Digital Commons Network^™

Reflective Assessment In Work-Integrated Learning: To Structure Or Not To Structure, That Was Our Question, Bonnie Amelia Dean, Chris Sykes, Shirley Agostinho, Mike Clements

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports the findings of a research study on whether or not to structure reflective assessment tasks. It examines students' perceived benefits or limitations from structuring reflective assessments in a Commerce WIL program at the University of Wollongong. Sixty-four students over two semesters responded to a questionnaire on their perceptions of structured reflective assessments in the Internship Program. The findings of the self-reported experiences were heterogeneous and indicative of the dominant themes relevancy and flexibility. We suggest these themes stem from a misalignment of assessment and reflective practice. Correcting this misalignment could be achieved by providing a balance of …

Social Networks, Social Learning And Service Systems Improvement, Andrew Sense, Matthew Pepper

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This article illustrates and qualitatively explores the value of understanding the social networks present in a service operation through a case study of a local government service network that manages regional development applications. It also examines how social learning underpins service systems performance improvement and how it is instrumental in creating a richer environment for ongoing service network innovation and development. It is argued that gaining a better understanding of these social networks and the social learning potential in a system offers substantial and highly practitioner-friendly avenues to progress service systems capability development. These fi ndings clearly place an emphasis …

The Use Of Team-Based Learning As An Approach To Increased Engagement And Learning For Marketing Students: A Case Study, Paul Chad

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Marketing educators are often faced with poor preclass preparation by students, declining student interest in attending classes as the semester progresses, and student complaints regarding previous bad experiences with team assessment activities. Teambased learning (TBL) is an innovative teaching strategy using semiformalized guidelines aimed to enhance student engagement and improve teamwork and, hence, overcome the typical problems faced by educators. This case study examines the firsttime use of TBL in a postgraduate marketing subject at an Australian university. The results indicate that the TBL innovation has a positive influence on student engagement and offers opportunities to assist learning. The study …

The Implementation Of Authentic Activities For Learning: A Case Study In Finance Education, Mara K. Koplin, Chi Fun Freda Hui

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper seeks to demonstrate how assessment tasks set in a finance subject contribute to an authentic learning experience. Authentic learning has been shown to help connect students’ classroom learning to the outside world. Linking what students are learning in class to the real world enables them to better understand the problems to be faced when dealing with incomplete information, while also engaging them more fully. In this preliminary study we explore the attributes of an authentic learning experience. The assessment task requires each student to research the topics covered in class in relationship to a country that they have …

Embedding Professionally Relevant Learning In The Business Curriculum Through Industry Engagement, Michael Zanko, Theo Papadopoulos, Eveline Fallshaw, Tracy Taylor, Clare Woodley, Christine Armatas

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on preliminary findings from an ALTC funded project on how to build curriculathat meet the needs of business students and employers of business graduates. The project grew outof an Australian Business Deans Council Teaching and Learning Network scoping study whichidentified widespread concern among industry, academic and professional associations about the lackof engagement with real world problems by business graduates. In the paper we discuss the need forindustry engagement, define professionally relevant learning, and outline the study objectives andmethodology. We present a typology of industry engagement in the curriculum that emerged from ourfieldwork, and tools that business faculties …

Collective Learning In The Development Of Innovative Local Organizations And Regions, Samuel Garrett-Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The paper discusses the specific problems of constructing local advantage in the regional innovation setting in Australia. Focusing on ‘nontraditional’ intermediary organizations and their role in promoting learning it reviews a novel approach to accelerating the performance of a local council in New South Wales, Australia and its associated regional development organization.

Learning Outside The Textbook: Accounting Students' Reflections In An Internship Programme, Bonnie Amelia Dean, Graham D. Bowrey, Michael D. Clements

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The opportunity to gain professional industry experience for accounting students whilst undertaking their undergraduate degree provides them with both a competitive edge in the marketplace and an opportunity to experience the activities undertaken in their chosen profession. Structured experiential learning programmes enables students the practical opportunity to apply their knowledge in an industry context and to reflect on their personal learning journey. This paper presents an innovative and flexible internship programme which based upon an e-learning framework fosters learning through reflection based assessments. Through a preliminary investigation, it is revealed that accounting students after undertaking this programme, reveal learning pertaining …

