full-fee paying international students to offset shortfalls in their operating budgets, this paper explores the particular impact of increasing numbers of English as a Second Language (ESL) students on the quality of, and student receptiveness to, group based study activities.

Developing Students' Skills in Reflective Practice

This article examines learning journals as a method for developing self-awareness within a business education context, exploring “how can effective design and assessment of reflective journals assist the development of students' self-knowledge?” The authors describe three different approaches to learning journals, with each case study outlining the purpose of the course and the learning journal within it, the design and assessment of the journal, and an evaluation of this experience. The authors' aim is to illustrate how journals can be implemented in management education. Although each case study is distinct, three interconnecting themes also emerge that underlie why this approach to learning is important: finding the subjective voice that enables students to access their inner learning; accepting that learning is mutually constructed within a cocreative space rather than something “done to the student”; and that a more reflective self-awareness engages a higher sense of personal purpose. These significant outcomes illustrate the success of this learning approach.

An Evaluation of the Role and Performance of a Decision Support System in Business Education

With the rapid growth in end-user computing, there has been an increasing demand on business schools to train managers in the use of computers for effective decision support. While computer-aided instruction (CAI) has been in vogue for over a decade, there are very few studies that evaluate the impact of computers on decision-making skills in a business education context. The study makes use of a controlled experiment to evaluate the impact of computers on the accuracy and quality of decision making in a business decision support context. It also addresses the relationships between decision performance and various student characteristics such as aptitude, attitude, domain experience, domain expertise, gender, and system experience. The study revealed that computer support positively influenced both dimensions of decision performance.