First-year Business Students Research Articles

The development of critical thinking, team working, and communication skills in a business school–A project-based learning approach

This study presents a Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach – the Multidisciplinary Project I course (MPI) - conceived to improve critical thinking skills of first-year business students while also mobilizing teamwork and communication skills. The main goals are to 1) describe the methodological PBL approach of MPI and 2) analyze changes in critical thinking, team working, and communication skills during the semester (pre- and post-test) by comparing management and economics students enrolled in MP1 (n= 946) to a control group (n= 210) including students from other courses. Our findings show that, at the end of the semester, MPI students reported a greater reduction in their critical thinking difficulties and communication apprehension and improvements in teamwork skills. This study provides evidence supporting the inclusion of PBL approaches to promote skills in business students that can be transferable to real-world settings.

Improving students’ learning—the role of formative feedback: experiences from a crash course for business students in academic writing

This paper discusses the role of formative feedback in teaching academic writing for a large class of first-year business students. The paper contributes to our knowledge on how to design an effective formative feedback process for a class in excess of 300 students. Based on survey data from 2018 the paper addresses how the students respond to being taught academic writing in two different feedback modalities: face-to-face interaction and electronic annotations. Our findings indicate that there are no significant differences between the two modalities and that the students are relatively satisfied with the feedback they received. The majority of the students report that feedback has helped them accomplish their learning goals, they pay attention to feedback, and feedback motivates them in their studies. Even with these positive responses from the students, we question whether our approach is sustainable in the long run. Unless smarter and more efficient ways of providing personalised feedback are developed for large student groups, the transition to the new paradigm for feedback, where the emphasis is placed on dialogic interaction, will not be practicable.

A Comparative Study Assessing In-Person and Online Co-curricular FYE Courses in Business Classes

This research expands on previous findings that co-curricular First-Year Experience (FYE) courses have significant positive impact on first-year business students’ academic performance and university transition. We adapted an existing co-curricular FYE course into an online course and assessed the academic performance, and university transition in comparison to our already successful in-person model. A multilevel modeling analysis shows that online students are experiencing increased university belongingness and successful time management abilities with the course relative to in-person students. In-person students faired better in terms of overall academic performance and transition. Importantly, online students are less likely to perceive their transition as successful, and students with more educational barriers (e.g., financial concerns, lack of social support, generational trauma, etc.) perceive less success regarding their transition. Further, when students have increased sense of belonging, higher self-efficacy, and time management abilities we see an increase in their perceived transition success in the co-curricular FYE courses. Our results suggest that we have been able to adapt these courses to an online learning environment, which is crucial given the realities of a post-pandemic circumstances.

Developing authenticity: A quasi-experimental investigation

Authenticity facilitates positive human functioning. Yet, previous research has not adequately addressed whether different dimensions of authenticity develop naturally as one ages or whether their development can be facilitated through systematic interventions. These issues must be addressed to better understand the dimensionality of authenticity and its change over time. We conducted a quasi-experimental intervention study with 170 first-year business students (58 treatment and 112 control group participants) at a university in Switzerland over an eight-month period—a critical time when authenticity should naturally develop given young adults' move from their family of origin. A career and personal development program exhibited differential effects on three dimensions of authenticity: (1) authentic living increased only for those in the treatment group, (2) acceptance of external influence decreased in both groups, but with a stronger effect in the treatment group, and (3) no significant changes occurred in either group's self-alienation. These findings suggest that some authenticity dimensions may be more receptive to natural growth, whereas others require systematic interventions or may be notoriously hard to change. The results contribute to the theoretical understanding of authenticity and provide practical insights into its development.

