Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond: Innovation-Driven Learning Strategies 9813368039, 9789813368033

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Kumaran Rajaram

Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond Innovation-Driven Learning Strategies

Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond

Kumaran Rajaram

Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond Innovation-Driven Learning Strategies

Kumaran Rajaram Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore

ISBN 978-981-33-6803-3 ISBN 978-981-33-6804-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Foreword

Are great teachers born or made? I believe that they are neither. Rather, a great teacher must not only have the intrinsic talent and passion to teach but also be equipped with the necessary training to excel in teaching. With the rapid development of smart learning technology, educational innovation is of paramount importance in today’s teaching field. In reading this book, one will be able to benefit from the proposed evidence-based innovative teaching strategies and recommendations. The book has a focus on scholarly works in the area of teaching and learning science and provides great insights about how to holistically develop students’ cognitive empathy and leadership skills. In particular, the use of a flipped classroom approach to engage learners is a very creative way to enhance the learning process of students. With the appropriate learning interventions, learning outcomes can be significantly improved through collaborative learning and interactive class participation. In the twenty-first century and beyond, the ability to emerge as the leader in the educational arena hinges critically on the ability of educators to be the first mover, often taking the initiative to adapt to the ever fast changing transformations in tertiary education, incorporating innovative changes in teaching methods. By offering readers a holistic approach to evidence-based teaching and innovative learning, this book is certainly a good aid to help educators develop the necessary competencies and skills in university education and research scholars to advance their teaching and learning science scholarship. Professor Xin Simba Chang Professor of Finance, Associate Dean (Research) Nanyang Business School Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore

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Preface

“The one true goal of education is to leave a person asking questions” —Author unknown.

Learning happens when the learners start questioning the norms; searching for information to address the varying perspectives; explore the unknown without being spoon-fed with model answers; self-think critically on how to resolve issues at hand; experience discomfort in the progress and are put in an ambiguous situation, while working towards resolving an assigned task. This allows one to think, reflect and strive towards the process of finding the answers to the queries and unanswered issues. The process of the learning phase is the focus if learning in terms of depth and quality is to occur. It has been my motivation to put my learning and teaching scholarship research insights and reflections together to benefit the larger academic community in a book titled: Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century and Beyond: Innovation Driven Learning. The insightful journey commenced back then in 2012 when I joined as a faculty with Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. As appointed as the course chair-director, I am responsible to oversee 8–10 senior instructors and over 450 students, including exchange students from various countries globally. I was intrigued by the rapid changes to explore and experiment ways to transform the learning culture and re-design the curriculum to enhance the contents knowledge and competencies to be acquired through addressing the complex learning challenges that emerge and were embedded in the pursuit of students’ university education. The reflection on my personal values and beliefs on teaching and learning drives the mission that unfolds in three key dimensions: (a) inculcate positive and nurturing learning environment; (b) stimulate learner’s interest for learning; (c) ingrain a mindset of life-long learning. I continually made attempts through diverse and creative ways to understand students’ learning preferences, empathizing with their learning challenges learning and culture of learning as well as the programme’s primary focus and intended learning outcomes. This allows me to customize the instructional techniques to meet students’ expectations so that effective acquisition of knowledge will be achieved. I believe effective teaching happens when there is a good balance of interactivity, dialogue and exchange of perspectives between the vii

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teacher and students. Hence by endeavoring to appreciate the varying students’ aspirations, I can facilitate a conducive learning environment that inspires and encircles everyone’s aspirations in the class. We should be creative to ultilise varying instructional approaches, both via the traditional approaches and technological interventions that stimulate optimal learning in the students. Collaborative and cooperative learning enables one to grow intellectually, develop internally and enhance their individual personality. It is imperative to develop a culture of innovation and creativity, developing an entrepreneurial and problem-solving mindset. This encourages students to not only optimize their inner talent and potential but also nurture them to be enterprising, enabling them to be critical thinkers embracing diverse perspectives. I am also concurrently serving as a research fellow-affiliate in the area of organizational and learning Science, learning culture and culture of learning, learning analytics, competencies development and internationalization of higher education. The inspiration to dive deeper on these learning, human capital and training development, competency and skills augmentations and teaching areas was derived from the varying questions that emerges through the real-life encounters and challenges that I had to deal with and have experienced from the strategic, tactical levels (during my prior stints as Chief Executive Officer—CEO, Global Leadership, Management and Learning Intelligence Consultancy, Asia Pacific; Head, Technical specialization, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Training Institute; Director of Academic Affairs—Head of Division and Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development; Founder, Executive Director & Principal Consultant, Research Lab for Learning Culture and Innovations) and operational level (as a professor presently who deals directly with the students). Back then, the immediate goal was to resolve the challenges, issues by addressing the contributing factors but perhaps I did not have the bandwidth to dive deeper to explicitly address the root causes of the problem. However, now as an active researcher, I have since embarked tackling these vital and pressing research questions and having them experimented, validated, analyzed by putting together in this book. In today’s rapid changing environment with evolving expectations, educators need to respond with agility to mindfully design and innovate its course curriculum to achieve quality, depth and rigor of training in any context of specialisation. Today’s higher education at University requires to nurture students to become competent and globally employable business leaders and managers, having them realize and internalise their role as change catalysts in building a productive and sustainable world, where enterprises of all sorts can be leveraged on humanistic as well as economic conventions. This book serves as an essential and timely intervention where the innovative, evidence- based and contemporary learning approaches, strategies and learning interventions to be incorporated in the learning process. These innovation-driven teaching and learning approaches are implemented in real-time learning environments and context aimed towards the development of outcome-based learning, explicitly noncontent-based skills and competencies, which is what the universities are gearing towards for the twenty-first century and beyond. The book will address the complex

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challenges and limitations in practice supported with evidence, hence providing possible strategies and approaches to address them. The book addresses an interesting scope of topics that are both contemporary and essential to almost all academics who has a high responsibility to nurture, develop, train and equip learners both at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels at the university with the relevant contents’ knowledge, skills and competencies. A combination of research methodologies was used for the varying learning designs, assessment approaches and learning interventions adopted in the research studies conducted. This will be of large interest for the academic community to explore and examine how these learning strategies, ‘know-hows’ interventions and innovations could be adopted or to be served as exemplary practices to be potentially customized and used in context. There is a high focus and inclination on outcomebased learning, fixated on how to better facilitate the classes leveraging on technology enabled learning that engages and facilitates much higher level of collaborative and cooperative learning in the process of education. I aim to value-add through the scholarly work in this book as an avenue of contribution to Higher Education Institution and University leaders, researchers, educators, learning science practitioners and other stakeholders in this field to help them attain their institutional and individualized goals. Kumaran Rajaram, Ph.D. (Distinction) Division of Leadership, Management and Organisation Nanyang Business School Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore

Testimonials

“The book authored by Dr. Rajaram provides evidence-based discussions and practical-oriented recommendations that comes as a timely, relevant intervention for educators and research scholars. Like most organizational sectors, the education sector is facing increasing competition and rapidly changing students’ interests and needs. Stated differently, it is being disrupted. In order for Higher Education Institutions and Universities and their faculty to stay relevant, it is critical that they understand, respond and adopt innovative evidence-based teaching strategies. EvidenceBased Teaching and Innovative Learning Strategies has been written to ensure that educational researchers and faculty are up to date on the latest teaching and learning innovations and research. It is sure to inform and propel educational best-practices into the future. The insights shared will serve as case-studies and exemplary practices to help educators respond with agility to the evolving, rapid changes in higher education.” —Assistant Professor Ryan Gottfredson, College of Business and Economics, California State University, Fullerton, United States “The book combines a succinct review of business education, learning science and teaching theories and presents evidence-based yet pragmatic research insights and analysis related to teaching and learning scholarship. These well-researched and clearly articulated analyses have generated theoretically informed recommendations for optimizing the learning process and effectiveness on how students in business education learn. This book addresses gaps in the literature explicit to business education teaching and learning. The author, Dr. Rajaram’s insightful discussions kindle contemporary and interesting research questions for business educators now and into a post-COVID future. The book serves a timely and valuable exploration of the discipline of business education in higher education institutions for researchers and educators alike.” —Professor Bob Fox, Curriculum, Office of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education & Student Experience), University of New South Wales, Australia and Teaching Fellow, The University of Hong Kong

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“In this book, Dr. Rajaram goes beyond a basic presentation of existing learning methodologies. He also reflexively discusses approaches such as the flipped classroom and on-line learning via social media. Dr. Rajaram provides insights on important topics such as getting students motivated through collaborative work within and between groups, helping students develop cognitive empathy-related skills and leadership competencies, and creating a sense of community in the classroom. The result is a set of evidence-based, contemporary, valuable insights and innovative tools for researchers and educators in Higher Education.” —Dr. Ludvig Levasseur, Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and Junior Research Fellow, Indiana University “The book is beneficial for educators and researchers from universities who want to bring their “know-hows” and teaching skills to a more advanced level. This book by Dr. Rajaram presents validated pedagogical practices, innovative learning strategies from the latest academic research and vital tips for improved teaching and contemporary, evidence-based learning for varying relevant stakeholder groups. The book comprises of valuable insights and practical recommendations. The scholarly discussions and nuances covered are well scaffolded and clearly articulated. I highly recommend educators and researchers to read it.” —Dr. Andrea Honal, Professor of Management, Media & Marketing and Director of the Digital Learning of the DHBW Mannheim, Germany “Dr. Rajaram continues his contributions and surprise readers with yet another insightful, impactful and forward-looking publication in the field of Higher Education. The author delivers a set of chapters that are an essential read for those involved in advancing teaching and learning strategies, equally at the top-ranked, and emerging institutions around the World. Rich in evidence, theoretical frameworks and innovative approaches, the book leads the reader to reconsider their practices in the context of emerging 21st century Higher Education landscape. As institutions face complex challenges brought abound by, for example, the emerging technologies, strategic repositioning and health crisis, forward-looking strategic proposals integrated into the book provide safeguard for sustainable development in innovative teaching and learning in the context of Higher Education.” —Associate Professor Daniel Churchill, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong “This is a comprehensive book on teaching and innovative learning strategies. It reviews various teaching and learning approaches and offers suggestions on how to adapt and execute them. The evaluation of existing scientific evidence and the reflections shared are thought-provoking and helpful for advancing future research in the areas of teaching and learning as well. This is definitely a worthwhile read for instructors and researchers who are interested in implementing state-of-the-art and stimulating strategies to engage their learners!” —Assistant Professor Chong SinHui, Division of Leadership, Management and Organisation, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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“Dr. Rajaram’s book makes an important contribution to the field of learning science and teaching scholarship in business education. Its treatment of evidence-based teaching approaches should be adopted as exemplary practices by business educators across the world, especially for undergraduate education. The book examines the challenges faced by Universities to transform their teaching and learning methodologies to respond to the rapidly evolving changes in industry and technology. The teaching and innovative learning strategies recommended by Dr. Rajaram are very grounded and innovative and will enhance learning effectiveness for all students.” —Professor S. Viswanathan, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore “Dr. Kumaran’s book provides a collection of effective field-tested strategies that allows educators to meaningfully engage students in class. Some of these are illustrated with examples and research studies based on Dr. Kumaran’s classes in the Nanyang Business School. The discussions on considerations in the design of collaborative class activities to develop soft skills such as empathy and leadership traits are especially useful and interesting. The underlying principles depicted are also applicable to educators and scholars in other similar fields. This book will be a valuable addition to educators developing curriculum to prepare students for the 21st century.” —Dr. Ho Shen Yong, Principal Lecturer, Associate Dean (Academic), Division of Physics & Applied Physics, College of Science, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore “This book presents a unique set of ideas for innovation in teaching and learning with a set of pragmatic recommendations for educators in higher education to adapt to their respective teaching practices. With evidence-based findings and thoughtprovoking discussions, this book enhances the research and practice of holistic higher education with new perspectives and proposition in imbuing soft skills in students. The current book, underpinned by good quality empirical work and theorizing, will be a valuable resource for practitioners, policymakers and researchers in higher education contexts.” —Dr. Samson Tan, Head, Centre for Innovation in Learning, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore “Technological developments and innovations have infiltrated all aspects of our lives, from where and how we communicate, interact, work, play as well as learn. This book provides a timely review of teaching strategies commonly employed in higher education to help students learn and prepare for an increasingly digitalized 21st Century. The authors based their review and discussion on extant research evidence and findings, providing a sound basis for informing both researchers and educators. The book provides reflective suggestions on how research scholars can extend current

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understanding in the field of learning science and useful insights on how teaching faculty can help to further enhance student learning.” —Associate Professor Low Kin Yew, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Academic), Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore “Dr. Rajaram’s new academic book provides a timely contribution to teaching pedagogy at this turning point in modes of delivery in Higher Education Institutions. It provides sound, evidence-based advice for educators and researchers today, but offers more than merely a guide and set of top tips. It is underpinned by extensive research and leading-edge theoretical insights to teaching and learning today. Covering concerns such as students’ engagement, collaborative learning and critical thinking, it links practice in the classroom with virtual learning environments and the use of social media, thus bringing debates on teaching practice bang up to date for contemporary and veteran educators. The result is a book that should grip the reader and enable Higher Education educators and researchers to reflect upon and update their teaching practices and scholarship endeavours in this fast-evolving digitalized world.” —Dr. Paul Forrester, Senior Lecturer in Enterprise, Keele Business School, Keele University, United Kingdom “It is almost cliche to say that we in higher education are living in a disruptive, transformative era. Dr. Rajaram is an experienced educator whose thoughtfulness and intentionality in considering how we might effectively implement innovative approaches for facilitating student learning outcomes serve as the perfect antidote in a moment that can sometimes feel overly reactive, even frantic. In Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond - Innovation-Driven Learning Strategies, Dr. Rajaram brings his expertise to this distinct moment of transition in higher education. His insightful discussions of approaches such as the flipped classroom, innovative tactics for developing student empathy and peer reflective feedback, and co-opting social media platforms as collaborative learning tools reflect an ongoing mission to connect the scholarship of teaching and learning with cuttingedge digital tools to prepare university graduates for the challenges of our dynamic global economy.” —Associate Professor Alexander Bolinger, Department of Management, College of Business, Idaho State University, United States “We inhabit a fluid, fast-changing geopolitical landscape. All of humanity faces unprecedented challenges, including climate change, artificial intelligence governance, and global pathogen risks. To confront these challenges, today’s university students must receive a holistic education. They should be equipped not only with content-knowledge, but also an array of social skills, cognitive competencies, and emotional sensitivities needed to innovate, work with others, act ethically, and lead. Dr. Kumaran Rajaram’s ground-breaking study assesses a multitude of pedagogical techniques that engage students on all these levels. Collaborative and experiential

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learning, peer feedback, and “flipped” classrooms are shown to cultivate problemsolving skills, empathy, and leadership ability. Dr. Rajaram subjects all the interventions to an evidence-based analysis with well-defined performance criteria. We have here an invaluable resource for university educators worldwide.” —Associate Professor Andres Carlos Luco, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore “In eight well-crafted chapters, Dr. Kumaran Rajaram, brings together valuable insights about several key areas of pedagogy in a highly readable and useful book that anyone in the higher education sector should read. The book offers principled, contextual and evidence-based approaches to teaching in the modern university setting. There is a great deal to learn from this book.” —Assistant Professor Althaf Marsoof, Division of Business Law, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore “This book is a rich and timely contribution to mastering the transformation of higher education in the 21st century. There is ample coverage of how to build and foster new and vital competencies on the sides of both students as well as academic instructors through innovative approaches in classrooms and beyond. Key skills such as critical thinking, cognitive empathy and reflection are explored. Dr. Kumaran Rajaram provides valuable insights through the featured studies and real-time learning environment experiments he has conducted for many years. I highly appreciate the evidence-based coverage of state-of-the art approaches uniting technology, intellectual skills and innovative mindset. Scholars will benefit from value-adding research avenues opened up. This book will inspire the SOTL community to further enquire the complex challenges associated with making higher education future-proof.” —Dr. Volker Rundshagen, Professor of Management and Tourism Studies, Vice Dean, School of Business Studies, University of Applied Sciences Stralsund, Germany “This book by Dr. Rajaram discusses evidence-based teaching and innovative learning strategies in university education that are studied in the context of business studies. It has the potential to influence the way educators and policy makers think about curriculum, pedagogies and the use of technologies to better engage learners and make them reflect and think critically. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in contemporary and transformative ways of teaching and learning in higher education, especially in the current pandemic as well as post-pandemic age.” —Professor Chee-Kit Looi, Professor of Education, National Institute of Education, and Co-Director, Centre of Research and Development in Learning, Nanyang Technological University

Contents

1 Transformation in Higher Education: Twenty-First-Century Teaching and Learning Competencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Teaching and Learning in Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Challenges: Urgency to Re-Think, Transform and Adapt . . . . . . . . 1.4 Overview of the Chapters of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Intertwined Relationship: Evolving Role of Educators and Congruence in Students’ Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.1 Role Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.2 Mentor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.3 Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.4 Facilitator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 Significance of Developing Employability Skills Through Innovation-Driven Teaching Philosophy, Learning Culture and Pedagogical Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7 Future of Learning and Teaching: Re-imagine Education . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Engaging Learners: A Flipped Classroom Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Theoretical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Flipped Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Technology-Enhanced Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.3 Blended Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Concept and Features of the Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 Pre-class Online Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.2 Face-to-Face Session: Applied and Active Learning, Scaffolding Learning Support System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.3 Pre-class Online Learning: Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.4 Face-to-Face Seminar with Real-Time Technological Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 2 4 7 9 9 11 12 12

