Challenge

The challenge is in delivering a quality large online first year course - the perfect storm. This undergraduate course provides an introduction to the concepts of the management discipline that students can base their business studies on and enhance in the Bachelor of Business. With over 400 students in each course which is offered four times a year, the challenge is in giving these students a positive and effective learning experience.

This challenge escalates with the extreme diversity of backgrounds including a continuum of no university experience to professionals; deployed military; those with varying disabilities including blind and deaf; and the traditional distance education student who is geographically remote. In developing and re-developing this course the overarching aim was to continually improve the active learning for students underpinned by the question of ‘How can the first-year online management student experience be improved?'

Approach

In developing this course, substantial collaboration and continual learning underpinned the approach. The collaboration was with the teaching team, colleagues, student feedback, literature and significant help from the Educational Designer, Vikki Ravaga.

We're probably on our thirtieth iteration of the course - we tweak it continuously based on student feedback. In some instances, a Health Check is embedded into the course site where students can detail what they like about the course, what they don’t like, and also ideas for improvement.

We changed the textbook, provided a planner to give students structure, and facilitate their journey through the course by nurturing them into learning.

I’ve had the same teaching team for about four years, so there’s a level of consistency there as well. In pedagogical terms, we use an active learning, student-centred approach.

I use an integrated and distributive approach - by that I mean we don’t just introduce a topic and let students explore it. We go back over it and reintroduce it, at the same time linking it to different concepts as we work through the topic. It’s also important to explicitly link course content with learning outcomes. It’s very much a layered approach where we weave concepts together - and that’s really management - it’s very dynamic.

As academics we teach theories, and for many students these sound like waffly notions. But for me, theories are lenses with which to view specific situations.

In terms of technology, we often come across a shiny new thing with all the bells and whistles, but it may not be appropriate for our specific context. It’s very much finding what works for you.

The CYO studios are used for the production of short video clips for nearly every topic, and I’m investigating the use of GarageBand for audio recordings.

TED Talks are also used to supplement course content.

Outcomes

Through collaboration and a continual learning approach directed at a 12 month period of course development, IBA111 - Management Concepts improved with tangible results of increased positive student evaluations and was recognised by a GU Teaching Excellence Award (Online).

Enabling Technology

The following technology was used in the course:

• CYO Studios

Griffith Graduate Attributes

This assessment item aligns with the following Griffith Graduate Attribute:

• Effective communicators and collaborators

Being a fully online course, students are required to work through case studies, analyse the information provided, answer quizzes, and participate in activities. A central goal of this course is to develop students’ self-efficacy, professional identity and confidence.

Support Resources

• TED Talks

  TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less).

Contributed by

• Learning Futures
  
• Griffith Business School
  Department of Business Strategy and Innovation
  Dr Heather Stewart
  (07) 555 27930
  h.stewart@griffith.edu.au
  http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1264-0737
  Griffith Experts profile

Preferred Citation

Stewart, H., and Learning Futures (2022). Designing for a diverse online student cohort. Retrieved from https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/exlnt/entry/7027/view