Impact of Authentic Videos on Students’ Academic Presentation Skills, the Case of TED Talks and International Business Management Students in Ubon Ratchathani University

The teaching and learning of a second language is such a complex educational area that practitioners and teachers must continue to find better ways to help learners acquire the language faster and easier. Academic presentation skills and public speaking remains one of the most challenging areas of language acquisition and expression. This classroom study is designed to examine the impact of authentic videos (TEDTALKS) on students’ academic presentation skills. A participatory research approach (PAR) is used, and a group of 34 first-year international business students taking the course EAP is used as the sample for the study. Findings reveal that the introduction of authentic videos to the classroom had a significant influence on students’ presentation skills in several areas; introduction, confidence, speech patterns, non-verbal communication, presentation style, and even choice of words; Suggesting that exposing second language learners to authentic content of the target language could greatly contribute to their second language acquisition. This is so because such content bridges a part of the gap created by the limited exposure to the target language being acquired.

Introducing design thinking online to large business education courses for twenty-first century learning

Design thinking can be broadly defined as a set of creative skills to understand and problem-solve ambiguous and complex problems, and a practice that places humans at the heart of the design process. Such collaborative ways of design thinking and design-doing are much needed to address twenty-first century challenges such as climate change. Design thinking methodology is well known for teaching and learning in design disciplines, and to a lesser extent, as an innovative problem-solving framework for business education. Typically design thinking has been taught and practised in physical settings and to a lesser extent online. While design thinking is also increasingly practised online, this is challenging at scale in higher education contexts. This case study analyses design thinking activities with educational technologies in a large undergraduate cohort of first-year business students. Eleven students and three teachers were interviewed to ascertain their level of engagement with design thinking with digital tools and to identify common themes that enabled or inhibited such practice. Student artefacts of design thinking are explored and compared to the interview data. Findings indicate that students may develop novice design thinking skills, process knowledge and mindsets in online and remote delivery modes, despite limited experience, technical and time constraints. Broader learning design implications of design thinking constraints in digital practice are discussed to assist educators. It is suggested that higher education adopt and support design thinking, as a subject and practice, more widely.

Exploring student engagement in fully flipped classroom pedagogy: Case of an Australian business undergraduate degree

This paper aims to provide clear and appropriate evidence of factors that trigger student engagement of flipped classroom (FC) learning in higher education (HE), based on an example of a fully flipped business undergraduate degree program in Australia. Qualitative data from the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) of 142 first-year business students over seven consecutive trimesters (2017–2019) were gathered and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings provide a nuanced understanding on triggers of student engagement in relation to self-efficacy, emotion, well-being and belonging. The findings may guide educators in full adoption of FC in other undergraduate courses.

Personal Values and Value Priorities of Undergraduate Business Students

The Schwartz Values Survey (SVS), developed by Shalom Schwartz, was used to explore the values and value priorities of undergraduate business students in a mid-sized Canadian university. These business students considered family security as their top individual value and ranked successful, healthy, and enjoying life among their top ten individual values. On the other hand, detachment, accepting my portion in life and social power were least valued. They regarded Benevolence and Achievement as their top two value types (cluster of related values), and ranked the higher order meta-value Self-Transcendence first followed by Openness to Change. The accounting and finance majors considered Hedonism as their top priority while the other business majors valued Benevolence most highly; however, overall, there were more similarities than differences between these two groups. When compared with the males, females valued the meta-value Self-Transcendence significantly more and exhibited values and value systems that have more of a social focus and less of a personal focus. First-year and fourth-year business students ranked the meta-values in the same order; however, Self-Transcendence was rated as significantly more important to the students in their first year compared to those in their fourth year.

First-year undergraduate business students’ choice of different sources of learning support for assumed math skills

This paper explores the choice of math skills learning support by an undergraduate student cohort of Commerce and Business students at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. A survey methodology...

Measuring the impact of out-of-class communication through instant messaging

PurposeDespite the growing body of literature demonstrating the role of communication in educational settings, there are limited up-to-date studies exploring the use of an instant messaging (IM) tool and its impacts on students’ learning outcomes, especially in the tertiary education in Vietnam. This study approached IM as an out-of-class communication (OCC) approach in computer-mediated communication. The purpose of this paper is to investigate students’ perceived quality of information received and its influence on their perceived performance proficiency as a result of their lecturers’ clarification of their enquiries through an online instant message application, namely Remind (www.remind.com/).Design/methodology/approachThe target groups were first-year business students in an international university in Vietnam. The analysis of the data gathered from the questionnaire was carried out using a measurement model and a structural equation model.FindingsThe findings indicate that using OCC technology creates social bonding between students and lecturers by allowing students to clarify the ambiguity of concepts learnt in class and create a sense of connection with their lecturers which leads to better student engagement and hence improved learning outcomes.Originality/valueThe authors highlight the evidence of effective usage of IM tool by university students as a meaningful communication tool and the need to integrate technology into all educational settings.