14 15 17 21 22 25 25 27 28 30 32 33 33 35

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Contents

Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.1 Phase 1 of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.2 Phase 2 of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5.1 Phase 1 of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5.2 Survey Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 Phase 2 of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6.1 Prior Versus After Implementation of Flipped Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6.2 Interview Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 Limitations, Conclusions and Future Reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix A: Post-TEL Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix B: Interview Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix C: LAMS, “doKumaran” Tool, and Active Support System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix D: Video Trailer for Flipped Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix E: The Process Flows of the 5 Activity Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix F: Student Responses to the Use of the Scaffolding Learning Support System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37 37 37 38 38 40 46 46 49 53 54 55 58 59 65 67 68 68

3 Learning Interventions: Collaborative Learning, Critical Thinking and Assessing Participation Real-Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 3.1 Abstract—Study 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 3.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 3.3 Theoretical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 3.3.1 Critical Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 3.3.2 Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 3.3.3 Class Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 3.4 Concept and Features of the Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 3.5 Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 3.6 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 3.6.1 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 3.6.2 Phase 1 of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 3.6.3 Phase 2 of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 3.7 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 3.7.1 Phase 1 of Study—Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 3.7.2 Phase 1 of Study—Focus Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 3.7.3 Phase 2 of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 3.8 Expert Reviews by Professors in Universities and Senior Leaders in Multi-National Corporations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 3.9 Limitations, Conclusion and Future Reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 3.10 Abstract—Study 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 3.11 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Contents

3.12 Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.13 The “doKumaran” Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.14 Theories and Conceptual Frameworks: In Support of Creation of “doKumaran” Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.15 Collaborative Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.16 Student Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.17 Critical Thinking Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.18 Findings and Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.19 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix A: Post-Survey (After the Intervention of the Learning Support System) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix B: Interview Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix C: Video Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix D: Screen Shot of KˆmAlive Feature Embedded with NTULearn (Blackboard) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Social-Psychological Intervention: Cognitive Empathy Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Goals of the Research Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Impact of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Significance of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.1 Importance to Teaching and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.2 Leads to Improved Students’ Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Impact on Teaching and Learning at the University . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6.1 Leadership Competencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6.2 Empathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6.3 Social-Psychological Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6.4 Evidence-Based Pedagogies: Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6.5 Design Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 Intervention 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7.2 Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7.3 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7.4 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7.5 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8 Intervention 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8.1 Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8.2 Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8.3 Results (Activity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8.4 Results (Ethical Assignment) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8.5 Results (Field Report) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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102 103 105 105 106 108 109 110 112 114 114 115 115 121 122 123 124 124 124 125 126 126 126 127 131 133 135 140 140 140 140 144 149 152 153 153 158 160 162

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4.8.6 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 4.8.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 5 Student-Centric Learning: A Transformation in the Learning Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Instructional Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 E-Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Blended Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 Learning Through Simulation and Management Games/Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 Shift in the Roles Undertaken by Instructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 Learning Activity Management System (LAMs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 Proposed Conceptual Framework: Hybrid Learning Model . . . . . . 5.9 Impact and Outcomes of the Proposed Conceptual Blended Learning Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.10 Shift in Learning Culture: Embracing Creative Learning . . . . . . . . 5.11 Grades Focused Versus Effective Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.12 Mindset Shift and Habitual Behavioural Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.13 Value Creation in the Subjects Through the “eyes” of the Business Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.14 Assessment: Rigorous, Objective, External, Unbiased and Standardized—Examining Students’ Understanding, Critical Thinking and Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.15 Professional Soft Skills Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.16 Feedback Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.17 Learning for the Twenty-First Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Reflective Peer Review Feedback: Leadership Development . . . . . . . . 6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Social-Psychological Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Leadership Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Student Peer Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix A: Leadership Competency Reflective Peer Feedback . . . . . . . Appendix B: Peer Review Leadership Competency—Guide Reflective Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix C: Overview of Weekly Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix D: Weekly Guide for the Active Learning Activities . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

175 177 178 179 180 182 184 185 185 186 187 187 189 189

190 192 192 194 195 199 200 201 202 204 205 206 211 212 214 216 217 218

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7 Learning Through Social Media: Facebook as a Collaborative and Experiential Pedagogical Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 Introduction: Social Media as a Learning Platform in Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.1 Prevalent Time Spent on Social Networking Sites . . . . . . . . 7.2 Background of Facebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 Facebook as a Collaborative and Experimental Pedagogical Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 Facebook Versus Institutional Learning Management Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 Gaps to Be Addressed in This Research Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6 Rationale of This Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7 Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7.1 Course Facebook Main Page and Group Pages . . . . . . . . . . 7.7.2 Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7.3 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8 Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9 Findings—Phase 1: Interviews with Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9.1 Qualitative Indicators of Critical Thinking and Knowledge Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9.2 Critical Thinking and Knowledge Transfer Effectiveness Indicators Common Across Five Seminar Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.10 Findings—Phase 2: Focus Group with Instructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.11 Findings—Phase 3: Measurement of Learning Impact . . . . . . . . . . 7.12 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.13 Recommendation and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Concluding Thoughts: Twenty-First-Century Classroom and Humanistic Management Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1 Learning Culture and Culture of Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.1 Hybrid Learning Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.2 Shift in the Learning Culture: Embrace Creative Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.3 Shift in the Roles Undertaken by Instructors . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.4 Shift in the Culture of Learning: From Too Overly Grade Focused to a Holistic Self-Development Achiever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 (Re)-Designing and Transformation of Learning Design . . . . . . . . 8.2.1 Comprehending and Reflecting on Critiques in Providing Holistic Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.2 Offering a Diversity of Choices in Interdisciplinary Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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221 222 225 227 227 228 228 229 229 229 230 231 232 233 235

236 240 240 240 244 244 249 249 250 251 251

252 253 253 254

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8.2.3 Engaging Key Practitioners in Industry to Brainstorm Gaps in the Respective Professional Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.4 Learning from Real-Life Failures and Challenges . . . . . . . . 8.2.5 Mindset Shift and Habitual Behavioural Issues . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.6 Value Creation in the Subjects Through the “Eyes” of the Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.7 Professional Skills Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.8 Strategies for Learners to Cope and Succeed in Challenging and Complex Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3 A Change in the Learning Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4 Humanistic Management Education in a Borderless Digital World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5 Multicultural and Multi-disciplinary Focus: Twenty-First Century and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.6 Conclusion and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

254 255 255 256 256 257 259 259 261 262 264

List of Figures

Fig. 2.1

Fig. 2.2 Fig. 2.3 Fig. 2.4 Fig. 2.5 Fig. 2.6 Fig. 2.7 Fig. 2.8

Fig. 2.9 Fig. 2.10 Fig. 2.11 Fig. 2.12 Fig. 2.13 Fig. 2.14 Fig. 2.15 Fig. 2.16 Fig. 2.17

Improvised conceptual framework – Flipped classroom with technology-enabled learning (Extracted from Rajaram, K. (2019). Flipped classrooms: Scaffolding support system with real-time learning interventions. Asian Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 30–58) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Improvised conceptual framework – Flipped classroom, a model adopted in a 100% virtual learning setting . . . . . . . . . . . Students’ responses regarding the online learning experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Students’ responses regarding the appeal of this approach to students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Students’ responses regarding the level of flexibility of this learning approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Students’ responses to their ability to reflect and apply the content learnt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Students’ responses regarding the effectiveness of the approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A screenshot of the “doKumaran” tool as part of the functionality feature embedded on the authoring platform of LAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A screenshot of capturing concurrent contributions highlighted in different colours for each contributor . . . . . . . . . . Screenshot of a group/instructor-centric activity sequence . . . . . Process flow of the group/instructor-centric activity sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Screenshot of a peer review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Process flow of the peer review activity sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . A screenshot of a collaboration activity sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . Process flow of the collaboration activity sequence . . . . . . . . . . . Screenshot of a jigsaw activity sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Process flow of the jigsaw activity sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

31 31 38 40 41 43 45

60 60 61 61 62 63 63 64 65 66 xxiii

xxiv

Fig. 2.18 Fig. 2.19 Fig. 3.1

Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.3 Fig. 3.4 Fig. 3.5 Fig. 3.6

Fig. 4.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 4.3 Fig. 4.4 Fig. 4.5 Fig. 4.6 Fig. 4.7 Fig. 4.8 Fig. 4.9 Fig. 4.10 Fig. 4.11 Fig. 4.12 Fig. 4.13 Fig. 4.14 Fig. 4.15 Fig. 4.16 Fig. 4.17 Fig. 5.1 Fig. 5.2 Fig. 6.1

List of Figures

Sequence in LAMS for unstructured activity sequence . . . . . . . . Process flow of the unstructured activity sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . Learning transformation framework (Adapted from © Research Lab for Learning Innovation and Culture of Learning, Rajaram, K. [2020]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Survey results of students’ self-reports on their experiences using the learning intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sample screenshot of the authoring platform in LAMS . . . . . . . . Screenshot of the “doKumaran” tool which is presented of being dragged onto the authoring platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sample screenshot of student collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A sample learning activity sequence design that enables intra-group and/or inter-group collaborations, or asynchronous collaborations within and between groups . . . . Per cent of students analysing multiple perspectives in their essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design thinking process flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . POLC management functions process flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stanford d.school’s framework of design thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . Functions of management LAMS sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design thinking LAMS sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Usage of concepts by conditions (activities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Presence of empathy by conditions (activities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Presence of empathy by conditions (ethical assignment) . . . . . . . Presence of empathy by conditions (Field Report) . . . . . . . . . . . . Usage of concepts in functions of management and design thinking activity sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Usage of concepts by conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Focus of advice for students who went through design thinking (active) sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Presence of empathy by conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Presence of empathy by conditions (ethical assignment) . . . . . . . Presence of empathy by conditions (field report) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Usage of concepts by conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conceptual framework for blended learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conceptual framework: student-centric—active and experiential learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peer Expert Groups’ leadership competency ratings (Mean ± StdDev) (Note * are sub-elements of the peer leadership competencies) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

66 67

86 88 103 104 104

111 125 137 137 139 141 141 146 146 148 149 150 159 160 161 162 163 164 179 188

210

List of Tables

Table 2.1

Table 2.2

Table 2.3

Table 2.4 Table 3.1 Table 3.2

Table 3.3

Table 3.4 Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 4.5 Table 4.6

Comparative analysis of students’ group project report performance before and after flipped learning, with 4 weeks of flipped learning applied across 11 classes . . . . . . . . . . . Comparative analysis of students’ group project report performance before and after flipped learning, with 4 weeks of flipped learning applied across 3 classes . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparative analysis of students’ group project report performance before and after flipped learning, with 11 weeks of flipped learning applied across 3 classes . . . . . . . . . . . . Student responses to the use of scaffolding support system . . . . Qualitative indicators of learning effectiveness with adoption of the learning intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparative analysis of students’ performance before and after the adoption of learning intervention over a 5 weeks phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparative analysis of students’ performance before and after the adoption of learning intervention over a 11 weeks phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expert Reviews from Professors in Universities and Senior corporate leaders in Multi-National Corporations . . . . . . . . . . . . Design thinking process versus four functions of Management—POLC (*) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LAMS sequence resource descriptions by condition (activities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (activities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (ethical assignment) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (field report) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LAMS sequence resource descriptions by condition . . . . . . . . . .

47

48

49 51 91

92

93 94 138 143 145 147 148 155 xxv

xxvi

Table 4.7 Table 4.8 Table 4.9 Table 5.1 Table 6.1 Table 6.2 Table 7.1

Table 7.2

Table 7.3

List of Tables

Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (activities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mean comparison of Demographic Measures Between Conditions (Ethical Assignments) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (field report) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managerial soft skills versus assessment of applied knowledge and soft skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expert Group ratings on leadership competencies . . . . . . . . . . . . Qualitative indicators of leadership competencies that the Expert Groups’ have showcased . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Twenty-two qualitative indicators of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer (both emergent and prompted) for five seminar groups over 2 semesters reported during interviews with 48 students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qualitative indicators of instructors’ perspectives on students’ learning process with Facebook as a learning intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparative analysis of the assessment criteria “knowledge, understanding and judgment” over three semesters before and after Facebook implementation . . . . . . . . .

158 161 163 193 207 208

234

241

242

Chapter 1

Transformation in Higher Education: Twenty-First-Century Teaching and Learning Competencies

Abstract This chapter presents the introductory part titled “Transformation in Higher Education: twenty-first Century Teaching and Learning Competencies”. It commences by presenting the background, context of teaching and learning in higher education at present, the urgency and need to re-think, transform and be resilient to continuously adapt to evolving changes through evidence-based teaching and learning approaches and strategies that are innovation-driven. An overview is provided for each of the chapters in the book. Each chapter addresses its specific own research gaps laying the context supported by evidence-based discussions and findings. A summary of the methodologies, research design and its impact on the proposed learning approaches and support systems has been included. The concluding paragraphs enable the reader to comprehend and appreciate the importance of these chapters and its strong linkage amongst them.

1.1 Introduction The book addresses the purpose and value proposition of the learning interventions, approaches, strategies adopted and scope with contemporary illustrations addressing the evolving learning needs and notably, the reasons of its importance for the twentyfirst-century classroom teaching and learning and beyond. The purpose is to have these research insights as validated case studies that help educators to reflect deeply that inspires them to unlearn, re-learn and potentially explore new ways of designing their curriculum to enhance students’ learning outcomes. The analysis of current educational crisis and challenges facing the higher education is taken into due consideration to provide readers the context, deep discussions from the cultural dimension and urgency on the need to shift the learning culture through re-thinking, re-designing, challenging the norms through improvisation and/or transformation. The book consists of valuable and authentic contribution to the field through rigorous discussions, especially in relation to the unique ways in which technologies and innovative interventions, and approaches could support the current as well as the future generation of students. The goal of this attempt is to train students as global leaders equipped with technical abilities, soft, employability skills © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Rajaram, Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0_1

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and competencies required by the industry and corporate world. This chapter of the book highlights succinctly yet comprehensively each chapter’s scope, its supporting discussions, information shared and research gaps. The research investigation of innumerable aspects of learning strategies, approaches and support systems forms as an evidence base with appropriate and relevant remedies to these research gaps that will be explicitly addressed both in theoretical contributions and having them translated as solutions via developing prototypes, testing and implementing through adoption of design thinking framework.

1.2 Teaching and Learning in Higher Education In the rapidly changing environment today, the way learning happens in terms of knowledge delivery, developing of skills and competencies and gaining rich valuable experience that is offered to the students at the universities and higher educational institutions are evolving. Firstly, it requires educators to have their mindsets ready for new ways to transfer knowledge and skills, for them to be equipped with the required skills and competencies to meet these demanding, rapidly changing climates. This is vital so that students graduating from universities could be job-ready and be equipped with the relevant industry-related skills. Although there is no one best or perfect approach or methodology available, the key is to re-think and continuously challenge the current approach to explore how the intended learning outcomes could be achieved more effectively and efficiently. Universities must be agile to respond continuously to ensure the curriculum offered enables students to be trained rigorously, hence equipped with competencies and skills that enable them to be job-ready. The type of jobs in demand and the skills required for these jobs are continuously changing, as such it is vital to have a good understanding and train and equip the students accordingly to these shifting needs. From the wide-ranging spread of intended learning outcomes, one of the holistic goals in education (e.g. Bloom, 1956) and management education (e.g. Rousseau & McCarthy, 2007; Kolb & Kolb, 2005) has been the development of learners’ higher-order cognitive skills that comprise the aspects of critical thinking such as analysis, evaluation, reflection and inference (Lovelace & Eggers, 2016). This critical thinking skill becomes increasingly vital due to the complexity of the job roles and responsibilities in the workplace. For example, due to an increasing emphasis on globalization and cross-border business collaborations, there is an increasing need to work in environments that include diversity across cultural and societal aspects. Hence, the ability to think from a multidimensional perspective by being inclusive yet objective in developing, say the business strategies, re-defining business models, sustainability plans and so on, becomes a must “know-how” instead of a “good to have” skill. The development of critical thinking skill is a crucial competency for the development of future leaders (e.g. Brotherton, 2011), and student learning outcomes are viewed as imperative in two primary perspectives, namely (a) as a business school accreditation standards (e.g. Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business,

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AACSB, 2012) and (b) in terms of pedagogy (Whitten & Brahmasrene, 2011). The accreditation requirement enables universities to leverage on that to enforce the development of the competency that is tied to the preparedness of students for the workplace. The pedagogy adopted needs to be reviewed, improvised or even replaced based on the informed outcomes through evidence-based experiments to re-affirm if the learning process does train the required competency that it intends to. Research scholars (e.g. Klimoski & Amos, 2012; Pfeffer & Fong, 2002) have criticized and debated that business schools have not adequately equipped students for the skills required for today’s contemporary workplace. However, studies (e.g. Paulson, 2011) also advocate that employers are not in practice of teaching critical thinking skills to employees, too. This would be further supported and illustrated by a large-scale study by Baldwin and colleagues where it was found that there exists a feeble level of applied management knowledge in the student and managerial populations (Baldwin et al., 2011). Barr and McNeilly (2002) reported that employers value outside experience much more highly than classroom experience that implies the lack of confidence in the applicability skills of students’ learning in the classroom. This could be further illustrated by the Ferreira and Abbad’s (2013) review that reports of not adequate attention are given to training the emerging competencies that are expected and essential in the contemporary workplace. Although scholars have commended on the progressive enhancement made on the methodological rigour, there are “gaps” to be addressed on how best to train core competencies (e.g. applied management knowledge, critical thinking) as no concrete consensus currently exists (Ferreira & Abbad, 2013). With the above as the current predicament, we aspire and seek to understand through various teaching and learning innovations with focused experiments conducted in context to serve as interventions to enhance the competencies and skills, one of which is critical thinking skills. The rapidly evolving external context and climate require educators and policymakers to embrace the mindset that aligns to new competencies that need to be embraced. Educators in universities (and the practitioners in the industry, for that matter) need to fully appreciate the urgency of how the evolving technologies individually and in combination, for example, Internet of Things, the ecosystem of 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing or chatbots and big data, are creating a strategic advantage (Allen, 2020). One of the primary competencies that required to be tackled is the mindset of educators so that they could be the change catalysts and advocators of evolving transformation. The concept of mindset is coined as how individuals perceive their abilities (Dweck, 2015). Hence, we could define mindset as an individual’s perspective, frame of reference, set of beliefs and their preference to respond towards something—embrace a new skill, adopt digitalization, respond to disruptions in their teaching endeavours, for example. In a similar vein, Dweck et al. (2014) state that the orientation of one’s (example for students and educators, likewise) learning is shaped by their mindset. We must also be mindful of these essential aspects, namely (a) acknowledging the different types of subjects where its learning design and delivery differ when measured in terms of learning effectiveness and knowledge transfer; (b) cultural dimension, where the learning culture and culture of learning within that differ, as

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such its learning design requires appropriate adjustments to be effective; (c) the institutional focus and its unique value proposition of achieving teaching excellence. However, despite all these, we need to re-think and continuously challenge the status quo to achieve quality delivery of contents and effectiveness of students’ learning and to understand how these learning outcomes could be achieved more efficiently.

