Business Commons^™

Clarifying The Role Of Self-Efficacy And Metacognition As Indicators Of Learning: Construct Development And Test, Trevor T. Moores, Jerry Cha-Jan Chang, Deborah K. Smith

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Publications

We propose extending our understanding of self-efficacy by comparing self-efficacy with a related construct called metacognition. Metacognition involves the monitoring and control of one's thought processes and is often related, as is self-efficacy, to performance on a task. We develop an instrument that attempts to measure both self-efficacy and metacognition with respect to one's performance on a test covering declarative and procedural knowledge (knowing that, and knowing how) of DFDs and ERDs. With data collected from a sample of 124 students, we use partial least squares (PLS) to show that self-efficacy and metacognition are distinct yet related constructs. While self-efficacy …

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’.

More Than Fun And Games: Reconsidering The Virtues Of Strategic Management Simulations, Ken E. Zantow, Dave S. Knowlton, David C. Sharp

Faculty Publications

We look at the relationship between business simulations and the educational theory of generative learning using the framework developed by Wittrock (1974, 1990, 1992). Our findings reveal opportunities for generative learning that occur at all phases of the simulation process. Awareness of these opportunities prepares faculty to get the most from the strategic decision-making simulations. and may assist them in defining the contribution associated with their use. We suggest areas for additional research.

Managing Learning Resources For Consecutive Product Generations, Lieven Demeester, Mei Qi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper, we study how a firm should allocate its learning resources when it is concurrently producing two consecutive generations of one product. We define learning resources as scarce firm-specific resources that a firm allocates towards the improvement of the cost, quality or timeliness of its existing products and processes. We use empirically tested models for demand substitution and learning curves to formulate this problem, and we present our results as propositions with regard to the optimal time at which a firm should direct all its learning resources to the newer product generation, depending on the substitution rate of …

Supply Chain Learning Needs: Towards A Port Community Perspective, Edward Sweeney, Pietro Evangelista

Articles

The traditional role of ports in the wider supply chain context is currently being subject to a process
of radical review. In broad terms, the traditional model is being replaced by a model which focuses on higher value and more knowledge intensive activities. This trend requires a change in the way in which new knowedge and skills are developed by staff in companies of all kinds within port communities. Traditional models need to be re-evaluated to reflect the increasing importance of knowledge and skills acquisition, particularly in relation to the supply chain management (SCM) concept and the evolving role of …

Putting Supply Chain Learning Theory Into Practice: Lessons From An Irish Case, Edward Sweeney, Pietro Evangelista, Renato Passaro

Articles

The logistics service market is currently going through a fundamental transition. The development of closer relationships with customers and the continuous adaptation of products and services, represent potentially successful approaches to the development of improved competitive capability. To this end knowledge resources and learning processes increasingly represent key elements within the evolving framework of the 3PL business. This paper describes the case of NITL’s Foundation Certificate Programme (FCP) learning programme with specific reference to its use in addressing some of current shortcomings related to supply chain knowledge and skills in the Irish third party logistics (3PL) industry. The FCP rationale …

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 …

Participatory Learning Environment : Requirements And Design Analysis, Vikas Manohar Achhpiliya

Theses

The primary purpose of this thesis is to develop the requirements and model preliminary database and class designs for the Participatory Learning Approach Environment (PLAE). The requirements and the designs will be presented for version 1.0 and 2.0 with version 2.0 supporting an enhanced requirements set.

Participatory Learning Approach Environment (PLAE) is an exercise management tool for the Participatory Learning Approach (PLA) - a pedagogy approach based on the theory of constructivism. The PLAE facilitates and enhances learning among students while easing the administrative burden of the instructor and cognitive overload of the students. The theory and concepts on which …

Support For Asynchronous Interaction In Group Experiential Learning, Joseph Meloche, Helen Hasan, Angelo Papakosmas

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

To be relevant to the constantly changing work patterns of the real world, effective learning in universities often occurs in small groups facilitated by collaborative environments where participants are dynamically involved in purposeful activities. The research described in this paper is an investigation of purposeful group work devised for experiential learning where a variety of socio-technical tools were used to support asynchronous tasks and communication among the learners. In order to explore the complexity of this collaborative activity a distinctive inductive research approach has been adopted using reflective developmental methods. The data collection and the analysis part of the research …

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.