Assessing And Building Innovation And Learning Capacity In Local Organizations, Samuel Garrett-Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Conceptual models of regional innovation systems have prompted major government initiatives in Europe and North America to assess and to promote local innovation and learning capabilities. In Australia, by contrast, local governments and other local organizations concerned with economic and social development are faltering. Lacking is (1) a conceptual understanding of local knowledge and innovation networks; (2) data on local innovation actors and activities; and (3) clarity on the most effective ways for municipal and regional government to 'construct advantage' in a federal system. The paper reviews the 'macro' (e.g. innovation surveys) and 'micro' (e.g. case studies) approach to assessing …

Consumers' Difficulty With Learning By Analogy Of Really New Products: Selection Criteria Of Effective Analogies, Amina Ait El Houssi

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Research in marketing and consumer behavior has suggested that analogies may be useful to enhance consumer learning of really new products. However, mixed results on the effectiveness of analogies have also been found indicating the risk of communication failure. In this paper several aspects of analogical thought that may negatively influence the use of analogies as learning devices for really new products are identified. For effective use of consumer learning by analogy of really new products several criteria are proposed for the selection of an appropriate analogy. In an exploratory study these criteria are used to find explanation for the …

Preferred Learning Methods: Comparisons Between International And Domestic Accounting Students, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study provides a comparison between the preferred learning modes (traditional, interactive, group case-based lectures) of international and domestic students undertaking a new undergraduate accounting topic at an Australian university. A Likert-scale survey questionnaire was used to determine the differences and similarities between the two groups. When the results are analysed using the Hofstede model of societal cultural dimensions, they indicate significant differences between the two groups of students with regard to their preferences for formal versus interactive and group case-based lectures. The paper provides a discussion of the implications of these findings for teaching methods, assessment and curriculum development.

Teaching And Learning Business Innovation By Successive Approximations, Jorge E. Fernandez-Pol

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes a strategy for teaching and learning business innovation by successive approximations. This novel strategy has two major sources: the book An Introduction to the Creative Economy by Pol and Carroll (2007), and intense observation of how novices learn the discipline. I will draw an analogy between the observation of an unknown planet and the study of business innovation as a tool for helping participants to connect with the suggested pedagogical approach. In essence, the approach consists of three approximations: first, identification of the dimensions or areas that are of absolutely fundamental importance for teaching and learning business …

Enabling Authentic Cross-Disciplinary Learning Through A Scaffolded Assignment In A Blended Environment, Anne Abraham, Hazel J. Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on the development of a scaffolded learning assignment with blendedcomponents in a cross-disciplinary setting. The assignment has been developed in a socioculturalcontext, based on a Vygotskian approach and this paper details the design anddevelopment of the assignment. The five stages of the assignment have been carefullyscaffolded and include elements of individual and group tasks, finishing with an individualreflection on the process. Formative assessment and associated feedback are importantelements of the scaffolding and suggestions for further applications for the learning designof the assignment are suggested.

Exploring The Values Orientations Of International Accounting Students: Implications For Educators, A. Abraham

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The internationalisation of accounting education has grown significantly over the last decade, with Australia now being the third largest provider of international degrees. This internationalisation has brought benefits to both students and academics by widening their understandings and perspectives of other countries and cultures. The diversity has also provided a basis for researching the impact of culture on student’s approaches to teaching and learning. However, no study to date has measured and analysed the tensions that exist between the cultural values of students and educators. This paper reports an exploratory study of postgraduate students enrolled in a foundation accounting subject …

Management Learning Exercise And Trainer’S Note For Market Segmentation In Tourism, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Tourists are different. Tourists prefer different destinations, engage in different vacation activities and perceive different aspects of their vacation as important. Differences (heterogeneity) among tourists enable the tourism industry to identify interesting groups within the market who have similar and very distinct needs, target them, and gain competitive advantage through offering superior service to a smaller group of tourists instead of trying to satisfy the entire market’s diverse needs. The process of identifying and learning about possible market segments that may be managerially useful is referred to as market segmentation. This article shows how researchers can develop learning exercises for …

A Guest Lecturing Program To Improve Students' Applied Learning, Janette K. Rowland, Jennifer Ann Algie