1.3 Challenges: Urgency to Re-Think, Transform and Adapt Universities and higher education institutions face ever-increasing demands to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, including greater environmental complexity, volatility, ambiguity, rising competitiveness and pressures to reduce costs. Moreover, with the recent global outbreak of COVID-19, it is vital to draw lessons and insights on how universities and higher education institutions have dealt with the situation. While many academics are expected to shift their ongoing courses and programmes to remote learning, the more crucial question is the need to have this new norm as part of the eco-system, explicitly the skills, competencies and the “know-hows”. As Gerhardt (2020) rightfully pointed out that leveraging these learning reflections enables the opportunity to reinvent the educational environment students require to thrive in the future of work, as uncertain as it may be. Although we could acknowledge that there is an urgent need to respond to these challenges, the question is how we could ensure these varying stakeholders are effectively trained, supported and well equipped in terms of both competency and resources to get the job performed well. A vital, timely and provocative question that needs to be asked and acted upon with the action-oriented strategies will be: “what does these changes, uncertainties mean and how it will affect the higher education systems?” The higher educational incumbents are feeling the intense pressure from their stakeholders for the need to keep up with the rapidly evolving momentum of transformations and embedded in a society in flux. We could say almost everything that was relevant a decade ago for the workforce is immensely questioned or confronted with uncertainly that puts many current processes, systems and operating models to a challenging predicament. This requires both workplace and higher education institutions to re-think by dismantling, improvising and/or reconstructing the essentials. The action step forward is for universities to re-access their roles, the changes to be present in the programme offerings, the emphasis on competencies and skills to mould students to be job-ready for the newly defined contemporary workplace, and in totality the value proposition that serves the changing needs of the stakeholders. The urgent and imperative question that we need to address is: “how could the educational systems, processes and pathways of the future are to be served by the transformations and new disruptions through building an eco-system that entails the innovative operating models and interventions at varying levels?”

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We have identified three areas leveraging from the insights shared by Ostergaard and Nordlund (2019)—although there are debatably many more—major developments that in their intertwined connectedness could organizationally challenge the status quo of the current higher education model. The first is to focus on developing the technical “know-hows”, skills and competencies that the future job explicitly requires. The direction ahead should be shifting towards reality and what is exactly required for the future workplace. While the attainment of a degree is still largely how it is today, by and large, we could progressively see the emphasis is shifting towards the skills acquiring and the more practically applicable future workplace knowledge inclination. The stereotypical perception of correlating of having a degree to an improved chance of employment and higher income is slowly diminishing. Critical and tough questions arise on the value proposition of the degrees more than before, especially when students have to invest a large sum of course fees and incur longterm debts and the emergent opportunity costs of spending several years of their study worth a career that has a high likelihood of changes over time. This leads us to challenge the status quo and makes it debatable whether the traditional mode of higher education is still the best way to equip people with the right skills required to sustain and compete in volatile and emerging job markets. Currently, degrees remain to operate as a core endorsement of potential capabilities and competence for most organizations. Perhaps, largely because it serves as a universally accepted approach of evaluating an individual’s ability and perceived notion of one’s potential. On contrary, research evidence shows that there is a weak correlation between education level and job performance. In fact, many companies, including the wellestablished ones such as IBM, Apple and Google, are actively adopting creative ways of evaluating employability due to the rapidly evolving nature of future work. Secondly, we need to acknowledge that there is a shift in evolving needs, expectations and changing demands from the students pursuing their studies in universities. The learners’ demographics are changing where the behavioural and social norms, thinking and values which used to be characterized as “non-traditional” are now gradually become the new expected norm. This results in a shift largely due to new expectations and requirements for unified learning experiences in both their initial higher education pursuit and lifelong learning pathways that align to the varying lifestyles, individualized circumstances and predilections. The new generations are digital natives and technology has been part of their lives; hence this norm becomes a basic requirement when they are pursuing their studies in universities and higher education institutions. This shift in behavioural norm brings us to a vital reflection of whether a “one-size-fits-all” approach or framework even makes sense and could be argued that such traditional education structures are debatably no longer seem to be relevant and dated in terms of equipping and preparing students for the rapidly changing educational landscape. This has already made students of this generation to adopt a consumer’s mindset where they “shop” for a highly seamless, less rigid and individualized educational experiences. Increasingly, these students explore into an acceleratingly diverse pool of education providers to fulfil their needs and willing to exercise their choice more boldly if their expectations are not met—as in most of their other aspects of lives.

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Thirdly, the ability to align and respond to the rapidly emerging technologies and innovative business operating model. Digital transformation is certainly making a big wave across all industries, although the impact and pressure may be building up more gradually compared to the highly profit-driven sectors, but it is at a juncture of a high alert now. As such, the education landscape must respond to these significant changes to be agile in embracing the potential new interventions that expect to shake up the conventional higher education and lifelong learning models. The first movers and fast-growing innovators in the educational technologies and education industry outsiders are pushing the boundaries and challenging the status quo by organizationally undermining the long-established business models of higher education. These new interventions advocate the usage of technology and the data analytics to introduce novel, alternative strategies that can better deliver on the rapidly changing expectations of learners. Instead of merely being subject matter experts, professors must be adept facilitators who act as change agents to sense the pulse of the rapid industry expectations of graduates and their attributes, competencies and employability skills, which are expected of them. Moreover, they are to keep pace with the rapid evolution of technology and how these relevant disruptions are causing an effect in the way knowledge is to be acquired and skills to be trained (Al-Emran et al., 2016; Rajaram, 2015a, b, c). Professors must constantly keep abreast and equip themselves of the contemporary educational possibilities, skills and competencies inline to the rapidly evolving technological advancement, such as in respect to mobile, virtual/augmented contents, artificial intelligence and emerging learning management platforms. They must be adept at providing experiences that support discovery, knowledge generation and reflection. Increasingly, teaching is being delivered in a blended mode, incorporating experiential, participative, social and collaborative learning. Greater digital literacy amongst students has necessitated substantial re-design of the curriculum with greater use of interactive online/e-learning platforms (Brooks, 2015). Professors face varying manifold challenges in adapting to these big changes. First, the role of teachers in this new and rapidly evolving environment is unclear. Second, teachers often struggle to make optimal and timely decisions about the types of learning techniques to adopt for enhancing learning effectiveness, facilitating formative and summative feedback and student engagement. Third, teachers are not always aware of the technological tools and platforms available to them, particularly those that are already been developed and are out there in the “real world”. Sometimes, even if they are aware of the tools, they may not use them in the best way to achieve the optimal learning outcomes that potentially emerge from it. Fourth, it is uncertain what exact capabilities are required for teachers to successfully harness these technologies and how they should be trained. Finally, there is an open question of how technology and non-technology scaffolding support systems and learning tools can best be used to prepare students for their future careers as managers and leaders in the business world. Thus, the primary goal of this book is to identify the means by which educators can rise to this digital transformative challenge, better engage, facilitate and teach students using technology or other innovative strategies and approaches and enhance their teaching competencies. We examine the role of

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teachers in this new and dynamic learning environment, and explore how they have attempted to engage technologically capable students through the implementation of new platforms.

1.4 Overview of the Chapters of the Book This book serves as an essential and timely intervention by presenting with supportive findings on the innovative, evidence-based and contemporary learning approaches, strategies and learning support systems incorporated in the learning process. These learning innovations are executed in “real-time” learning environments. It is aimed towards the development of outcome-based learning, focusing on the non-contentbased skills and competencies, which is what the universities are gearing towards for the twenty-first century and beyond. The book addresses the complex challenges and limitations in practice supported with evidence, hence providing possible approaches to address them. The book addresses an interesting scope of topics that are both contemporary and essential to all academics across disciplines who have a high responsibility to nurture, develop, train and equip learners at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the university with the relevant skills and competencies. There is a combination of research methodologies adopted for the various learning, assessment approaches and learning support systems adopted. This will be of interest to the academic community in having these learning approaches and innovations to be adopted where the focus and inclination are on outcome-based learning, facilitation through technology-enabled learning that engages and facilitates higher level of collaboration. The book comprises of eight chapters that address a wide spectrum of learning aspects that could be adopted in a culturally diverse environment. The next section will provide a brief overview of each of the chapters. Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter that covers the purpose, overview of the scope and value proposition of the evidence-based learning approaches, interventions and innovations adopted. The rationale for a shift in the learning culture, mindset, transformation and need to re-think on the learning notions and the potential learning challenges will be addressed. The key discussions include the unique approaches adopted on technologies and learning innovations for the present and future generation of students. This chapter sets the tone of urgency and importance to re-think, transform, adapt and align to address the rapidly evolving changes by adopting innovation-driven learning strategies. Chapter 2 focuses on the engagement of learners through two key pedagogical approaches, namely blended and flipped classroom. The authentic and contextualized framework developed and executed is described, supported with the research findings and discussion on its efficacy. Imperatively, the thought process, its impact on stakeholders and the real challenges faced in adopting these learning designs are discussed. Chapter 3 presents discussions on the learning interventions for team-based, flipped classroom collaborative

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learning and assessment of real-time contributions in class in developing competency building and employability skills. Through the adoption of these authentically created learning interventions, the process of how the intended learning outcomes could be achieved is discussed. It provides evidence-based results in terms of how these learning interventions facilitate effective learning in terms of higher-order critical thinking (where the process of cognitive thinking is made intensive through scaffolding approach that potentially enables learners to question and reflect deeply), deeper engagement amongst students (the ability for students to be motivated and their involvement through listening and/or participation is much more spontaneous) and higher level of collaboration at inter- and intra-group levels (much more interactivity, team-based involvement in engaging within the team members and/or with members of another group). The chapter also describes the varying functionalities and the process of how the learning interventions/learning support systems enable the intended learning outcomes to be achieved. This chapter also furnishes the relevant video and training resources that are developed for the learning interventions/learning support systems. The findings from the surveys and interviews serve as an evidence-based information to validate the discussions that emerge from the analysis. Chapter 4 presents the topic of social-psychological intervention: competency and skills development. It commences by providing the background, rationale, significance and impact of the study to develop one of the sought-after soft skill: cognitive empathy. The literature review discussion presents the key aspects of the topic, namely leadership competencies, empathy, social-psychological intervention, evidence-based pedagogies: engagement and design thinking. The methodology, results and discussion sections of the research are presented with illustrations. The chapter concludes with the key takeaways and the potential direction forward. Chapter 5 presents on the topic of Student Centric: Active and Experiential Learning. The chapter commences by providing a holistic perspective on the evolving expectations in the changing learning environment and climate. Critical and challenging questions on how learning can happen effectively with the evolving changes and new interventions put forth. Next, the chapter presents the literature on relevant themes, namely instructional strategies, e-learning, hybrid/blended learning, simulated and e-management games/activities and learning activity management system. A conceptual framework on e-hybrid learning model is proposed with a discussion on its impact and outcomes. Thereafter, several aspects such as shift in learning culture, value creation in the subjects, assessment, professional soft skills training and feedback process are discussed. Finally, the chapter concludes by reflecting on learning for the twenty-first century. Chapter 6 presents the topic of reflective peer review feedback for leadership development. The introduction provides the challenges of teaching soft skills in a content-driven class. It proposes an effective intervention to elicit soft skills competencies through a collective and reflective peer review analysis. Two key themes of social-psychological interventions and leadership development leveraging on the academic literature are discussed. Next, the methodology section describes how the experiment is carried out. The findings and its analysis were discussed in the results and discussion section. Finally, the chapter ends by illustrating the impact

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of the study at surface and broader levels in developing soft skills and employability skills competencies. Chapter 7 presents the topic of learning through social media: Facebook as a collaborative and experiential pedagogical tool. The chapter discusses how the adoption of the correct mix of social media tools allows developing the twenty-first-century skills and the potential learning outcomes that may potentially result. Thereafter, it presents the background of Facebook, how it can be a collaborative and experimental pedagogical tool and a brief overview of Facebook versus institutional learning management systems. Then, it focuses on the “gaps” to be addressed and rationale of this research study. Next, the methodology, analysis and findings and discussion of the study were presented. The chapter concludes with a recommendation and conclusion section. Chapter 8 presents the concluding thoughts—twenty-first-century classroom and humanistic management education. The chapter begins with the discussion on learning culture and culture of learning. Thereafter, the importance of re-designing and transformation of learning design with varying sub-themes were discussed and advocated. A re-iteration on the need for a change in the learning culture was explained. Thereafter, aspects of humanistic management education in a borderless digital world and multi-cultural and multidisciplinary focus: twenty-first century and beyond are presented. The chapter ends with the conclusions and future directions.

1.5 Intertwined Relationship: Evolving Role of Educators and Congruence in Students’ Learning Educators have a critical role in imparting good values, principles and morals apart from merely focusing on students’ academic performance. We have identified four key roles that teachers need to re-calibrate their responsibilities in these roles namely: (a) role model; (b) mentor; (c) coach; and (d) facilitator to equip, develop and manage students’ academic and professional growth. We have re-visited and re-iterated the strategies and shared experiences that would equip educators to be able to shift their roles effectively to optimize students’ learning.

1.5.1 Role Model Bandura (1977) described role models as individuals who exemplify professions that students become aware of, commence pondering about and imitate. In accordance with the model of Lent et al. (1994), role models influence students’ professional desires and career choices. Students emulate educators as role models or individuals with exemplary character. Role models are exemplified as successful professionals to be emulated by students as their life careers are worth replicating (Makarova & Herzog, 2014). Although students at large could be attracted to anyone that they

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know or they have read about or being told as successful professionals, Zinnecker et al. (2003) claimed that they tend to be the students’ parents, uncles and aunts or neighbours. Beyond this group of individuals, the next most influencing individual becomes their teachers where they spend a substantial amount of time. Educators’ behaviours influence most students and the values that they emanate. In the eyes of the students, educators are someone whom they can look up to and aspire to emulate. Due to this influence, educators need to be conscious of their behaviours, verbal and nonverbal communication. Neuenschwander, M. P. et al. (2018) advocate that students’ form indirect experiences through observation and listening to role models’ anecdotes related to their professions. They also claimed that the positive experience plays a vital role in having the students to be influenced, interested and potentially choose to be involved in the role model’s professional environment. Educators make a great impact on their students’ decision-making skills through inculcating good values and morals. For example, as a classroom teacher, students are observing behaviours of the teacher, i.e. from the dress code, the values, principles emphasized, verbal communication, styles of teaching and so on. Hence, it is imperative that the teacher presents the best of oneself so that the right values can be impressed on as everything a teacher does would definitely leave a great impact and lasting impression on their minds. The role of educators towards serving their students is to aim towards providing quality service and professionalism. In this case, educators are the service providers and the students are the “customers”. Being customer oriented means the ability to know the “customers’” needs and changing expectations. Here, the educators should be sensitive to the various levels of target audience that they are dealing with. They can customize their teaching materials and align their delivery modes according to the students. For example, a teacher teaching high performing cohort of students versus typical students can have the same syllabus, but the teachers may have to customize and re-align to the students’ competency and learning curves in order to facilitate optimal learning. Besides that, dealing with students and parents should be the key objective in meeting the highest level of expectations and needs, keeping in mind that they are our stakeholders. Moreover, professionalism in dealing with students serves as a good exemplary role-model behaviour to the students to follow and essentially to develop mutual respect for the teaching profession. Lack of professionalism may lead to some adverse effects like affecting the image and branding of not only the institution but the teaching profession as well. In addition, dealing with parents with high level of professionalism makes them feel secure and realize that their children are in safe hands to pursue their educational journey. Basically, the educators must always put up their best in how they carry themselves, projecting a very positive decorum and demeanour so that they can be looked upon by their students as an inspiration.

