Gerald F. Burch

Student Engagement: Developing a Conceptual Framework and Survey Instrument.

Student engagement is considered to be among the better predictors of learning, yet there is growing concern that there is no consensus on the conceptual foundation. The authors propose a conceptualization of student engagement grounded in A. W. Astins (1984) Student Involvement Theory and W. A. Kahns (1990) employee engagement research where student engagement is built on four components: emotional engagement, physical engagement, cognitive engagement in class, and cognitive engagement out of class. Using this framework the authors develop and psychometrically test a student engagement survey that can be used by researchers to advance engagement theory and by business schools to monitor continuous improvement.

Identifying and Overcoming Threshold Concepts and Conceptions: Introducing a Conception-Focused Curriculum to Course Design

Educators have been challenged to identify threshold concepts and develop transformed students. This stands in stark contrast to many curriculum design and delivery models that currently view students as repositories of knowledge. In this article, we argue that educators can reach both goals, identify stumbling blocks and transforming students, through purposeful and insightful blending of a curriculum design and delivery using a conception-focused curriculum (CFC) to design courses built on the integration of concepts and viewing them through the lens of the discipline. This process takes advantage of the student’s previous knowledge and their natural learning tendencies. Educators that use the CFC model will identify threshold concepts, design learning activities that support learning outcomes, access prior knowledge and understandings, and guide students to overcome learning barriers.

The Benefits of Merging Leadership Research and Emotions Research

A closer merging of the literature on emotions with the research on leadership may prove advantageous to both fields. Leadership researchers will benefit by incorporating the research on emotional labor, emotional regulation, and happiness. Emotions researchers will be able to more fully consider how leadership demands influence emotional processes. In particular, researchers can better understand how the workplace context and leadership demands influence affective events. The leadership literature on charisma, transformational leadership, leader-member exchange, and other theories have the potential to shed light on how rhetorical techniques and other leadership techniques influence emotional labor, emotional contagion, moods, and overall morale. Conversely, the literature on emotional labor and emotional contagion stands to provide insights into what makes leaders charismatic, transformational, or capable of developing high quality leader–follower relationships. This review examines emotions and leadership at five levels: within person, between persons, interpersonal, groups and teams, and organizational wide and integrates research on emotions, emotional contagion, and leadership to identify opportunities for future research for both emotions researchers and leadership researchers.

Increasing Knowledge by Leaps and Bounds: Using Experiential Learning to Address Threshold Concepts

The discussion of threshold concepts is growing in the management education literature. These concepts create challenges for students and instructors since they act as barriers to learning. The reward for overcoming these obstacles is the opening of new ways of thinking that were not available before the student mastered the threshold concepts. We propose in this article that many students believe business education is “common sense” and do not understand that management is practice informed by theory. When students master the threshold concept concerning the “underlying game” of management, they begin to develop deeper and more meaningful understandings. From this perspective we demonstrate how we have used experiential exercises in an operations management class to facilitate active, social, and creative learning that exposes this threshold concept and moves the student through the preliminal, liminal, and postliminal stages of threshold concept mastery.

Unraveling the Complexities of Empathy Research: A Multi-Level Model of Empathy in Organizations

Abstract Purpose Empathy, or the process of feeling or knowing how another feels, is a critical component of social interactions, and may be of particular importance to organizational functioning. This chapter addresses a literature gap on empathy in organizational contexts by providing a review of empathy research in a management setting. Methodology/approach We integrate the developing field of empathy research and provide a conceptual framework built on Ashkanasy’s (2003) five levels of analysis in emotions research, emphasizing within-person, between-person, interpersonal, group-level, and organization-level processes. Findings Our model addresses the complaint that empathy definitions are not consistent by illustrating how the level of analysis alters the view of empathy’s role in organizations. Research implications This multi-level model of empathy provides a framework to identify gaps in the empathy literature and make recommendations for future research. Practical implications This new model of empathy will help practitioners use and understand empathy by providing a structure of how empathy is manifested in organizational settings. Originality/value The field of empathy research has been limited by inconsistent definitions and a lack of a model that outlines how empathy is used in organizations. This multi-level model of empathy provides the necessary framework for researchers and practitioners to advance the research and practice of empathy in organizations.

Student Engagement: An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of Implementing Mandatory Web-Based Learning Systems

ABSTRACT Student engagement has, and will continue to be, a key desire for educators. However, some policies that are aimed at increasing engagement may actually have the opposite effect. This study of 98 students investigates one mandatory policy to use a web-based learning system and presents the level of student engagement compared to other classes where the learning system was not used. Results show that students that were required to use the web-based material had lower engagement, thus providing evidence that participation is not synonymous with engagement. Implications for practice and research are proposed.

Web-based and face-to-face classes: are there unintended outcomes?

Purpose Empirical research has demonstrated that web-based classes offer similar learning outcomes as face-to-face classes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the unintended effects of delivery method (web-based or face-to-face) on student learning, competency development, and student engagement. Design/methodology/approach Exam grades and a survey were collected from 180 undergraduate business students at a public university in the Southern USA. All students were enrolled in the same course, taught by three instructors. Findings One-way analysis of variance of the mean showed that declarative and procedural knowledge attained was not statistically significantly different for web-based or face-to-face instruction. However, students in the face-to-face sections reported higher attainment of cognitive intelligence competencies, social intelligence competencies, overall student engagement, emotional engagement, cognitive engagement in class, and cognitive engagement out of class although these outcomes were not specifically targeted as learning outcomes. Research limitations/implications Research participants all came from one course, at one university. Practical implications There are potentially beneficial, unintended outcomes associated with face-to-face courses. Web-based learning courses may require a redesigned approach that addresses these benefits by adding course elements and tasks that increase student engagement and creates opportunities for development of cognitive and social intelligence competencies. Originality/value Little research has been conducted on unintended learning outcomes such as competency development and student engagement. Therefore, this study demonstrates that educators should consider factors beyond learning assessment when comparing web-based to face-to-face courses.

Rethinking family business education

Purpose – Family businesses consist of a family system, a business system, and an ownership system. Current undergraduate business education only prepares family business students with business system education, thereby leaving the student with a misconception of the environment in which they will work. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Business education must change to provide these students with an integrated curriculum that allows them to make connections across disciplines, and provides the additional soft skills and hard skills needed to accomplish the task. Findings – The authors propose a conception focussed curriculum to accomplish this task and make suggestions on how such a system might be implemented. Originality/value – This approach provides family business educators with a model that they can implement, thereby better preparing family business students for their return to their family work.

Transforming a Trip Abroad Into an Experiential Exercise in Entrepreneurship

At some point in their careers, many professors ponder the idea of taking a group of students abroad. This notion is especially true for entrepreneurship professors interested in exposing students to international entrepreneurship. In this article, we discuss how a professor and a student organization turned organizing a study abroad trip to China into an experiential exercise in entrepreneurship by creating and managing a short-term business to fund and plan the trip. Specific recommendations for a new set of entrepreneurial experiential best practices are outlined and illustrated.