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Initial research findings are presented on the benefits of a guest lecturing program currently being implemented by a School of Marketing at an Australian University. The program entails establishing relationships between the Marketing School and leading marketing corporations. Individual employees from these companies are matched to appropriate marketing subjects and asked to deliver a lecture demonstrating theory in practice. Academics have the opportunity of building research contacts with guest lecturers which may result in linkage grants, thus improving the research-teaching nexus. The development process and initial outcomes of establishing the program could be used by other Universities to improve their …

Leadership Learning: Building On Grounded Theory To Explore The Role Of Critical Reflection In Leadership Learning, George K. Kriflik, Lynda S. Kriflik

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A study of eight senior managers from different organisations has combined Critical Theory and Grounded Theory approaches. This study builds on the findings of a previous substantive study (Kriflik 2002) which identified the most successful leadership strategies, as perceived by participants. The most successful strategies are those in which leaders focussed on their own behaviours, attitudes and actions. Building on these findings this study explores leadership competencies and the mechanisms which enhance, or enable, leaders’ ability to learn such competencies. Interviews were conducted and transcribed, then analysed, and became the basis for the choice of subsequent participants. The study identified …

Students' Preference For Teaching Strategies That Strengthen The Learning Of Economics In Middle Eastern Universities, Mokhtar M. Metwally, Nelson Perera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A survey, covering a random sample of 139 students, was conducted at the University of Wollongong in Dubai during the months of September-November 2004, to gather opinions of students about their attitudes towards strategies that promote the teaching and learning of economics The technique of factor analysis was used to model the preference of students for various strategies. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to find out whether there are any significant differences in the attitudes of students at different stages :"students learning introductory economic subjects", "students learning intermediate economic subjects" and "students learning advanced and applied economic subjects" Factor scores …

An Interactive Learning Environment For Teaching Statistics, Trevor Spedding, Xuesong Chi

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper outlines the development and use of a web based virtual factory simulator for teaching industrial statistics and process improvement techniques. Students can manage the factory for either a period of one month, or the length specified by lecturers, with the factory running in real time. The main objective is to reduce quality problems and continuously improve the quality over a substantial period of time. Techniques such as control charts, process capability, experimental design and response surface methodology and their underlying statistics are explored. This immersive simulation creates a problem-based learning approach with relevant academic underpinning. It provides the …

Learning Across Communities Of Practice: How Postgraduate Students Cope With Returning To Higher Education In An International Setting, L. Smith

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper is an exploratory case study into the way postgraduate students cope with the transition from the workplace to university in an international environment. It looks at how students move successfully between these two communities of practice, and the kind of learning that is involved in this process. As well as personal motivation, key factors found in boundary-crossing between the communities are multi-membership of communities and the use of identity as a bridge. Learning is found to involve a collateral transfer, or reconstruction, of knowledge in both directions. The study is intended to inform the development of a learning …

Structuring The Project Environment For Learning, Andrew J. Sense

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper argues that project learning and the learning competency development of project practitioners are most appropriately pursued through the creation and maintenance of supportive situated learning environments within projects. Drawing on participative action research into learning practices within a case study project involving organizational change, this paper introduces a model of project situated learning behaviour and identifies and explains five sociological elements (barriers or enablers) that are primal in shaping the learning behaviours of project team participants. This framework facilitates practitioners’ systematic and communal reflection on their learning practices and helps develop their skills in ‘learning how to learn’.

Knowledge Creation And Sharing In Project Contexts: The Situated Impact Of Our Learning Relationships, Andrew J. Sense

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper contributes to better understanding the dynamics of practically supporting the knowledge creation processes within a project management context. The case study findings presented in this paper describe and theorize about how the ‘learning relationships’ between project team participants present significant impacts on the immediate situated learning activity of a project team and ultimately also, for individual and team performance and development. As is argued in this paper, through project team participants publicly exploring and communally reflecting on this sociological element (amongst others), they aid their situated knowledge creation processes and help develop their skills in ‘learning how to …

Understanding Tensions And Conflict: A Phases Of Learning Approach To Family Business, Ken Moores, Mary Barrett

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Tensions inevitably arise from time to time in most business settings. But in family businesses these tensions potentially can be especially acute and even result in the cessation of the enterprise. These tensions manifest at various times and for many reasons but they generally arise when the business is undergoing a transition. Understanding these transitions and how to prepare for them enable family business leaders to lessen the threats to survival. In this paper we present results from our research into the transitions that Australian family firms typically experience and how they influence four key stages of learning for family …

Promoting Tertiary Learning Strategically To Meet Today's Multicultural Student's Needs, Chris D'Souza, Kate Crawford

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Many of today's metropolitan cities thrive on educating international students of diverse cultural backgrounds. However, most of these students struggle at two levels in their new environment, namely cultural and financial, and so require specific help in pursuing their educational goals. Tools are available to strategically develop people's learning skills using modem information and communication technologies (ICT). This chapter focuses on the effects of an online tool used along with well structured roles to induce collaborative as well as individual learning.