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1.5.2 Mentor Mentoring is widely viewed as an approach that imparts, transfers and equips relevant knowledge, and sharpens the competencies and skills of others. Mentoring is adopted to impart knowledge and skills to students and teachers (Simonsen et al., 2009; Van & Waghid, 2008). Research scholars (Tollefson-Hall, 2015; Lai, 2005) define mentorship as a process where a wiser, usually more matured and experienced one provides guidance, imparting wisdom to the younger ones. There has been adequate research performed on mentoring in higher education (Simonsen et al., 2009; Van & Waghid, 2008) that has attained affirmative results known (Garvey, 2009; Lai, 2005). Educators take up the role as a mentor to provide students with the confidence and courage to approach an expert person when a need arises. As a mentor, they take on this parentship role where students could be readily able to turn to their educators for advice and counselling, someone in times of personal or family challenges, when seeking someone to solve their problems and to confide in. Savage et al. (2015) pointed out that teachers can be referred to as mentors, advocating that teaching is mentoring. Indeed, we could acknowledge that one of the primary roles of teachers is to mentor students where they guide them in various aspects beyond academic studies, say for example in terms of ingraining values and exemplary character traits. This point is re-iterated by Searby et al. (2015) where they found it to have positive effects of imparting knowledge, building relationships, adding confidence and improving efficiency through nurturing leaders in higher education. Basically, the mentor becomes special someone who could solve or advise the students whenever a need arises and provide good guidance to ensure the students are on the right track. This person would also be projected as the expert, the knowledgeable and experienced one in the eyes of the student. Thus, it is important that the educators can use this as a good platform to enhance and optimize the students’ performance and ability. For example, a student who is doing his final year thesis project might be assigned to a supervisor, but that student identifies someone else as his/her mentor because the person might be an “expert” and more value-adding in the eyes of the student. Thus, educators must take this as a good avenue to inculcate and facilitate not only the rich source of information but also the ethics and values involved in that field as well. The receptive level of the student is much higher because information from the mentor means it should be of a definite quality and value-added information to them personally. This could maximize their span of attention and interest to an optimum level respectively. Mentoring serves as a valuable yet cost-effective approach to enhance skills and value on a teacher while concurrently enabling students to receive high-quality service (Delaney, 2012).

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1.5.3 Coach This role is inclined more towards guidance and presence to motivate the students to excel. The role of a coach is performed by teachers in general and special education who are experts in instructional practices and institutional psychologists (Denton & Hasbrouck, 2009; Kretlow & Bartholomew, 2010; Snyder et al., 2015; Stormont & Reinke, 2012). Undertaking this role means the educators need to fully understand the competency level of the student, the ability to empathize and someone whom the students could confide in and a pillar of support for them to improve and thereupon optimize the ability to the fullest potential. Although educational institutions recommend coaching size ratios to be small, in real-world application setting, that may not necessarily be feasible all times (International Reading Association, 2004; Mangin, 2009). This is a very committed role where educators need to understand the students’ proficiency and competency level to guide and coach them very precisely— for example, an educator taking up the role of a soccer coach for a team of players who represent the school. This person must be able to streamline explicitly each of the players’ strengths and weakness, hence, thereupon help them improve their individual strengths and optimize their potential. The coach will also be someone from whom the students learn the moral values, techniques and put them into practice religiously. The role of a coach is more than a classroom teacher who just delivers the lessons and manages the students; rather, he is an individual who carefully attends to explicit needs more precisely and specifically in the respective areas of specialization, i.e. in terms of study and other important areas respectively. Although coaching addresses diverse aspects, the goal in an educational professional development is focused on two aspects: (a) enhance teaching practice that is highly effective and evidence based (Knight, 2009; Kretlow & Bartholomew, 2010; Neufeld & Roper, 2003; Snyder et al., 2015), and (b) improve learners’ academic and behavioural outcomes (Bean et al., 2000; Joyce & Showers, 2002; Kretlow & Bartholomew, 2010; Snyder et al., 2015).

1.5.4 Facilitator Facilitation is described as a set of actions that propel a group’s agenda or intended goals, for example, “eliciting, highlighting, probing, steering” (Ebby & Oettinger, 2013). Facilitation could be categorized into six dimensions, namely planning, meaning, structuring, confronting, feeling and valuing, Heron (1999). Facilitation represents a multifaceted and complex process that entails emotional, social, cognitive and ethical dimensions beyond technical skills and competencies (Allen & Blythe, 2018). This role is more advisory where minimal physical involvement is required. As a facilitator, the educator would be taking up a role where they must oversee and undertake the responsibility to ensure that the students are on the right track, thus extending their helping hand wherever there is a need.

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Taking the role of a facilitator allows educators to facilitate students in providing advice and guidance at the appropriate time. This makes them not to be too overly involved where it intrudes into the students’ independence, sovereignty and privacy in getting their tasks done effectively. Three core tasks are identified for facilitation, namely instilling trust, maintaining equity and involving participation (McDonald et al., 2013). Moreover, students should emulate their facilitators as someone they approach when there is a real need that allows them to practice and put in place self-confidence and independent critical thinking in handling their assigned tasks respectively. Some of the core values of facilitators are (a) compassion; (b) committed to valid and true information; (c) autonomous and informed choice; and (d) internal commitment (Schwarz et al., 2005). We could acknowledge that these values primarily focus on (a) how the information is shared; (b) decisions made based on the information at hand; (c) instilling mutual responsibility within the group; and (d) avoids judgement (Allen & Blythe, 2018). Being a facilitator takes on a role where educators provide the essential directions to assist in students’ decisionmaking process. For example, a student attempting an individual assignment, where amid doing it, might be seeking for some precise and concrete directions, where the facilitator sets out specific directions to get the student on the right track and accomplish the mission respectively. Evidence points to the facilitator’s affective or emotional engagement with the group; however, there is no concrete investigation performed on facilitator’s emotions, feelings and thoughts who frequently engage the group (Allen & Blythe, 2018). We should also note that it is imperative for facilitators to be aware, mindful of their own mental well-being and how they could mediate and cope in managing, especially the not so positive aspects that could potentially emerge. Two primary strategies for facilitators to deal with this matter are: (a) to develop the ability to reflect away the unnecessary aspects, by not internalizing or personalizing the engagements or involvement with the facilitation groups and (b) to build a support system, for example, through a community of practice that enables facilitators to share their challenges, potentially get some advice or perspectives to reflect upon and gain collective emotional support. These 4 key roles that educators take on would make an impact on every students’ life as these roles have their own niche strengths in making sure that every aspect of a student would be well taken care of. Basically, the rationale of segmenting the 4 key roles is to identify when each role must be undertaken specifically so that qualitative and effective guidance could be provided for all the various levels of students. More importantly, these roles enable the educators to be more aware of their roles and responsibilities upon being specifically identified or taking up that role; thus, it becomes much easier to be able to do their part effectively within a specific framework.

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1.6 Significance of Developing Employability Skills Through Innovation-Driven Teaching Philosophy, Learning Culture and Pedagogical Design Educators need to advocate and emphasize the crucial role of learning in the twentyfirst century and the reasons why education systems need to be re-designed and re-created to deal with challenges of a highly uncertain future. Educators need to ask the question of how they can instil the mindset to “learn, unlearn and relearn” and inculcate the ethos of continually re-inventing, challenging the status quo and self-development in students while they are pursuing their studies. Simply put the notion of learning to do well in assessments through memorizing facts and figures should be discarded; instead, students must be trained through a learning process and evaluated through assessments that re-iterate application, solve pragmatic challenges and find innovative solutions, through skills of knowing how to solve problems. The key emphasis for the future is to “learn how to learn”. In today’s world of the fourth industrial revolution, artificial intelligence and robotics, educators need to transform themselves through embracing changes while preparing learners for uncertainty and challenging situations. There must be concrete action-plans to instil deep rooted values of continuous learning; the notion of “unlearn and relearn” promotes adaptability and agility. A re-orientation in the learning design at university-school programme levels is required. It means instilling creativity, flexibility and openness, for example, inter-disciplinary learning, exposure, a higher emphasis towards on-job hands on learning and assessment, a mixed cluster of discipline, social-cultural profile of students and so on. This requires training and retraining the educators and re-designing the education systems and curricula. Education must be a lifelong process and not merely a one-time process nor a one-time achievement. Students are to be given opportunities to go in-between learning and work. Industry-current practitioners are to be brought into discuss and provide reallife challenges, context to relate the practical aspects. Students work on projects for real organizations in the industry they are to go onboard from the beginning progressively and go out into the environment, into the working communities to relate, apply and calibrate the learnings and have them put into practice. Students must be shown the real challenges that professionals in their expertise one are facing so this “knowhow” shapes their learning authentically around those problems rather than learning through textbooks. So, the key is to somewhat embed the working world as part of the education process from the start of their learning journey and take education into the working world. So, in a nutshell, in addition to offer students a menu of academic disciplines, we should now think how we could elevate them into job-ready graduates by giving them the exposure to problems and challenges of real organizations in their fields and build their competencies, knowledge and skills closely aligning to that. In the light of this transformation, educators of the future must be competent and prepared to take on multiple roles such as learning design experts and researchers who collect data

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and perform evidence-based analysis, collaborators, synthesizers, problem-solvers, advocates and facilitators beyond just a teacher.

1.7 Future of Learning and Teaching: Re-imagine Education As the world we live in experiences changes in varying dimensions, especially to embrace digitalization and technology-inclined climate, how and what we advocate, train and equip our students, needs to be re-taught and re-shaped to keep abreast with the rapidly growing demands and expectations of the twenty-first century and beyond. With the rapid evolution and constant transformations that impact the learning environment, university leaders must be agile and responsive in giving due considerations to these changes and demands, while educators need to be thoughtful and mindful in designing its course curriculum to achieve quality and rigour in its teaching and learning deliverables. University education in today’s context is expected to equip, train, nurture and develop students’ competencies for them to be globally sought-after business and social leaders. The learning strategies adopted must allow students to reflect and internalize their transformed role as change catalyst in shaping a productive and sustainable world. Hence, some of the vital questions that are crucial for us to reflect on are: (1) What role does learning entails in the twenty-first century? (2) How should learning be modelled and structured to train learners to be job-ready and for them to meet the changing expectations of the employers? (3) Why and how do the education systems need to be re-designed to meet the challenges of a highly uncertain, unprecedented and rapidly transformative future? The notion of inter-connectedness and inter- and intra-group and varying levels of collaboration and co-creation are actions that we should be more inclined towards in terms of our learning design. Perhaps, the idea of the instructor be the sole “guru” as the subject matter expert standing in front of the class giving lectures and expecting students to passively listen and respond to instructions is definitely a thing of the past. Although not entirely a new phenomenon, we could see the learning spaces will supersede a traditional classroom that we experience today that is to say that students will become co-partners and co-creators of their own learning. But at the same time, we need to be more aware and mindful of the social and cultural aspects intertwined within a classroom context due to the increase in the diversity of students in present context. Next, we have to re-think on the purpose of assessment and tests. We should ask ourselves thought-provoking and critical questions such as “what are we measuring our students on and what skills and knowledge are relevant and important to evaluate to get them job-ready when they graduate?”; “How can we design assessments that develop students’ ability to be equipped with both strong contents knowledge and employability skills?”. At times, we simply conclude and decide based on the exam results in isolation of what needs to be achieved to get students ready for job. This is worrying as it can lead us in the wrong direction. The purpose

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of grading becomes worthless if it is merely for the purpose of ranking students in order of their scores. Assessments in the future will be evidence-based focusing on varying holistic measures that enable the teacher to draw up individualized and personalized learning growth plans. The evolution and integration of Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics have caused much anxiety and challenges yet positively vast opportunities for growth and betterment to our higher educational institutions, explicitly to varying stakeholders who are part of the ecosystem, namely students, parents, educational collaborators, affiliates and employers. The fast-growing demand and highly relevant IoT capabilities, robotics, artificial intelligence and big data are infusing a digitalized and technologically inclined culture in the teaching and learning arena. The affordances of technology have increasingly become easier to access and very affordable to even the financially weaker groups of students. A simplistic way of viewing it we could see how the earlier versions of laptops are much cheaper when the newer advanced version with increased speed and other features is available. This itself is a positive sign to leverage on its goodness for the larger betterment of many. Hence, leveraging the supremacy of connectivity in IoT enables all stakeholders, explicitly the learners and the educators, to jointly involve in the designing process and experience its unique learning experiences. Data analytics enable monitoring, measuring and responding to students’ learning, acquiring of knowledge and understanding through real time in synchronous as well as asynchronous modes. Applying analytics to big data helps senior leaders, educators and learners make more informed and wiser decisions to facilitate better learning process, eventually attaining enhanced outcomes and deliverables. The interpretation from the data analysis assists educators to respond speedily to students’ feedback and learning needs in a more focused and targeted manner. In addition, the insights could be used to re-align and improve their instructional approaches, students’ engagement techniques, and to address any unintentional, unconscious blind-spots such as biases towards students’ performance or assessing them on their cognitive, behavioural, social and emotional abilities, competencies and skills. The ability to understand and identify whether students are performing well or not enables educators to individualize students’ learning experience within the same course by offering differentiated individualized attention and varying instructional approach that addresses the unique needs. These trends would potentially enable and catalyse the creation of unique ways of performing tasks that help learners and educators to optimize their learning and teaching. More explicitly, with more interpretative analysis that provides informed decisions, it enables optimal and more effective usage of curriculum time. We must acknowledge that while technology and digitalization have been always a vital element in the ecosystem of education, it is the educators who exert and leverage on its vast opportunities it offers to support decisions that are most crucial to learning. Next, educators need to acknowledge and embrace the digital transformation that allows global reach anywhere and anytime. It is the educators’ responsibility to ensure they progress and ensure students grow with continuous advancement of technology as it disrupts the educational industry rapidly. Technology is in every aspect and it is no longer an option but a must to have it incorporated in the future of education so that

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students are well equipped and trained with the skills to cope in a world dependent on rapidly evolving technology. The interconnectedness with information and people is the competitive advantage of technological advances. Students can be seen working in virtual environments and involved in collaborative projects from other students globally at any given time. A magic pill for educators to succeed in the new era is to acknowledge and progressively adapt to the rapidly changing learning environment by leveraging and embracing technology and making it to their advantage. In line with the evolving notions of what constitutes a future classroom, educators need to redesign and re-shape their teaching approaches. The most fundamental and urgent aspect to shift is the role of educators from lecturers to facilitators of learning where the students have more control of their own learning journey. Educators need to transform the “one-model-fits-all” concept to individualized learning plans for students, where it enables each student to learn at a pace that best suits their abilities and to engage in varying ways for understanding of contents which are most beneficial to them. Imperatively, an evidence-gathering approach is to be adopted with feedback from stakeholders (i.e. students, teachers and employers) and have them integrated into the education system.

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Chapter 2

Engaging Learners: A Flipped Classroom Approach

Abstract This chapter titled ‘Engaging learners through a flipped classroom approach’ will cover how a flipped classroom approach was developed, the authentic and contextualized framework adopted and tested, the learning aspects, elements and logistics involved in having this approach executed. This includes presentation of insights, analysis and discussions of evidence-based results on various aspects, say for example, effectiveness, efficacy of the approaches adopted, self-reports from students’ perspectives and experiences as learners, the different aspects of learning outcomes it focuses on and why using such a learning approach is more appropriate in preparing them for the industry or corporate world. In this chapter, the rationale and effectiveness as well as the pragmatic challenges in adopting such a learning design will be covered. Survey and interview findings will be shared to show evidence-based reflections on the claims made. Experiences and contextualized issues will be shared so that it could be seen how the findings could be extended beyond the sample group and applicable to varying learning cultures.

A flipped classroom is generally defined as a swap of what is done in the classroom context with what is carried out as learning outside the classroom (Lage et al., 2000). It involves interactive group learning activities during class and online learnings, outside the classroom context (Bishop & Verleger, 2013). There appear to be two common characteristics to a flipped classroom: (a) an easily adaptable learning environment that facilitates active learning (DeLozier & Rhodes, 2017; Hamdan et al., 2013; Little, 2015) that allows students to develop different skills and competencies (Hamdan et al., 2013; Little, 2015) and (b) a student-centred learning culture (Bishop & Verleger, 2013; DeLozier & Rhodes, 2017; Hamdan et al., 2013; McLaughlin et al., 2013). By leveraging on technology, what instructors used to teach in a lecture can now be performed outside the classroom arena (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015; Little, 2015), for example, in the form of a video recording of a lecture. With the widely accessible Internet, students can watch the web-based lecture anytime and This chapter is adapted from Rajaram, K. (2019). Flipped classroom: Scaffolding support system with real time learning interventions. Asian Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 30–58. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Rajaram, Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0_2

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anywhere. This enables the class time to be freed up and used for engaging students in more active and social learning activities (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015). Mason et al. (2013)’s study compared the effectiveness of a flipped classroom to a traditional classroom in an engineering course. They found that the flipped classroom has shown three advantages in comparison with the traditional classroom: (1) it enables the instructor to cover much more relevant and useful course material; (2) students’ academic performance improved; and (3) students found the flipped classroom format satisfactory and effective. Though a flipped classroom holds a lot of promises, simply viewing the lecture video outside of class time is not enough to make the flipped classroom successful (Tucker, 2012). There is no single model of how a flipped classroom is implemented (DeLozier & Rhodes, 2017). It is highly dependent on how the instructor structures the class (Little, 2015). As Lage et al. (2000) have rightfully pointed out, an instructor would have to put in a lot of effort in preparing the activities for the class to achieve the teaching goals. Instructors need to make sure the learning activities are adequately monitored, students are not marginalized unintentionally, and the lessons are not confusing. This might be especially difficult and stressful for an inexperienced instructor. Blended learning is defined by Maarop and Embi (2016) as a teaching and learning approach that blends online instructional methods and face-to-face interaction. Spanjers et al. (2015) conducted a meta-analysis and found blended learning on average more effective than traditional learning. Some of the benefits of blended learning include increased student-to-student and student-to-instructor interaction, student engagement (Alebaikan & Troudi, 2010; Korr et al., 2012) and flexibility in class design (Alebaikan & Troudi, 2010). Similar to the flipped classroom framework, it has been pointed out in literature reviews that there have been many difficulties implementing the blended learning environment, especially due to a high demand on the time and workload of instructors to design the right blend between the two types of learning (Maarop & Embi, 2016) as there has not been much literature revealing any detailed framework designed (Boelens et al., 2017). In this chapter, the rationale and effectiveness as well as the pragmatic challenges in adopting such a learning design will be covered. Survey and interview findings will be shared to show evidence-based reflections on the claims made. Experiences and contextualized issues will be shared so that it could be seen how the findings could be extended beyond the sample group and applicable to varying learning cultures.