An Inquiry-Based Quantitative Reasoning Course for Business Students

Quantitative Reasoning for Business is a two-semester sequence that serves as an alternative to elementary and intermediate algebra for first-year business students with weak mathematical preparation. Students who take the sequence have been retained at a higher rate and demonstrated a larger reduction in math anxiety than those who take the traditional developmental courses. We share the challenges that led to our choices in adopting and modifying inquiry-based instruction in order to serve our population.

Teaching Inquiry with Linked Classes and Learning Communities

In order to improve problem-solving dispositions, a section of an inquiry-based math sequence for first-year business students was linked with a section of our general education English sequence. We describe how the linked classes worked and compare some preliminary results from linked and unlinked sections of the math sequence.

Valuing orientation efficacy

Purpose– The purpose of this study was to improve the orientation experience of commencing first-year undergraduate business students to better prepare them for the reality of their academic studies through the development and implementation of a Commencing Student-Needs-Centred Orientation Framework.Design/methodology/approach– The methodology of this study used survey analysis and focus groups to explore low orientation efficacy scores from the cohort and resulted in a reconceptualisation and restructure of the existing orientation programme. The new programme was completed and implemented, and student’s perceptions remeasured. Evaluation was performed using sources of data across three semesters.Findings– Intervention success is demonstrated across three semesters by sustained and continuously improving orientation efficacy scores. Overall, student orientation efficacy improved by 19.6 per cent in the first implementation (B,n= 44), and an improvement of 22.8 per cent was seen in the third semester (C,n= 177), when compared to the first semester (A,n= 164).Research limitations/implications– The primary limitation of this study is that the exploratory framework was applied and evaluated only within a single discipline of business, and in one Australian university with a predominantly first-generation student population.Practical implications– The paper is a guide for the design of an orientation day programme informed by an evidence-based framework identifying the transition needs of commencing students entering higher education, which is tested for its efficacy in preparing students for their academic role, and for success.Originality/value– Orientation is an important, yet under-researched aspect of engagement and retention in today’s universities.

Guiding a diverse mix of first-year business students: implications for university administrators, instructors and students

This article describes a collaborative research project by the institutional research group and a team of faculty members at a Canadian university. In response to an increasingly diverse mix of students, the researchers set out to develop an understanding of relationships between student characteristics, categorized as demographic differences, personal attributes and academic preparedness, and student outcomes measured by both grades and student perceptions. Significant differences were found in grades outcomes based on characteristics such as international status, secondary school grades, study habits and writing skills. However, these differences were not evident in student perceptions of course value or learning achievement. This study has important implications for university administrators (recruiting, intake assessment and student support), instructors (understanding of diversity characteristics and how students perceive learning experience) and for students, who can be given an opportunity to bette...