From an Activity Theory perspective our research indicates two main results of interest. First, increased attention to the dynamic …

An Investigation Into Student Approaches To Learning At A Multicultural University Using The Revised Study Process Questionnaire, L. Smith

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper is an exploratory study into student approaches to learning at a multicultural university. It is particularly relevant to higher education today, which is taking on a more global perspective, especially in the developing world where this university is situated. The instrument used to measure student approaches to learning is the revised Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) and the results are analysed using factor analysis. The SPQ was revised in 2001 to take into account the changing nature of students in higher education, with emphasis on students from diverse cultural backgrounds, and was therefore considered appropriate for this study. The …

Attitudes Of Educators And Practitioners In The Uae Towards Elements Of General Education In Learning Accounting, Jamal Roudaki

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Most universities and higher education institutions in developing countries seem to concentrate on areas of specializations in teaching accounting. Many do not seem to give attention to general education despite the fact that local and international accreditation bodies (i.e. AACSB) require general education to be part of the accounting degree. This paper aims at finding out how educators and practitioners differ in terms of their preference ratings of general education knowledge in accounting curriculum. A survey was conducted and discriminant analysis was applied to the collected data. The results suggest that, the two groups differ in their preference in general …

Machine Learning Techniques And Use Of Event Information For Stock Market Prediction: A Survey And Evaluation, Paul D. Yoo, Maria H. Kim, Tony Jan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper surveys machine learning techniques for stock market prediction. The prediction of stock markets is regarded as a challenging task of financial time series prediction. In this paper, we present recent developments in stock market prediction models, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, we investigate various global events and their issues on predicting stock markets. From this survey, we found that incorporating event information with prediction model plays very important roles for more accurate prediction. Hence, an accurate event weighting method and a stable automated event extraction system are required to provide better performance in financial time …

Learning And Doing In Communities: Understanding Knowledge Management Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Helen M. Hasan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

A Multifaceted Approach To Distributed Communities Of Learning And Practice, Helen Hasan, Kate Crawford

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In the electronic age, locally-driven regeneration of the concept of community could be enabled by a flexible, multifaceted model where new information and communication technologies are the catalyst. However technology, no matter how advanced, is far from providing the complete answer and it is essential to take an integrated socio-technical approach to this issue. This paper reports on two cases that are part of ongoing research into distributed communities, framing them as phases of an activity system in expansive learning cycles in the context of a program of innoyatiye learning. This research d!monstrates that such communities are viable. with a …

Effective Teaching And Learning In Accounting Education: Examining The Linkages Between Students' Perceptions Of The Teaching Context, Students' Approaches To Learning And Students' Outcomes, Anne Abraham

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Research in accounting education has almost neglected both student perceptions of the learning context and their approaches to learning. Instead, studies have focused on either the teaching context or the outcomes of learning. This omission has meant that accounting educators often experience difficulty in understanding students conceive learning to be, how they perceive the learning task, or how they approach learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the perceptions, the approaches and the outcomes of students in a business subject in order to discover how these students learn and thus to provide some strategies which …

Effective Teaching And Learning: A Business Education Focus, Anne Abraham

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The need to understand the process of student learning in order to improve the quality of that learning has been identified in the education literature (for example, see Biggs, 1978, 1987a, 1987b, Malton and Saljo, 1976, Ramsden, 1992). In addition, the outcomes of this learning have been identified in quantitative, qualitative or attitudinal terms (Biggs, 1990; Marton and Booth, 1997). To this end there have been a number of models of student approaches to learning (Biggs, 1988; Kember and Gow, 1989; Marton and Saljo, 1976; Zhang, 2000). Each model has considered the antecedents, and by way of application, the effectiveness …