2.1 Introduction The need to respond with an agile mindset and foresight to effectively engage our students to enhance their learning outcomes is vital. The rapidly changing educational landscape has caused many disruptions through digital transformation, for example, online learning, interventions through artificial intelligence, virtual reality and so on. Hence, the learning design of pedagogies must incorporate such disruptions to be able to effectively respond to the evolving needs of learners and the way they learn.

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Flipped classroom (FC) or “Flipped Learning” (FL) is gaining more popularity in the design of a blended learning environment. There is an evolving body of research that is being carried out in the area of flipped classroom (FC) design. Although this concept has been around for years (Baepler et al., 2014; Gilboy et al., 2015; Lowell et al., 2013), it has received more research attention (Albert & Beatty, 2014; Kim et al., 2014; O’Flaherty & Phillips, 2015). This design concept advocates building on a specific aspect of the “blend” of online leaning element and face-to-face segment of teaching. Research literature shows that there is a vast amount of literature about blending learning and such modalities (e.g. Bliuc et al., 2007; Garrison & Kanuka, 2004; Owston et al., 2013; Vaughan & Garrison, 2005; Zacharis, 2015); however, there are still much “gaps” or not much concrete evidence in the specific nature of these “blends” and how different “blends” could possibly have a varying impact, explicitly on students’ performance. Majority of the research focuses only on one specific aspect of the blend that comprises of online and/or traditional learning (Ashby et al., 2011). Inline to this argument, we could characterize flipped classroom as a unique type of blended learning (BL), where it builds on the design where learners are required to attend a pre-class online learning prior to the face-to-face classroom sessions that could be facilitated in both physical and virtual settings. Research scholars (Gilboy et al., 2015; Tune et al., 2013) advocate that flipped classroom enhances students’ engagement, hence resulting in much improved learning outcomes. Studies also report that flipped learning enables students to learn at their own pace and allocates more time in their preparatory work, and hence, this facilitates them to be more involved during the class discussions, sharing and classroom activities (Johnson, 2013; Kong, 2014; Roach, 2014). The flipped classroom model, where students prepare for class by accessing lecture-type resources beforehand, creates greater opportunities for instructors to engage students in meaningful learning activities during class than merely delivering lectures in a traditional classroom. At the same time, these opportunities come at a cost for instructors designing the classroom activities. Like a blank page which intimidates an author struggling with writer’s block, being faced with hours of course time to fill with untested learning activities can be intimidating to an instructor, especially when he is accustomed to conducting lectures in the traditional format. Furthermore, instructors adopting the flipped approach would also have to take extra care in class to monitor the learning activities, and not to unintentionally marginalize students and increase their confusion. The millennials, a term believed to be coined by Howe and Strauss (2000), refers to the generation that spans from about 1982 to 2004 (Horovitz, 2012). As the current batch of higher education undergraduate classrooms comprises of mostly millennial students, it poses different teaching challenges for instructors compared to the classrooms of Generation X and before. Karakas et al. (2015) proposed three key challenges in today’s management of education. Firstly, it is managing millennial students’ short attention spans during lectures and tutorials, and their inattentiveness due to being distracted by the prevalence of technology gadgets. Secondly, there is difficulty in keeping millennials engaged during traditional lectures and tutorials. Lastly, millennials themselves face challenges related to social isolation or alienation.

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Although the theoretical antecedents of the flipped classroom are somewhat solid, substantial research questions remain unanswered, for example, regarding the efficacy of flipped classrooms in relation to qualitative work into student learning and students’ experiences of this approach (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015). To address these teaching challenges and current research gaps, we developed a flipped classroom framework embedded with an e-scaffolding learning support system. Although the literature on flipped classrooms is comprehensive, there remains an explicit gap when it comes to an examination of learners’ engagement levels and their perceived effectiveness of the learning process. This context will be addressed further in the next section “Theoretical Background: Flipped Classroom”. There is also little research that investigates the sequential process of implementing flipped classrooms from both the in-class and out-of-class contexts. The findings of this study include the learners’ collective perspectives on levels of engagement, self-learning efficacy and their perceived effectiveness through (a) an improvised and contextualized flipped classroom framework and (b) learning intervention through an authentically designed in-class scaffolding support system. In the improvised framework, we clustered the activities into two parts, namely pre-class online learning and in-class activities which emphasize reflective, deep learning. In the pre-class online learning, several authentic interventions were introduced, namely (1) self-designed and developed animated short videos in which dry and complex content has been converted into easy to comprehend and relatable ones; (2) a brief weekly reflection journal in which learners reflect on and apply the essential takeaways of the lesson. The unique feature is the connectivity of the mini cases in the reflection journal that shows the links between the topics. Hence, learners are able to appreciate how these weekly topics are interrelated, which allows them to see beyond the standalone content and focus on the intertwined links which reside within them; (3) the self-reflective and short interactive assessment quizzes are another vital highlights that engage learners through formative feedback during the learning process. During the in-class learning activities, the focus is on the critical thinking and deep learning process achieved through peer and collaborative learning. (1) Instructors do not conduct lectures, instead students participate in an interactive dialogue session engaging instructors using a mind map of the session; (2) this is followed by interaction between the instructor and the class where they revisit the online reflection journal and engage in formative feedback; (3) the focus is geared towards the application of course content to assigned problems, which are based on real-life issues, through a process of peer and collaborative learning, with the cultivating of critical thinking and deep learning as the intended goal. To achieve the intended learning outcomes, the in-class scaffolding support system builds in a collection of varying perspectives that give students the opportunity to hone their critical and deep learning skills, and ultimately focus on the learning process, instead of focusing on the expected possible answers. Through this improvised framework which leverages on the flipped classroom philosophy and an authentically self-designed, developed scaffolding support system, our ultimate goals are: (1) to keep millennials more engaged in learning through a structured collaborative approach (2) and to have them think more deeply and critically about the course content and learn from their

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peers. Students can access the course materials outside the class, usually online, and thereafter apply the acquired knowledge with their peers during class, under the instructor’s guidance. This approach draws on the theoretical foundations of pedagogical approaches such as flipped classrooms, blended learning, active learning and technology-enhanced learning. Although the framework was developed with undergraduate courses in mind, it is flexible enough to be modified and adapted by instructors in any learning context.

2.2 Theoretical Background 2.2.1 Flipped Classroom A flipped classroom is generally defined as a swap of what is commonly done in the classroom with learning activities usually conducted outside the classroom (Lage et al., 2000). It focuses on a learner-centred environment and involves interactive group learning activities during classroom time and online learning outside the classroom (Bishop & Verleger, 2013). The flipped classroom serves as a platform to achieve a collaborative and organic learning environment. To meet the challenges and complexities of the twenty-first century workplace environment, there has been a shift and adoption of an organic learning environment in the business community. Similarly, universities and accreditation bodies in business schools are moving towards developing competency-based curricula where learners foster lifelong learning skills through a process of self-directed learning. There appear to be two common characteristics which encapsulate a flipped classroom: (a) an easily adaptable learning environment that facilitates active learning (DeLozier & Rhodes, 2017; Hamdan et al., 2013; Little, 2015) and allows students to develop different skills and competencies (Hamdan et al., 2013; Little, 2015); (b) a student-centred learning culture (Bishop & Verleger, 2013; DeLozier & Rhodes, 2017; Hamdan et al., 2013; McLaughlin et al., 2013). The available research on flipped classroom points towards emphasizing that the design of flipped learning results in higher level of learning performance as compared to traditional learning and e-learning; however, it is still ambiguous how learning in a flipped classroom setting and climate would result in an enhanced performance compared to other blended learning approaches (Thai et al., 2017). If there is no close monitoring of the classroom learning activities, students might be inadvertently marginalized and may experience misperceptions in the classroom. For example, they may presume that there is a lack of a clear and organized approach in the facilitation of course content, or they may not be able to appreciate the autonomy and flexibility that characterize the flipped approach, even if it is driven by clear learning outcomes. This could be challenging and stressful for an instructor to achieve the intended learning outcomes effectively. In contrast, during a traditional lecture, the instructor has control over the amount of information to be taught and delivered.

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The literature on flipped classroom design is somewhat long on stories and short on efficacious evidence. In its most basic implementation, course instructors of flipped classrooms assign videos of their lectures as homework and then have students do “homework” problems in class (Mazur, 2009). In Mazur’s case, he reframed his classroom time to have students answer multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and then have them discuss the questions in pairs to resolve discrepancies in their answers. In the years since the earliest implementations of the flipped approach, students have shown greater facility in answering critical reasoning questions about physics (Crouch & Mazur, 2001). However, nothing mandates that a flipped design needs to foster greater communication between students. Much to his students’ dismay, Enfield (2013) assigned video lectures and content-based quizzes prior to class to open more time for instructor-led demonstrations during class. When you think about the fundamentals that constitute the “content coverage before class and homework during class” version of the flipped approach, what remains is an instructional model in which students use resources to prepare for class activities prior to the session so that more time would be allocated to those activities (Herried & Schiller, 2013). With this understanding, flipped classrooms offer instructors more freedom to choose how students will discuss, use and build upon these resources as they actively think through a topic, instead of passively receiving the content. However, this freedom of choice should be tempered with limits, for having too much freedom has been shown to decrease satisfaction and stifle creativity (Iyengar & Lepper, 2000). A flipped classroom design also serves as a gateway for greater student engagement (DesLauriers et al., 2011). Research studies report that flipped classroom experience correlates with affirmative impact on student learning outcomes as compared to traditional learning approach (Albert & Beatty, 2014; He et al., 2016; Roach, 2014). If course designers have the time to incorporate more in-depth activities, they can integrate “high-impact” activities into the course. High-impact activities include having meaningful contact with course instructors, deep discussions with instructors and/or peers, differentiated instruction and prolonged collaborations. These activities correlate with student self-reports of engagement (Kuh, 2003). Student engagement is then correlated with participation in public service, self-reported learning gains, increased student achievement (Carini et al., 2006) and job engagement (Busteed & Seymour, 2015). This could be validated by research scholars (Gaughan, 2014; Lowell et al., 2013) who report that students are much better prepared to be involved and participate in face-to-face interactive and higher-order activities, such as problem solving, discussions and debates. The presence of instructors for the face-to-face part, be it physical or virtual, allows students to receive immediate feedback on their engagement in learning activities by instructors, aiming at higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy (Gilboy et al., 2015). Students can increase their level of understanding of contents before attending the face-to-face sessions that enable them to be engaged in a much deeper learning over a much-prolonged period with much focus (Roach, 2014). While a course coordinator may design a curriculum using the flipped approach filled with high-impact and meaningful activities, it still falls on the shoulders of the course instructors to optimize these opportunities. Perhaps the greatest limiting

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agent on student learning is that not all instructors are created equal (Hattie, 2003). Just because one instructor can administer high-impact activities successfully does not mean a replacement instructor can deliver the same results. Much of an instructor’s learning in tertiary settings comes from personal experience (Kember, 2009). However, communities of practice oriented towards enhancing teaching and learning can be used to guide new instructors towards the community’s specific and more effective teaching practices (Lave, 1991). In the context of courses conducted by a small group of instructors, each course group behaves like a community, with the course coordinators serving as the centre of such communities. With the right support, course coordinators can scaffold the learning of the other instructors as they adopt the community’s teaching practices. This scaffolding can take place via workshops, formal and informal professional conversations, and through deeper reflection, and dialogues with the help of appropriate tools and platforms.

2.2.2 Technology-Enhanced Learning One distinct characteristic of the millennial generation is the ubiquity of technology in their lives (Blue & Henson, 2015). Millennials expect multimedia to feature prominently in their education (Blue & Henson, 2015; Patrick & Martin, 2015), and one way in which this occurs is via technology-enhanced learning (TEL). As defined by Patrick and Martin (2015), TEL refers to “all approaches in which technology is used to support the learning or teaching process”, which includes web-based learning, game-based learning, the simple usage of animation or computer-generated pictures and movies. Higher education institutions constantly face technological and educational challenges and increasing demands to meet the needs of relevant stakeholders (Adams Becker et al., 2017; Chai et al., 2013; Wamboye et al., 2015). Rather than being merely subject matter experts, teachers must also be adept facilitators and keep pace with rapid developments and innovations in education and technology (Ifenthaler et al., 2014; Rajaram, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c; Rajaram et al., 2017). They must be adept at providing learning experiences that support discovery, knowledge generation and reflection. Increasingly, teaching is being delivered in a blended mode, incorporating experiential, participative, social and collaborative learning (Delcker et al., 2017). Greater digital literacy amongst students has necessitated a substantial curriculum redesign with greater use of digital learning platforms, mobile applications and other innovative approaches or devices (Brooks, 2015). Teachers face various challenges in adapting to these changes. On the one hand, the teacher’s role in this new environment can be unclear. For instance, they often struggle with selecting the types of learning techniques that would optimally enhance student engagement and learning performance. On the other hand, they are not always aware of the technological tools, innovative concepts, digital platforms or mobile applications that are available, particularly those appropriate for teaching. Furthermore, it is unclear what capabilities are required for teachers to successfully harness these technologies and

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how they may be trained. Finally, there is an open question of how technology can best be used to prepare students for their future careers in the business world. Some scholars have argued that the exact role of TEL in the learning experience needs further exploration (Kirkwood & Price, 2014). The Higher Education Funding Council for England (2009) proposed three potential benefits that TEL may bring (depending on the type of technology used): efficiency, enhancement and transformation. Efficiency refers to improving existing processes in a “cost-effective, time-effective, sustainable or scalable manner”; enhancement refers to a general improvement in the existing processes and its outcomes; transformation refers to a profound and positive change in the current processes or even the introduction of new processes. In developing our improvised flipped classroom framework, TEL has been leveraged in both pre-class and in-class learning to meet evolving student needs as well as enhancing the instructors’ ability to facilitate courses productively in today’s complex and evolving learning environment.

2.2.3 Blended Learning Blended learning is defined by Maarop and Embi (2016) as a teaching and learning approach that blends online instructional methods and face-to-face learning in a brick-and-mortar location (often referred to as traditional learning). The inclusion of these two modalities enables integration into the cohesive learners’ experience. Blended learning provides a richer range of learning experiences and produces higher levels of student engagement largely due to its adoption of a range of delivery approaches (Bliuc et al., 2007; Ginns & Ellis, 2007; Smyth et al., 2012). Blended learning should be understood and considered through a thorough understanding in terms of students’ motivation and how it supports learners’ demand needs to be duly considered beyond the mere aspects of delivery and technology (Sloman, 2007). In blended learning, the flexibility dimension of e-learning element, in terms of time and place, is added to the learning environment (Deperlioglu & Kose, 2013; Garrison & Kanuka, 2004; Smyth et al., 2012). Many research scholars re-iterated the positive impact that blended learning has on learners’ perceived learning effectiveness and their academic achievement (Deperlioglu & Kose, 2013; Owston et al., 2013; Suda et al., 2014), in addition, also the affirmative effect that the online learning has on learners’ academic performance (Bawaneh, 2011). Comparative studies performed on blended learning contrasting them with traditional learning or e-learning show a significant higher academic performance in a blended learning setting (Suda et al., 2014; Vernadakis et al., 2012). This could be further validated by another research by Bernard et al. (2014) that reports that blended learning has exceeded traditional classroom instruction in terms of academic achievement (1/3 standard deviation). Thai et al. (2017) advocate that this would be the case especially if the blended design focuses on the interactivity aspects between the student and instructor as well as amongst students, plus addressing the cognitive support element that addresses the content processing and representational support.