Ict Adoption By Logistics Service Providers: Developing A Learning Agenda, Pietro Evangelista, Edward Sweeney

Conference papers

Recent years have seen innovations in the logistics and freight transport industry in relation to Information and communication technologies (ICT) diffusion. The implementation of such technologies by third party logistics providers (3PLs) allows the real-time exchange of information between supply chain partners, thereby improving planning capability and customer service. However, the logistics and freight transport industry is lagging somewhat behind other sectors in ICT diffusion.

In relation to the latter point, it is important to note that the dissemination of ICT in logistics and supply chain management (SCM) is shifting the 3PL industry to an increasingly knowledge-intensive approach. In this …

The Development Of Interfirm Partnering Competence: Platforms For Learning, Learning Activities, And Consequences Of Learning, Jean L. Johnson, Ravipreet S. Sohi

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

This study investigated factors within the firm that encourage organizational learning activities. The authors suggest that when the appropriate factors are present, the firm will more likely engage in learning activities integral in the development of interfirm partnering competence. The conditions for building partnering competence are found in the firm's culture and climate in the form of learning intent, receptivity, and transparency. In addition, the authors suggested that learning-related activities would generate some positive influence on specific interfirm relationships (IFRs). The authors tested these ideas on data from a multiindustry mail survey. Results largely conformed to expectations. The platform variables, …

7. Shared Vision, United Passion, Friends Of The National Museum Singapore

Friends of the Museum Collection

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 …

Community Organization Staff Perceptions About The Importance Of Selected Practices In Building Effective Community-University Service And Learning Partnerships, Bobbie Ruth Dixon Shaffett

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore community organization staff perceptions about the importance of selected practices in building effective community-university service and learning partnerships. The target population was community organization staff members who were current or potential partners for community-university service and learning partnerships. The accessible population was community organization staff members listed with a southern metropolitan volunteer placement organization in a an area served by several universities, one large Research I Land-grant university, a historically Black Land-grant university, and at least two other state universities. The researcher designed a mail survey questionnaire based on scholarly and practitioner …

Exploring The Relationship Between Learning And Leadership, Lillas Brown, Barry Z. Posner

Management & Entrepreneurship

This paper investigates how two important research streams, namely learning and leadership, might be related with one another. Responses on the learning tactics inventory and leadership practices inventory are compared for a managerial sample (n = 312). Results indicate that more active and versatile learners subsequently consider themselves more frequently involved and engaged in leadership behaviors. Implications for transformational learning and leadership theories are explored, as well as thoughts about how the development of leadership competencies may be enhanced and affected by various learning techniques.

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 …

Learning Within And Across Projects: A Comparison Of Frames, Marc Antoni, Andrew J. Sense

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In a world of global markets and fast changing competitive environments organizations need to embrace flexibility and adaptability in response to these environmental challenges. One organizational response to these conditions is that the classical functional structures of organizations are now more and more complemented by temporal organizations or projects. Projects are used to accomplish a diverse and often complex set of organizational goals or changes that would otherwise be less obtainable by the organization, or, that would overstrain the ability of the permanent organization to achieve successful outcomes. The diverse raft of projects that organizations do pursue can comprise projects …

The Impact Of Group Selection On Student Performance And Satisfaction, Sakthi Mahenthiran, Pamela J. Rouse

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Investigates whether the performance and attitudes of students could be improved by giving them some control over the group selection process. Groups were formed either by randomly combining paired friends or by randomly assigning all students. Students completed a group exercise and a group case. The dependent variables were the project grades and student satisfaction. Student satisfaction was measured using a questionnaire. The results show that attitudes of students were more positive when they were allowed to choose a single friend in the group. The project grades were significantly higher when students were paired, and this result was true regardless …