Deborah Anderson

Towards a strategic approach to the introduction of blended learning: Challenges faced and lessons learned

Despite overwhelming support in recent literature (eg, Garrison & Kanuka, 2004) for a wide-spread acceptance of technology in learning and teaching, academics are still challenged with finding effective ways to incorporate technology into pedagogic practice (Arbaugh, 2008). This study reports on the challenges faced within a UK business school in implementing a faculty-wide blended learning strategy. The value of this research is to increase the understanding of the issues affecting strategic implementation of blended learning. Many higher education institutions are going through similar transformations, trying to incorporate technology to enhance the quality of teaching and learning.

Marketing education and the employability challenge

Abstract A major external challenge faced by UK higher education institutions is employability. For some academics, this poses a challenge and many feel it is not their role to help students acquire the generic employability attributes required in the workplace. In this paper, we demonstrate how innovative teaching practice at a UK Business School has ensured the development of good marketing subject learning, whilst at the same time has provided students with an opportunity to acquire generic employability attributes. This has been achieved by approaching an academic staple: the literature review as a series of well-designed tasks in which students learn through participation in rather than individually. The approach is based on a social practice framework and contributes to assertions in the literature that good learning can lead to good employability.

Supporting business students' transition into higher education : the case of marketing downloads

ABSTRACT This paper discusses a student-centred learning and teaching approach, ‘Marketing Downloads’, designed to support students in transition into Higher Education. The move from secondary to tertiary education can be stressful for students and it impacts on their academic performance, their social life and general sense of well-being. Marketing Downloads was designed with transition in mind and involves students initiating their own research to demonstrate the link between theory and real-world business practice, presenting their work and instigating a debate. Evaluation of data from five focus groups suggests that the social nature, the secure environment, the student-centred aspect and the links with the outside world help students understand the difference between secondary and tertiary education and ultimately contribute to a smooth transition. Recommendations for learning and teaching initiatives focus on these four aspects: a safe classroom environment, social networks, student-centred exercises and creating links to the outside world.

Reflections on academics' assessment literacy

This small-scale, mixed-methods study aims to investigate academics’ understanding of formative and summative assessment methods and how assessment literacy impacts on their teaching methods. Six semi-structured interviews and a scrutiny of assessments provided the data and results suggest that while these academics understand summative assessment, they have a poorer awareness of the implementation of well-constructed formative assessment. While the academics were able to clearly articulate the perceived benefits to students from undertaking formative assessments, they were less able to identify potential benefits for themselves as educators, so these went largely unrealized. Opportunities therefore exist for tutors to utilize the outcomes of formative assessment to improve student performance, particularly around tutor-reflection to amend future learning and teaching approaches in line with the theory underpinning summative and formative assessment methods. The study highlights the importance of considering all stakeholders when thinking about assessment literacy.