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The subtle distinctions between blended and flipped learning need to be appreciated to ensure that both approaches are utilized appropriately and effectively to achieve the intended learning outcomes. In blended learning, classroom time between instructors and students is not substituted by online delivery. Instead, the online component comprises of content and activities that complement in-class lessons. It usually involves online resources such as online journals, quizzes, voice-overs and/or audio podcasts, interactive games and videos. Learners can access these online resources from anywhere and they are usually delivered through a university-wide learning management system, blogs or contextualized learning systems. The important point to understand about the blended approach is that traditional learning has not been replaced by online learning; rather, the two elements complement each other to provide learners with an inclusive and holistic learning experience. In contrast, the flipped classroom’s primary focus is on the reversal of the traditional content delivery mode of learning. A traditional learning approach involves listening to lectures, watching demonstrations or visuals, understanding the content in the classroom and completing assignments at home. In a flipped classroom, course materials are prepared such that learners have access to the materials prior to their classes, at their own pace and time. Actual class time is then utilized to clarify concepts and run learning activities that emphasize content application, with facilitation and guidance from the instructor. The different types of online platforms adopted in-class serve to enhance and work towards higher levels of student collaboration, engagement and a holistic learning process. Collins and Moonen (2001) report “flexible learning” as referring to learners’ choice, specifically learners being able to make decisions about when, how and where they will study. The ultimate intention of blended e-learning is to provide learners with choices as to what, how and at what pace they wish to learn. E-learning also facilitates the opening of different avenues for formative assessment which helps learners to review course materials and take the assessment activities again when they feel that they are ready or want further practice. In addition, the blended approach allows learners to quickly move through the courses they are comfortable with and spend more time on areas where they struggle. Siemens (2004) in his theory of connectivism explains that (a) the capacity to know is more critical than what is currently known, (b) learning may reside in non-human appliances, and (c) decision-making itself is a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information are seen through the lens of a shifting reality, in the sense that while there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alternatives in the information climate affecting the decision. This clearly emphasizes the shift in the design and incorporating the pre- and post-blended learning platform. This implementation facilitates students to achieve deeper levels of learning with more emphasis placed on collaboration, cooperative and participative context beyond just mere information delivery. Spanjers et al. (2015) conducted a meta-analysis which indicated that on average, instructors found blended learning to be more effective than traditional learning. Some of the benefits of blended learning include increased student-to-student and student-to-instructor interaction, enhanced student engagement (Alebaikan &

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Troudi, 2010; Korr et al., 2012) and flexibility in class design (Alebaikan & Troudi, 2010). Similar to the flipped classroom framework, the evidence from the literature suggests that there have been many studies in which instructors have shared about the difficulties involved in implementing blended learning, especially due to the high demands placed on the instructors’ time and workload in order to design the right blend between the two types of learning (Maarop & Embi, 2016). There is also little evidence in the literature regarding the development and implementation of any detailed framework (Boelens et al., 2017).

2.3 Concept and Features of the Framework Our improvised and contextualized conceptual framework is designed to fill the “gap” of not having a scaffolded, comprehensive and effective flipped classroom design that helps instructors to fully utilize the available technology, in both the preand in-class phases. The authenticity of this framework is reflected in the following components: (1) a holistic and thorough pre-class online learning comprising an engaging and comprehensive learning design embedded with students’ data analytics; (2) authentically created animations which make it easier for students to comprehend complex, dry theories and concepts; (3) a reflection journal that provides a link across all course topics, with an in-class dialogue session and a reflective learning process; and (4) incorporating an in-class team-based collaborative scaffolding support system that equips students with the “harder skills” of management competencies. The variety of teaching techniques and activities involved in this learning design is especially targeted at capturing the millennial students’ attention, who are known to have shorter attention spans. There are two components to the conceptual framework: pre-class online learning and face-to-face seminars enhanced by real-time technological interventions through the scaffolding learning support system. Figures 2.1 and 2.2 are a summary of the conceptual frameworks, while Appendix D contains a weblink to a video trailer about the framework for flipped classrooms embedded with technology-enabled learning. Two conceptual frameworks are shared taking into due consideration of the recent demands of having to acknowledge the importance of both physical and virtual real-time lessons, perhaps the recent worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 that puts universities to re-think and re-design their lessons’ delivery. Figure 2.1 presents. Figure 2.1 Improvised conceptual framework—Flipped classroom with technology-enabled learning provides a guiding structure on how flipped learning could happen in a blended approach where there is a part to be done out of the class via e-learning and a part to be in class from a physical setting. This approach fits well when there are no constraints to have physical classes conducted. However, the question is how this framework could be improvised and re-designed if there are limitations such as: students are not able to be present in a physical setting due to a pandemic like COVID-19; there could only be a limited number of students present in a physical setting; or there is a need to accommodate a large number of students

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Fig. 2.1 Improvised conceptual framework – Flipped classroom with technology-enabled learning (Extracted from Rajaram, K. (2019). Flipped classrooms: Scaffolding support system with real-time learning interventions. Asian Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 30–58)

Fig. 2.2 Improvised conceptual framework – Flipped classroom, a model adopted in a 100% virtual learning setting

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at any one time, for example, more than 50 students where there is a requirement to have learners’ interactivity at much smaller group levels, incorporate active and experiential learning aspects and so on. As such Fig. 2.2 Improvised conceptual framework—Flipped classroom, a model adopted in a 100% virtual learning setting is formulated and shared.

2.3.1 Pre-class Online Learning The pre-class online learning comprises two parts. The first part is the online learning where students have online access to the lecture materials. The lecture materials are presented using a mix of different modes of learning, such as a lecture with voiceover, animated text, animations and/or interactive quizzes. Each segment would be no more than 10 min, to ensure that the material would be engaging and exciting for the students. At the end of the lecture videos, students must complete either a timed and graded quiz, or an ungraded quiz at their own pace to reinforce what they have learnt. They must complete all the online lessons for a topic 24 h before the 3-hour face-to-face seminar for the same topic. After completion of the online learning, students must do an online reflection journal entry, which will be followed by an interactive classroom discussion. Evidence shows that such reflective activities encourage students to reflect on and review their own thinking processes (metacognition), help to boost students’ critical thinking skills and assist in the preparation of course assignments and final examinations (Homik & Melis, 2006). The reflective portion also reinforces students’ understanding of the applicability of key concepts which they learnt through the online lectures, ensuring that they are not just passively watching the videos. There are 12 reflection journals which students need to complete over the 3- to 4-month semester. They first must read a case study; then, using knowledge acquired from lecture materials, they write down their responses to the questions related to the case study. They are expected to write between 50 and 200 words for each reflection. The case study material for each of the 12 reflection journals is designed to be interrelated to the other lessons so that the links become evident to students. The reflection journals serve as an application activity which is incorporated as the last activity for each pre-class online learning session. Instructors would be able to track the weekly journal submissions and correspondingly students’ participation. The completion and quality of the journal submissions would be tagged to the students’ pre-online learning course assessment and hence serve as an effective control to monitor their course performance.

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2.3.2 Face-to-Face Session: Applied and Active Learning, Scaffolding Learning Support System During the face-to-face classroom session, the instructor would begin with an overview of the lesson, displayed as a mind map. This would be followed by a discussion with the class about their reflection journal submissions. During the lesson overview, the instructor would engage in interactive dialogue with the students for 15–20 min, presenting a summary of the lesson on a PowerPoint slide. Following the class discussion, the instructor would summarize key points from the journal submissions and address any queries from students. Following the discussion, the instructor may choose from a variety of activities to facilitate the active learning portion of the lesson, such as a case study, a problembased learning activity, role-play and mini-game, or more. These team learning activities are facilitated differently from the traditional approach in two distinct ways, namely: (1) specific roles would be assigned within the teams, for example, leader, scribe or any assigned position based on the activity (team manager, supervisor, client); (2) at the end of the activity, each student would have to evaluate their team in terms of one primary competency. This serves as a peer review competency exercise that would enable every student to be trained on not only the course content but also the skills required to perform the assigned role. A new, innovative, synchronous and collaborative feature called the “doKumaran” tool (dKT) has been developed and included within the learning activity management system (LAMS). The dKT captures and documents collaboration amongst students in real-time. It is an integration tool that allows for the subsequent creation of powerful and collaborative activity sequences. With the dKT, we introduced five activity sequences as the activity scaffolding support system. This support system (a) enables “real-time” collaboration and students have more opportunities to participate in active learning activities with peers and instructors; (b) focuses on the learning process; (c) archives student discussions and reflections; (d) increases the level of engagement by minimizing disruptions between learning activities; and (e) serves as a platform for students to apply what they learnt and hone their critical thinking skills. Details of the LAMS, dKT and activity support system can be found in Appendix C.

2.3.3 Pre-class Online Learning: Components Online learning enables students to access the course materials anytime and anywhere at their convenience. The online learning framework adopted for this course comprises several components, as listed below.

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Voice-Over Video Lectures

In this framework, the pre-class online lesson includes short video lectures, usually presented as slides with a pre-recorded voice-over. Wilson and Gerber (2008) proposed the need for a modularized course structure, which breaks traditional courses into “manageable units”. A distinctive feature of such video lectures is that the content would be succinct and easy to understand, and each recording would be no more than 10 min.

2.3.3.2

Animation

Apart from the video lectures, the instructional materials in pre-class online learning also make use of animations, which refer to “any display element that changes its attribute over time” (Schnotz & Lowe, 2008). Berney and Bétrancourt (2016) proposed several purposes for using animation. First, it directs students’ attention to essential portions of the course materials. Second, it is a useful way to demonstrate abstract concepts which students would need to memorize and apply, such as completing puzzle rings and tying nautical knots. Third, it can help students gain a better understanding of a dynamic system that changes over time, such as a flushing system or a light formation. It can also be used to demonstrate a succession of steps. In Berney and Bétrancourt’s (2016) meta-analysis, where they examined 140 pairwise comparisons between animated and static graphic visualizations in multimedia instructional material from 61 studies, they found that the use of animation yielded positive effects in terms of learning enhancement as compared to static graphic visualizations. A key finding was that the positive effect of animation over static graphics was only found when students had no control over the pace of the instructional material being presented. The study by Stebner et al. (2017) yielded a similar outcome when they compared German high school students in learning environments which had different combinations of visualization in their instructional materials (e.g. no visualization, use of static pictures and animations). Their study showed that students needed to have visualization to gain a better understanding of the learning material. The results also consistently show that learning environments which feature the use of animation yielded more positive learning benefits compared to learning environments which only used static pictures.

2.3.3.3

Quizzes

After the students have gone through the course materials, they have to complete one of the following two types of quizzes: graded and timed quizzes, or selfassessment quizzes. Studies have shown the effectiveness of utilizing quizzes in teaching. According to Cook and Babon (2017), when students are required to take online quizzes based on prescribed preparatory material, it leads to enhanced levels

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of student engagement and motivation to complete the online learning in preparation for the following class. This would improve students’ participation in active learning classroom activities, for example, class discussions. It was found to be an effective tool that saved instructors’ time (Cook & Babon, 2017). In the blended learning context, Spanjers et al. (2015) found that incorporating quizzes into the course had positive effects on the effectiveness of this approach. In a study by Khanna (2015), students performed better in the final exams when they were given continuous formative assessments (e.g. quizzes) that are ungraded rather than graded formative assessments or none before the final summative assessment (e.g. the final examination).

2.3.3.4

Online Reflection Journal

Another way of assessing the quality of online learning is with online reflection journals. This is the last activity in the pre-class online learning, where students write reflections of between 50 and 200 words for the assigned case study. The case studies have been carefully picked by the instructor, and these cases not only reflect the primary topic of the lesson itself but also connects with the other case studies in the course. At the end of the course, students can review all the journal submissions and see how they connect across the different topics in the course. This enables students to appreciate the larger context of the whole course and put things in perspective.

2.3.4 Face-to-Face Seminar with Real-Time Technological Interventions With the instructional course material covered before the seminar, classroom time could be utilized more efficiently through active or experiential learning activities. These activities could be technology-enabled, for example supported by the scaffolding activity support system or executed through traditional facilitation methods. When students engage in meaningful learning activities, they are actively learning and in doing so, are more engaged (Prince, 2004). Experiential learning gives students opportunities to develop leadership competencies in business programmes (Crossan et al., 2013). Examples of such activities include (a) Fishbowl, where groups of students discuss and lead discussions on an assigned topic; (b) Test Questions, where students get to pose questions instead of just answering them; (c) the Pros and Cons Grid, where students discuss and develop a list of advantages and disadvantages about an issue related to the lesson, helping them to appreciate a topic from varying angles and develop analytical and evaluation skills; (d) Cross-Age Peer Tutoring, which leverages on peer learning where a student proficient in a course topic instructs another who is a novice.

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The use of the activity sequences in dKT’s scaffolding support system enhances overall class participation which enables students to be to be more actively engaged in class. Studies indicate that students who appear quiet and shy tend to contribute more to synchronous online discussions than classroom discussions (Warschauer, 1995). This may be explained by the fact that many students, especially those of East Asian heritage (Paulhus et al., 2002) or with more introverted personalities (Caspi et al., 2006), tend to shy away from speaking up in class (Freeman et al., 2006). With the use of an online tool, these students may feel more comfortable sharing their ideas online (Cain & Klein, 2015). Students tend to learn more when they participate in group work (Arbaugh & Benbunan-Finch, 2006). In a meta-analysis performed by Johnson et al. (1998), studies since 1924 were reviewed and the findings indicated that when students learn together, academic achievement is enhanced. Moreover, the students were found to have higher self-esteem and better quality of relationships (Johnson et al., 1998). Millennials are used to participating in collaborative activities since young—at day care, schools and volunteer projects; therefore, it is believed that they would be open to engaging in collaborative learning in the higher education classroom (Blue & Henson, 2015). Furthermore, they would expect an increase in such collaborations when they graduate and enter the workforce, especially between colleagues and with clients. According to Bedwell et al. (2014), interpersonal skills are critical to achieving success in today’s business environment. With the flipped approach, the interaction and collaboration between students may take place during the face-to-face seminar part of the framework. With the use of the activity sequences in dKT’s scaffolding support system, synchronous collaborative activities can take place. The five activity sequences facilitate different forms of group collaborations and discussions. The activity support system in this framework supports activities which enable students to hone their critical thinking skills, such as the peer review activity sequence. The rigorous process involved in peer review, encompassing inter- and intra-group activity sequences and the reflection phase, gives learners the opportunity to think critically about ways to refine their solutions to the problems presented. Both the student reviewee and the peer reviewer can benefit from this exercise (BoaseJelinek et al., 2013) of evaluating each other’s written submissions (Sims, 1989). Students would be able to practice critical thinking when they critique the work of their peers. When the reviewee reflects on the peer reviewer’s feedback, it is also an opportunity for them to critically consider the feedback received and ways to implement the suggestions. Apart from the peer review activity, the literature also suggests that both collaborative learning, through “discussion, clarification of ideas, and evaluation of others’ ideas” (Gokhale, 1995), and high student engagement (Carini et al., 2006) enhance the development of critical thinking. Through the support of the framework in enhancing student engagement and collaboration, students’ critical thinking skills may also be enhanced.

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2.4 Methodology We began the project by running a pilot of the learning activities within the context of a course titled “Management Principles, Skills and Competencies”. A capstone course in the Nanyang Business School, 400–450 students take the course each semester. Enrolment is divided across 8–10 sections/classes by a team of instructors and overseen by a single course coordinator. Each session meets once a week for three hours, with one hour catered for pre-course online learning. We worked with the course coordinator to run a pilot of the new set of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) supported activities through the scaffolding support system within two sections of the course.

2.4.1 Phase 1 of Study An online post-course survey (n = 59) was conducted to find out whether students responded positively to the pre-class online learning system, reflected an increase in self-reported levels of student engagement, collaboration and critical thinking. The survey questions appear in Appendix A. All students taking the two sections/classes were informed of the survey and could choose to participate or withdraw from it. Students who chose to withdraw would still be able to complete the course activities as part of normal education practice with no impact on their grades. Students who agreed to participate had to complete the survey at the end of the class, and members of the research team gathered and analysed the data, as well as coded the survey results. Around twelve students from the two sections/classes were randomly selected and interviewed to find out their experiences of the flipped classroom learning design and the usage of the e-scaffolding learning support system adopted real-time in class. The sample size is adequately representative of the study as the profile of students for whole course as the exact same learning online design is replicated across the total number of sections. To re-iterate the adequate validation of this sample size representation, this study result shows high level of similarity in terms of its outcomes in comparison with another separate study performed on similar survey questions across all sections. The reason could be well explained due to the profile of students who are homogenous and well distributed across all the sections. The interview questions are presented in Appendix B.

2.4.2 Phase 2 of Study As an independent measure, the research team analysed students’ performance on one of the core summative course assessment items, a project work report, comparing

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their performance before and after the implementation of the improvised flipped classroom approach with technology-enhanced learning. For the pre-implementation (n = 310) and after implementation (n = 367), the reports were evaluated using an assessment rubric with the following criteria, namely (a) defining the problem; (b) devising strategies to solve the problem; (c) assessing implementation; and (d) evaluating outcomes.