Going Mobile: Teaching First-Year Business Students Mobile Application Design

Going Mobile: Teaching First-Year Business Students Mobile Application Design

Enhancing academic skills for first-year overseas business students

Purpose – This study reports on the academic support programs targeting first-year business students at La Trobe Melbourne. The at-risk students were offered both a general academic support class and a content-based program. This study was conducted to explore students' perception of the usefulness of these programs. The paper also aims to create a better intervention to attract more at-risk students by exploring the reasons behind the low rate of at-risk students making use of these services. Design/methodology/approach – The specific research uses a mixed method approach to explore a way to best address the academic needs of the first-year international business students, especially those identified as at-risk students in a college in Melbourne where both a general academic program and a discipline-based program were on offer. Findings – The findings indicate that although the content-based program was highly evaluated by students and also attracted more students than the general support module, many at-risk students did not use this service. The low level of English proficiency, the heavy workload, the passive and dependent learning style, the unclear information about the service and the desire to follow only teachers' guidance all prevented at-risk students from making use of the available services. These students need further help and guidance in this transitional period to recognise the assistance provided for them and to make use of these services to enhance their learning. Originality/value – Recently, various support activities have been designed to assist international students in enhancing their language and academic skills necessary for pursuing their study in Australia. These activities range from credit-based English for Academic Purposes courses, to optional general language and study programs, and more recently, discipline or content-based programs. There is also a tendency in several universities to move from offering general language and study programs to embedding disciplinary programs. Adopting disciplinary-based academic support activities seem to be the right direction in many universities as these activities are more likely to help increase the overall pass-rate and improve student learning outcomes. However, problems seem to remain when many at-risk international students do not seem to go for these services. This study has led some light on how to improve the future language and academic skills to support activities for first-year overseas business students.

A Qualitative Exploration of Oral Communication Apprehension

Prior research has identified communication apprehension (CA), or fear of communicating, as a major factor which inhibits an individual's willingness to communicate and his/her capability to develop effective communication skills. While many prior studies have measured oral communication apprehension of students, there has been little qualitative exploration of the phenomenon. This study was conducted by interviewing first-year business and accounting students at a higher education institution in Ireland who were identified as encountering varying levels of oral communication apprehension. The experiences of the students in communicating in different contexts are analysed and the impact of factors, such as fear of peer evaluation, prior communication experiences, and preparation, are considered.

Learning journeys: exploring approaches to learner digital literacy acquisition

AbstractDigital literacy skills are a crucial attribute for today’s students. The JISC-funded Anytime Learning Literacies Environment (ALLE) project has created an online learning resource to help students acquire digital literacy skills in the form of a learner journey. The journey comprises a series of learning objects, which enable learners to embark on their own interactive journey and help them develop their learning and literacy skills. A prototype of the learner journey has been used and evaluated by over 200 first-year business students in two universities using contrasting teaching approaches. The University of West London (UWL) has scaffolded the journey in the curriculum, while at London Metropolitan University (London Met) students have been encouraged to use the journey according to their needs. Initial analysis of some of the evaluation data from pre-and post-testing of students’ digital literacy skills in both institutions has shown that students’ skill levels have increased. The picture is...

Ethics and Accounting Education

ABSTRACTThe current study investigates how a university accounting education affects the rationales used by accounting and first-year business students in making ethical decisions, the level of deliberative reasoning they employ, and their ethical decisions. Senior accounting students (with approximately four accounting courses to complete) were found to exhibit higher deliberative reasoning, make more frequent use of post-conventional modes of deliberative reasoning, and make more ethical decisions than first-year accounting students. These results suggest that a university accounting education has a positive effect on deliberative reasoning, on the use of post-conventional modes of deliberative reasoning, and on ethical decisions. There was no difference between the level of deliberative reasoning and ethical decisions of first-year accounting and first-year business students, but there were differences in their modes of deliberative reasoning. These results suggest that first-year accounting and first-year business students may make ethical decisions differently, implying the need for a different emphasis when teaching ethics to these two groups of students.

The writing skills course as an introduction to critical practice for larger business undergraduate classes

Calls for greater levels of critical thought in business and management education increased in the wake of the global financial crisis. Many business educators articulated a need to develop students who engage with theory at the deepest level in order to cultivate more socially engaged managers and management thinkers. These calls surfaced at a time when organisations voiced concerns about the quality of the basic literacy and numeracy skills of graduates. It is often difficult to introduce students to critical practice at the undergraduate level due to larger class sizes, with the result that deeper theoretical engagement is often postponed until postgraduate stages of business education. This paper discusses the findings from an action research project conducted on a critical writing skills project which aimed to introduce a group of 95 first-year business students to the concept of critical practice through their written assignments. The research unearthed some opportunities, challenges and possible pitfalls associated with deploying a critical writing skills module paper, with the aim of informing practice and signposting future research needs.