2.5 Results and Discussion 2.5.1 Phase 1 of Study Overall, 94.92% of the students (i.e. 56 out of 59 students) rated their pre-class online learning experience as ranging from “Somewhat Positive” to “Very Positive” (see Fig. 2.3). When we analysed the comments in the clusters of “very positive”, “positive” and “somewhat positive” categories, there were five key and common themes emerged that could be linked to the students’ positive experiences. First, there was a collective and clear consensus on the quality, rigour and easy to understand contents covered with a creative adoption of animation, which is one of the key contributing factors. We could credit this positive feedback to the use of design thinking in developing the animation contents, focusing on elements of cognitive resonance in the learning process, psychological factors and social presence variables in having the contents curated. Second, many highlighted that the interactive quizzes embedded were benefitable as they serve as a quick form of self-assessment in understanding the contents covered and a formative feedback avenue. Third, students collectively mentioned that the reflection journals enable them to apply their learned concepts

Fig. 2.3 Students’ responses regarding the online learning experience

2.5 Results and Discussion

39

through reflective and critical thinking. Moreover, they appreciate that the reflection journals are interlinked across the 13 weeks’ lessons that show the connectivity of the topics. Fourth, students largely felt the flexibility and self-directed learning space benefitable in better managing their learning with more autonomy and empowerment. Lastly, the accessibility of contents via mobile devices was cited by quite several students as a contributing element to their positive experience. This mobility enables flexibility in how, where and when they would like to access the course contents as well the bite size videos and course materials enabling them to view and read, for example, while they are travelling and in between their breaks of other commitments. When we examined reasons for the flip side of 5.08% (i.e. 3 out of 59 students) who have rated “Somewhat negative”, we found 2 key common issues that emerged. First, the technical disruptions due to either the broadband/Internet/Wi-Fi related issues. For example, the poor Internet connectivity has caused disruption to the smooth flow of their learning process online that largely causes the unhappiness. Despite detailed instructions and support given to students who potentially face such information technology (IT) infrastructure-related issues, the support may not have extensively reached this minority group of students somehow. Hence, we realized to effectively work around this more individualized approach through much better communication channels via dedicated task force teams created to explicitly address these minority group of students’ explicit needs who may have poor or not up-to-date IT services or related infrastructure functionalities subscribed especially if they are to be operating from their own residences. Second, the capacity of their own personal computers or laptops or I-pads is probably dated, for example slow in speed, unable to support some of the advanced technological requirements to optimize learning and so on. To address this, we intend to explicitly target the minority group who may face challenges where the university could then examine how we could work around to extend the support respectively. We felt that these numbers are rather small; hence, much individualized attention could be proactively taken to sort this out which would effectively enhance their experiences as these are external factors and not tied to the quality or design of the course. 96.61% of the students (57 out of 59 students) indicated that they “Somewhat Agree”, “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” that they would like to see more of this type of course delivery, which has both online and face-to-face learning activities (see Fig. 2.4). We define appeal as “to be of interest”, “engaging” and “enticing” to students. When we examined the strong positive inclination of students’ appeal on the online learning, it was attributed to two primary reasons, namely (a) its learning design and (b) the interactivity elements that were embedded within the online learning process. The lesson topics are thoughtfully designed adopting the design thinking framework where the students’ learning needs, their learning styles and engagement drivers were well understood. Hence, this helps in designing the course materials in a manner that is fundamentally able to engage students through making the complex theories much easier to understand. Next, the interactive elements embedded within the online learning enable social presence and connectivity that enhances the students’ interest and engagement in their online learning experience.

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Fig. 2.4 Students’ responses regarding the appeal of this approach to students

2.5.2 Survey Findings 2.5.2.1

Flexibility

With the rapidly evolving technological interventions and applications in education, flexibility is increasingly associated with e-learning and evolving as a core driver that influences the learning deliverables through the online learning experiences. Flexibility could be defined primarily as the aspect of personalizing learning and the facilitation process, addressing the wide-ranging activities that the learners are exposed to from the pre-class learning and in-class experience to the end of the learning process across varying places and time (Bergamin et al., 2012). Hence, the element flexibility could be viewed as a multi-dimensional construct addressing the technological and pedagogical aspects of learning. In accordance with research scholars (Li & Wong, 2018; Soffer et al., 2019), elements such as pace of learning, time, place, learning resources and interaction are the most addressed dimensions of flexibility in e-learning. 96.61% of students (57 out of 59 students) responded that they “Somewhat Agree”, “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” to the statement “Online delivery for this course provided a flexible learning environment to help me understand the topics better” (see Fig. 2.5). Flexibility, through flexible support services for online courses, has a positive impact on academic success of students (Austerschmidt & Bebermeier, 2019). In addition, studies also validate that the improvement of students’ academic performances in e-learning environments could be linked to the support provided

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Fig. 2.5 Students’ responses regarding the level of flexibility of this learning approach

in terms of high-level flexibility of technology, pedagogy, learning resources and activities (Bergamin et al., 2010; McGarry et al., 2015). When asked to provide their qualitative responses to the statement “What you like the most about the online content for this course”, many students commented that being able to learn at their own pace is what they liked the most. Some of the responses included: “It allows me to do it at a pace I am comfortable with”; “I can digest the necessary information first before proceeding” and “without rushing through theories after theories”. Some students also commented that it made learning very “convenient” and “flexible” as they were “able to watch [the] lecture at anytime and anywhere”. AI-Harbi (2011) reported that students’ perceived flexibility levels were a vital predictor of usefulness of e-learning. A significant relationship between perceived flexibility and self-regulated learning strategies has also been validated Bergamin et al. (2012). There is clear evidence to conclude that effectiveness of flexibility correlates with enhanced learning and teaching process. Another advantage of such flexibility in learning is that students can also revisit and review the material any time they needed to. This aspect of the study’s insight could be validated by a study that disclosed that the attainment of intended outcomes was linked to the patterns of flexibility in terms of their learning time and effectiveness on the accessibility to learning resources in the online learning platform (Soffer et al., 2019). Primarily, the level of flexibility is largely tied to the learning of students at their own pace and convenience, where contents can be reflected upon prior to the actual class. However, 2 out of 59 students indicated that they somewhat disagree. When we examined closely the disagreements, both mentioned that the time phase to complete the pre-class online learning should be extended to 2 h prior instead of 24 h prior to the respective scheduled class. However, this perspective may not be practical as the instructors need time to review students’ pre-class online learnings prior to their classes and bring forth the relevant insights to be part of the class discussions. Also,

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students are given ample time to manage their learning as the access to these pre-class learnings is made available at least few weeks prior in reference to the respective lesson. Hence, the students are given full autonomy and empowered to manage their learning at their own pace and complete it 24 h prior to that week’s lesson.

2.5.2.2

Levels of Engagement

Due to the wide-ranging usage of the term engagement, it seems to have a range of interpretations (Dixson, 2015; Gibbs, 2014; Lawson & Lawson, 2013; Taylor & Parsons, 2011). Student engagement can be defined as a compendium of behaviours that involve students’ learning where they devote their time, energy and resource to learning activities (Krause, 2005). Similarly, Macquarie University Learning and Teaching Centre (2009) defined engagement as the quality level, depth of commitment and the activeness of involvement in their learning. Chen et al. (2010) pointed out that inline to the above definitions, engagement is inclined towards more to individuals’ engagement with learning instead of interactions with instructors or their student peers, although such exchanges are identified as a separate influencer of engagement. It is also vital to acknowledge that the complexities of effective and quality students’ engagement in learning could be contributed through varying dimensions as rightfully pointed by various studies (Kahn et al., 2017; Lawson & Lawson, 2013; Reeve & Tseng, 2011), namely related to the place and interconnectedness of cognitive, socio-cultural, affective, behavioural, ecological and organizational factors and even the actions of students as a collective. Many students commented that it was an “interesting” way of learning. They particularly enjoyed the visual presentations such as the animations, graphics and videos, which “aid deeper understanding of concepts” and “enhanced the entire learning process rather than providing us with only text and words”. The learning design of the online resources took great efforts in embedding the social connectivity and social presence through the adequate and relevant usage of, for example, animations that picturized the caricature of the instructor, graphics that students could visualize and well relate to and so on. One student commented that “[in] addition, the animations and videos serve as a good learning aid by providing real-life examples, making the lessons much more interesting and engaging”. The study’s insights could be justified and validated by the research studies (Coates, 2006; Fleckhammer & Wise, 2010; Kift, 2004; Rhodes & Nevil, 2004) that revealed that in addition to the academic engagement, the part of social relationships and a greater sense of social engagement in the online space are vital as the overall engagement is affected by student experience and transitions that have implications on the learning design and instructional techniques adopted by instructors in online learning environments. There was evidence of students being more engaged and sparked their interest to learn more, as indicated in the quote below: I think online learning is a great way to learn. This is especially true when you are able to research and further find out theories and information that you are interested or unsure of. Through online platform learning, it allows me to gain a better insight of this module.

2.5 Results and Discussion

2.5.2.3

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Critical Thinking

Critical thinking entails varying aspects, and the broad definition focuses on reflective discretion and the process of purposeful thinking. It involves higher cognitive level/order of thinking skills that are required to analyse and interpret information in a meaningful manner. Bloom (1956) identified a set of thinking skills under a thinking triangle. Moore (2013) refined critical thinking into five domains: understanding, judgement, caution/scepticism, originality and reflection/action. These complement Bloom’s revised cognitive taxonomy that comprises of six dimensions, namely remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. In terms of their qualitative response to the statement “The online content for this course provided me opportunities to reflect on the topics and be able to apply them to other contexts appropriately”, 100% of the students responded, “Somewhat Agree”, “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” to it (see Fig. 2.6). The survey question addresses three specific dimensions of critical thinking of Moore (2013), explicitly on understanding, judgement and reflection/action respectively. When we examined the astoundingly positive feedback on this question of “reflection and application”, three primary themes emerged. Firstly, the design embeds the process of engaging students through deep thinking and reflective questions in an interactive manner; next, there is another collaborative element that students must synergize their thoughts through challenging their thinking process before putting them together to address the questions posed. Thirdly, they are to show their deep understanding of the concepts through applying with real-life examples and/or experiences. These three aspects are the fundamental elements that enable students to exercise critical thinking in their learning process via the pre-class online which results in the positive experiences.

Fig. 2.6 Students’ responses to their ability to reflect and apply the content learnt

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Facilitating the learning process for students to surpass the surface-level thinking is a challenging and complex process. Willingham (2008) emphasized that critical thinking skills require learners to acquire adequate context knowledge and could be easily deployed at will or in any context respectively. The study results reiterate that despite the challenges and limitations to be dealt with to develop critical thinking skills via online learning environments, as validated by research scholars (Delmas et al., 2007; Halpern, 2007; Willingham, 2008; Kahneman, 2011; Byrnes & Dunbar, 2014; Miele & Wigfield, 2014), it is clearly possible by learning through applied practice and to intervene with more organized and deliberate patterns of thought process incorporated.

2.5.2.4

Effectiveness

Learning happens in numerous varying forms and is shaped by personal, social, cultural, psychological and contextual influences (Rajaram, 2020). The effectiveness of learning, in our context, perceived learning effectiveness, is influenced by the learning circumstances, for example learning environment (Dunlosky et al., 2013), the approach of how the instructional techniques are effectively adopted and used based on the profile, and characteristics of the learners (Rajaram, 2020). A balanced approach and compatibility are required between the learning styles of students and correct mix of instructional delivery approaches for effective learning to occur (Rajaram & Collins, 2013). Effectiveness in this survey could be defined explicitly as perceived effectiveness from how the students are experiencing and valuing the pre-class learning process. Effectiveness could be further understood from the context through addressing the following questions, namely: Do the students perceive the pre-class online learning enabling them to acquire the contents knowledge productively in terms of quality, ease, convenient and efficient? Many students found the online presentation of the course materials to be clear, concise and easy to understand. They felt that the course material was relevant to the workplace of the future and was “an effective way to learn information-heavy topics”. For self-reported effectiveness, 96.61% of students (57 out of 59 students) answered, “Somewhat Effective”, “Effective” or “Very Effective” (see Fig. 2.7). When we examined to sieve out the common supporting justifications on the inclination of effectiveness, five primary themes stand out, namely: (a) the clarity and ease in comprehending the contents presented in an online learning context. The clarity comprises of clear instructions, and explicit guidelines that enable students to achieve the intended learning outcomes and customized learning design embedded with simplified and relatable contents presented in small clusters enable the ease in understanding; (b) contemporary and up-to-date contents that enabled students’ learning engaging; (c) heavy contents’ delivery that was taken out of the class time where the class time is used to have meaningful dialogues, conversation and intense interactions on the applicability of concepts in real world and the challenges, real issues that have to be dealt with; (d) the formative feedback that was incorporated

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Fig. 2.7 Students’ responses regarding the effectiveness of the approach

through the interactive quizzes in the online learning process as it allows students perform a self-assessment on the concepts learned; (e) the design that enables students to appreciate the connectivity of topics across all 13 lessons covered over the semester. This is done via the reflection journals that are embedded with a mini case study that links the various lesson topics to show the connectivity amongst them. Research scholars (Felder & Silverman, 1998; Rajaram, 2020) advocate that three primary variables that affect students’ learning, namely (a) preparation prior to the class; (b) innate competency of learner; and (c) the fit between students’ learning style and the teaching approach. This process adds to further complexity due to the varying instructional styles that different instructors adopt based on what they perceive to be effective from their past experiences (Rajaram, 2020). However, in our context, the complexity could be mitigated as the asynchronous pre-class learning design is standardized without any instructors’ intervention and the innate ability of students does not apply in our context of study as all students are of a certain profile where they have been filtered through before being enrolled into this course. As such, only one influencing element of “prior preparation of students” remained as the core influencing factor, which seemed to be positive. The design of our online learning adopted a developmental growth process to shift or transform learners’ mindset beyond their preferred learning style as advocated by Frontczak (1999) and Kolb (1984).

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Further Reflections from Students

Generally, the inclusion of the pre-class learning element has received highly positive feedback from the students, where most of the primary aspects are covered at depth prior to this section. It was noted that many students found the pre-class online learning a very “efficient” method of learning as it allowed them to manage their time outside the classroom and “it minimised unnecessary time in class”. Students prefer the face-to-face class time to be more engaging, interactive on the application aspects, i.e. through instructors’ experience sharing where they could relate and apply the theory concepts learned with a deeper understanding. Hence, the pre-class online learning facilitates higher level of meaningful interactivity as the contents are brought out of the class. Students highlighted that the requirement for them to complete the pre-class activities within the stipulated timeline and the scores tied for the interactivity quizzes to be graded makes them to go through the contents in detail and apply critical thinking skills. Although a minority of them do highlight that this approach is slightly more demanding than the normal traditional method of attending the lectures. Again, we found that these minority students are usually the weaker ones who prefer not to be put through a rigorous learning process rather spoon-sped that only builds grit and competencies amongst these learners to get them job-ready.

2.6 Phase 2 of the Study 2.6.1 Prior Versus After Implementation of Flipped Learning In this experiment, we had two primary goals: (1) to compare fundamentally the effect of learning outcomes by comparing prior and after implementation of the flipped learning and (2) to compare the difference in the outcomes with a shorter versus a longer intervention of the post-flipped learning to see if there is a difference in learning outcomes. Experiment 1:

A time phase of 4 weeks of flipped learning intervention was applied across 11 classes

In this experiment, a time phase of 4 weeks of flipped learning was applied. We performed a comparative analysis of students’ performance on their group project, comparing with those who have not gone through the improvised flipped approach versus those who have done so. A total of n = 343 students’ (prior to the flipped learning) and n = 362 students’ (after implementation of the flipped learning) records were used as a basis to perform the analysis. For this experiment, the flipped learning is exposed to students over a 4-week period. Table 2.1 presents the findings of the analysis.

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Table 2.1 Comparative analysis of students’ group project report performance before and after flipped learning, with 4 weeks of flipped learning applied across 11 classes Critical thinking, problem solving and analytical skills Prior to the flipped Learning (n = 343)

After intervention with flipped learning embedded with technology-enabled learning (n = 362)

Mean score (total rating score = 3) Assessment criteria Problem identification

2.19

2.67

Problem analysis

2.33

2.49

Problem solving

2.24

2.61

Evaluation and review

2.28

2.52

Average

2.26

2.57

From the results, it is evident that the approach made a positive impact as there was an improvement in the mean scores across all four assessment criteria for the control group prior and after intervention of flipped learning. For the assessment criteria “Problem Analysis” and “Evaluation and Review”, there was a minor improvement within a range of 5.3–8%. As for the assessment criteria “Problem identification” and “Problem Solving”, there was a significant positive improvement in the range of 12.3– 16%. There was also a 10.3% overall positive impact on the enhancement of Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Analytical Skills that reaffirmed and validated the adoption of flipped learning. We could acknowledge that flipped learning has enabled students to think critically, apply what they learnt in a holistic context and perform quality analysis that has enabled them to achieve higher average scores. Experiment 2:

A time phase of 4 weeks of flipped learning intervention was applied across 3 classes

In this experiment, a time phase of 4 weeks of flipped learning was applied. We performed a comparative analysis of students’ performance on their group project report, comparing the reports of those who have not gone through the flipped learning versus those who have done so. A total of n = 112 students’ (prior to the flipped learning) and n = 112 students’ (after implementation of the flipped learning) records were used as a basis to perform the analysis. For this experiment, the flipped learning is exposed to students over a 4-week period. Table 2.2 presents the findings of the analysis. From the results, it is evident that the approach made a positive impact as there was an improvement in the mean scores across all four assessment criteria for the control group prior and after intervention of flipped learning. For the assessment criteria “Problem Analysis” and “Evaluation and Review”, there was an adequate improvement within a range of 7.67–10%. As for the assessment criteria “Problem identification” and “Problem Solving”, there was a significant positive improvement

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Table 2.2 Comparative analysis of students’ group project report performance before and after flipped learning, with 4 weeks of flipped learning applied across 3 classes Critical thinking, problem solving and analytical skills Prior to the flipped learning (n = 112)

After intervention with flipped learning embedded with technology-enabled learning (n = 112)

Mean score (total rating score = 3) Assessment criteria Problem identification

2.12

2.52

Problem analysis

2.23

2.46

Problem solving

2.15

2.59

Evaluation and review

2.13

2.43

Average

2.16

2.5

in the range of 13.33–14.67%. There was also a 11.33% overall positive impact on the enhancement of Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Analytical Skills that reaffirmed and validated the adoption of flipped learning. We could acknowledge that flipped learning has enabled students to think critically, apply what they learnt in a holistic context and perform quality analysis that has enabled them to achieve higher average scores. Experiment 3:

A time phase of 11 weeks of flipped learning intervention was applied across 3 classes

In this experiment, a time phase of 11 weeks of flipped learning was applied. We performed a comparative analysis of students’ performance on their group project report, comparing the reports of those who have not gone through the improvised flipped approach versus those who have done so. A total of n = 113 students’ (prior to the flipped learning) and n = 116 students’ (after implementation of the flipped learning) records were used as a basis to perform the analysis. For this experiment, the flipped learning is exposed to students over a 11-week period. Table 2.3 presents the findings of the analysis. From the results, it is evident that the approach made a positive impact as there was an improvement in the mean scores across all four assessment criteria for the control group prior and after intervention of flipped learning. For the assessment criteria “Problem Identification”, “Problem Solving” and “Evaluation and Review”, there is significant improvement of 18.33% for all three elements. As for the assessment criteria “Problem Analysis”, there is satisfactory improvement of 15.67%. There was also a 17.67% overall positive impact on the enhancement of Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Analytical Skills that reaffirmed and validated the adoption of flipped learning. We could acknowledge that flipped learning has enabled students to think critically, apply what they learnt in a holistic context and perform quality analysis that has enabled them to achieve higher average scores.

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Table 2.3 Comparative analysis of students’ group project report performance before and after flipped learning, with 11 weeks of flipped learning applied across 3 classes Critical thinking, problem solving and analytical skills Prior to the flipped Learning (n After implementation of = 113) flipped learning (n = 116) Mean score (total rating score = 3) Assessment criteria Defining the problem

2.18

2.73

Devise strategies to solve the problem

2.21

2.68

Assess implementation feasibility

2.17

2.72

Evaluate outcomes

2.09

2.64

Average

2.16

2.69

2.6.2 Interview Findings As for the face-to-face seminar, the research team randomly selected and interviewed 12 students from the course. Overall, students felt that the framework was effective as there was a lot more time during class for hands-on activities. They found it more “useful” and less “boring” as compared to traditional lectures. There was also more scope to learn from one another, as well as to learn through engagement with the instructor. The students also commented that the class supported by the framework “[changed] the whole dynamics of the class”. With the course content being offered prior to the class and available to view at any time, it meant that class time was freed up for students to participate in more active learning activities (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015). Collaborative learning capitalizes on the energizing confidence displayed by millennials, seeing them as accomplished, creative and self-starting (Wilson & Gerber, 2008). Most students commented that the approach provided more opportunities for classroom collaborations and allowed an expansion of the discussion group to more students. More learning was achieved through interaction with peers which enabled specific mechanisms to affect the cognitive process (Arbaugh & Benbunan-Fich, 2006). These included resolution of conflicts during group discussions, acknowledging varying perspectives provided by more knowledgeable peers and enabling a process of self-reflection Benbunan-Fich, Hiltz and Turoff (2003). There was less resistance to typing out one’s answer to mobile devices as compared to speaking in front of the whole class. Warschauer (1996) reported that quiet and reserved learners seemed to contribute more on online platforms than classroom discussions. Furthermore, with the technology-enabled in-class learning within the scaffolding support system, it enabled a two-pronged approach, first by allowing students to input their preliminary thoughts via the online platform and second, by enabling opportunities for collaborative engagement through students verbalizing

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ideas collated from their group members. Students who work in groups online were able to reflect on others’ written contributions and encourage elaboration of thoughts before writing it (Harasim, 1990). The key benefit of this approach is the learners’ contributions being displayed concurrently on the device’s screen. As such, everyone in the group can view this without any overlaps, similar to face-to-face dialogues. This exchange of ideas enabled learners to be exposed to varying perspectives of a topic, which widens students’ thinking abilities and reasoning skills (Bakhtin, 1986). On the flip side, there is a possibility of causing slight confusion during the editing of text and making contributions concurrently, although learners eventually adapt to the digital flow of sharing and/or editing the inputs. Collaboration, knowledge building and meaningful learning are the expected outcomes from such blended learning interventions. Students felt that the class was now more engaging compared to a traditional classroom in which only some students actively participated. They also felt more competent as active participants in the creation and dissemination of knowledge. The online platform also gave quieter students the opportunity to actively participate and provide their reflections in a conducive space without fear of being overshadowed by their more vocal peers (Kim, 2014). Students felt their opinions were valued and therefore felt more engaged. The scaffolding process ensures that students are fully engaged in the learning activities and were less distracted. Students also indicated that the collaborative aspect of learning, which characterized this approach, exposed them to diverse opinions and offered them opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills. They also mentioned that the peer review exercise, which included giving and receiving feedback as well as applying the feedback to improve their own answers, and considering different perspectives, enabled them to think more critically. This process led to the honing of higher-order thinking skills (Webb, 1980), deeper reflection and discussions, and better collaboration. It also brought the group members closer together. Further comments included how the framework enhanced efficiency and quality of learning as the inputs from team members were typed out concurrently instead of being offered in a staggered fashion as it usually occurs during a discussion. In addition, students commented on how the discussions challenged them to have a deeper consideration of the course materials. Generally, students who experienced the use of the scaffolding support system in class felt that there was a shift towards a more collaborative and engaging learning climate, the former enabling them to be more focused and participative in class. Furthermore, by being exposed to more diverse viewpoints and analysing others’ answers, students felt that their critical thinking skills were being developed. Table 2.4 in Appendix F reports students’ responses to their experiences on the use of activity support system.

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Table 2.4 Student responses to the use of scaffolding support system Themes

Student responses

Explanation

Engagement

• “ensures that the whole group is able to write down their thoughts” • “allows entire class to bring our discussion further, without stifling our opinions and thoughts” • “it allows you to be constantly aware of what is going on” • “students feel their viewpoints are valued”

Students felt that the class was more engaging as compared to a traditional classroom that only involved participation of some students. It allowed quiet students to type and express themselves. Students felt their opinions being valued, and therefore, they felt more engaged. The activities they participated in also required constant attention from the students, making sure they are more engaged and less distracted

Collaboration

• “makes the whole experience more collaborative” • “brings our group members closer together” • “allows students to collaborate as a team, before coming out with a wellconstructed answer” • “fosters collaboration and discussion, this is because there is a lower resistance when we type out our answers as compared to when we speak up”

Most students commented that there were more opportunities for collaboration in class and it allowed an expansion of the discussion group to more students. There was lower resistance for the less vocal students to type out one’s answer onto mobile electronic devices as compared to speaking up in front of the whole class. This led to more discussion and therefore better collaboration which enhanced the groups’ cohesiveness

Critical thinking

• “allows us…to critically analyze each other’s answers” • “this collaboration, it leads to more critical thinking” • “allows members to think of different ways to tackle the same issues, this allows for higher critical thinking skills” • “by looking at other perspectives, it provides fresh insights into the issue”

Students expressed that the collaboration aspect of learning exposed them to more diverse opinions and developed their critical thinking skills. They also commented that by reviewing works of others, receiving feedback and then improving their own answers while taking into consideration of different perspectives, they are thinking more critically. Furthermore, one student commented on how discussions challenged the materials they were learning and brought learning to a higher level (continued)

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Table 2.4 (continued) Themes

Student responses

Explanation

Specific activity sequences Collaboration activity sequence • “gives us the adequate experience” Jigsaw activity sequence • “this resembles workplace scenario, and I think this is extremely useful and beneficial” Peer review activity sequence • “as a group we might be prone to groupthink, so we might be conforming to the common ideas within our group, by looking at other perspectives, it provides fresh insights into the issue” • “meaningful”

Students felt that activity sequences such as collaboration and jigsaw prepare them for their future work. As more and more discussion and collaboration in workplace now take place online instead of face to face, collaboration activity sequence provides students with a chance to practice communicating through technological devices. Also, for jigsaw activity sequence, many times the discussion within a group would need to be later aligned with the bigger group views. Therefore, students find themselves acquiring “real-life” experiences In particular, many students found peer review activity sequence to be engaging, allowed fresh insights to be gained while avoiding groupthink. One student felt that it was a “meaningful” activity that allowed students to overcome their own uncertainty and shyness to openly debate about other students’ answers. This would facilitate discussions without stifling any student’s own thoughts. The peer review activity sequence also allowed the student to think about answers from another student’s perspective and use that to improve their own answers

Other general comments

The system allows concurrent and simultaneous input from students; hence, discussions are facilitated at a faster speed and presentations can be conducted easily

• “enhancing efficiency of learning”

2.7 Recommendations

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2.7 Recommendations The study performed was timely and vital to respond continuously and embrace changes in line with the rapid evolution in the higher education arena. We could draw out some insightful reflections which are to be advocated for adoption in our learning design, curriculum innovation and delivery approaches. The findings were thoroughly examined and proposed as action-able recommendations as follows: Firstly, the online part must be mindfully designed by understanding the profile of the participants and the socio-cultural aspects, for example, the mixture of ethnic, cultural backgrounds, their learning cultures and so on. This is vital to align and design the contents to be more engaging and how the contents are to be disseminated in the best possible way to others. Explicitly, if you are designing the online contents for non-native English-speaking participants, especially when their first language is not English, then we need to be mindful of how the contents can reach them. For example, the voice-over presentations or animations could have voice text appearing on the screen while the audio is being played. This helps students to read and hear which enables them to understand what is being said with higher clarity. Another vital aspect is to be aware that the examples cited within the illustrations provided need to be global or something which all students can easily relate to; otherwise, students may be confused as there is someone for them to immediately clarify at that time of their learning. Another approach to address this issue would be to clearly inform them to jot down these questions and clarifications and allocate a specific time within the class to address them explicitly. Secondly, the technology-enabled part of online learning needs to be interactive and engaging for students to dedicate their time and enjoy the learning process. Again, a general advice would be to comprehend thoroughly the context and profile of the participants involved to craft the contents more appropriately and emphasize the aspects inline with the learning goals to be attained on the pre-class online learning portion. One vital element in the design of online learning is the engagement between the learners and the contents they acquire. Presenting the complex, theoretical and dry concepts into simpler, easy to understand format makes the students learn effectively. One way is to intervene with a few strategies like (a) adopting animations to design the content delivery and (b) ensuring the voice-over videos created are kept to not more than 5 min. These videos should be creatively presented with visuals supported with succinct yet clear explanations; (c) adopting varying types of interactive quizzes that provide immediate formative feedback for students to reflect and learn. The mini-case scenario type multiple-choice type quizzes were well received by students. This is largely because students can perform a quick self-assessment of their understanding of concepts acquired through a deeper level. In addition to this, a timed quiz is also encouraged where the questions presented here will be designed to have the students work on these questions in a time-pressure context that helps to develop the competency to work under tight timelines; (d) including a reflection journal as

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the final part of the pre-class activity. This acts as a powerful avenue where the key learnings could be captured and evaluated to be given feedback for improvements. Also, the design for this reflection journal for each lesson should be connected through the topics across the semester, where the case study story builds on that which enables the students to appreciate how the scope and context of the same case shape up and intertwine to the varying topics. Thirdly, with the flipped approach, one-third of the total time allocated for the Academic Unit (AU) will be for the online portion and the remaining two-third time will be for the face-to-face class part. The face-to-face class must be designed that entails (a) application of concepts with ample opportunities to have inter- and intra-group interactions with group reviews as well as interactions, sharing of insights at both individual and group levels; (b) debates where the entire class is involved in providing their comments or exchange of perspectives on contemporary issues pertaining the topics. The assessment design for the class participation should emphasize the quality contributions of views, asking challenging yet critical thinking questions and advocating the learning culture to articulate confidently. This learning design will develop their confidence and condition them to think and articulate well in terms of quality contributions. The activities for the flipped classroom should emphasize experiential and active learning, so that students are able to optimize the time on deep learning through real-life cases, experiential and problem-based activities.

2.8 Limitations, Conclusions and Future Reflections The survey results indicated three main areas of improvement for the pre-class online learning. First, many students found it to be lengthy with many concepts to grasp. Second, they preferred to have more interactions with their peers during the online learning. Also, they encountered occasional technical glitches which needed rectification. We find that the first two points echo what Karakas et al. (2015) had suggested as the three key challenges in teaching management today: it is difficult to maintain students’ attention for a long period of time and they desire more collaborative activities. Another possible reason for their feedback might be attributed to their expectations of classroom design. Students may not fully understand that the content dissemination they tend to associate with classroom teaching will now take place outside the classroom, leaving actual classroom time for collaborative and active learning activities. They may be expecting to see traditional pre-class online activities that aim to pique their interest rather than conducting actual teaching. As for the third feedback item, we will work with the development team and ensure less technical glitches occur for future classes. One suggestion to enhance the scaffolding system was to provide colour coding of the inputs typed in; although students felt that it was creative, they suggested using a much lighter colour coding, perhaps in shades of the same colour.

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For future research directions, this study will be conducted with multiple sections to better understand the effectiveness of such a framework with the students as well as with instructors. Also, the research may be conducted to examine whether more collaborative activities during the pre-class online learning may enhance students’ learning experience. Acknowledgements This project was funded by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for the flipped classroom pedagogy transformation and the NTU Educational Excellence Grant for the flipped classroom and/or team-based scaffolding support system. The author extends his gratitude to Ms. Huang, Research Associate, for her administrative assistance. The author would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for providing valuable feedback and guidance.

Appendix A: Post-TEL Survey (Extracted from the post-survey performed by students attending a TEL course) Survey Questions 1. The online learning experience I had for this course is _________________________. a. Very Positive b. Positive c. Somewhat Positive d. Somewhat Negative e. Negative f. Very Negative Please key in any comments you may have for this question in the box below. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. The online learning approach in this course is a/an ___________________ way to learn. a. Very Effective b. Effective c. Somewhat Effective d. Somewhat Ineffective e. Ineffective f. Very Ineffective Please key in any comments you may have for this question in the box below. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

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3. My general thoughts and feelings about the online learning experience I had for this course: ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 4. Online delivery for this course provided a flexible learning environment to help me understand the topics better. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 5. Learning objectives were clearly defined in the online content for this course and I know what I need to achieve. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 6. The instructions given in the online content for this course were clear and I understood what was required of me. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 7. The online content for this course included good examples to illustrate the concepts taught. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree

Appendix A: Post-TEL Survey

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8. The online content for this course provided me learning opportunities to apply what I have learnt, to meet the learning objectives. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 9. There were opportunities for collaboration with fellow students in the online delivery of this course. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 10. The online content for this course provided me opportunities to reflect on the topics and be able to apply them to other contexts appropriately. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 11. The online content for this course was made available for an appropriate length of time. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 12. The forum and/or chat facilities included in the online content for this course were important in providing authentic scenarios for open-ended discussions. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree

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13. Collaborating with fellow students enhanced my learning in the online delivery of this course. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 14. The lecture recordings were clear and loaded smoothly. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 15. I like to see more of this type of course delivery, which has both online and face-to-face learning activities. a. Strongly Agree b. Agree c. Somewhat Agree d. Somewhat Disagree e. Disagree f. Strongly Disagree 16. What I liked most about the online content for this course was: ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 17. What I think could be done to improve the online content for this course: ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

Appendix B: Interview Questions 1. 2.

3.

4.

What are your experiences of using this real-time in-class e-scaffolding support system? How does it explicitly enhance (a) higher levels of collaboration; (b) make you think more critically; (c) better engagement with your peers in your group and others in the class? What are your perspectives of the different activity sequences that this scaffolding support system supports and how do you learn better through the various activity sequences embedded in your group and class discussions? What are your experiences on the flipped classroom embedded with technologyenabled learning design?

Appendix C: LAMS, “doKumaran” Tool, and Active Support System

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Appendix C: LAMS, “doKumaran” Tool, and Active Support System Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) LAMS software is an online system that allows for planning of online digital lessons (“sequences”) using learning activities. LAMS has been an open resource learning design system since February 2005 (LAMS Foundation, 2004). LAMS belongs to the LAMS Foundation, a foundation based in Macquarie University, Australia, as part of the Macquarie E-learning Centre of Excellence. The user-friendliness of LAMS allows professors and course designers to use them without much complexity and hassle. The authoring page for the LAMS comprises several features, for example, “Mindmap”, “doKumaran” tool and “Q&A”, that can be used to create the desired activity sequences. To create an activity sequence from scratch using LAMS, instructors can “drag and drop” the built-in features within LAMS. Then, they use the connecting arrows to organize the relevant features into a learning sequence (Fig. 2.7 presents a sample screenshot of the authoring platform in LAMS). Students may then participate in learning activities embedded within the platform based on how these activities are sequentially designed as planned by the instructors. Alternatively, instructors can also upload a pre-designed activity sequence from an array of activity templates (sequences) into the workspace. These activity sequences have been pre-designed and saved in a publicly accessible open drive. LAMS operates as a standalone system and/or can be integrated with other learning management systems or virtual learning environments such as Moodle and Blackboard. LAMS has been adapted as a platform for designing inquiry-based learning activities (Levy et al., 2009), as an environment for collaborative digital story-telling (Kordaki & Agelidou, 2010) or as an environment for blended learning in secondary education (Rossiou, 2012). Britain (2004) reviewed and reported that LAMS is “the most comprehensive implementation of the concept of learning design available to date”. Early feedback from trials conducted in Australia and the United Kingdom suggested that LAMS enabled many instructors to move their teaching to an online teaching environment due to its highly supportive design for both instructors and students (Philip & Dalziel, 2004).

The “doKumaran” Tool The “doKumaran” tool (dKT) is a new feature and integration tool within the LAMS that allows teachers to create powerful and collaborative learning designs on a “realtime” document (see Fig. 2.8 for a sample screenshot). It allows students to collaborate on single or multiple documents in “real-time”, attaining a learning outcome

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Fig. 2.8 A screenshot of the “doKumaran” tool as part of the functionality feature embedded on the authoring platform of LAMS

while influencing each other’s thoughts. Each contributor’s input will be highlighted in different colours to differentiate the authors (see Fig. 2.9 for a sample screenshot). Activity support system. Five types of activity sequences have been created on the dKT: 1.

Group/Instructor-centric activity sequence. This is the activity sequence where students are able to work within their group for any tasks assigned (see Fig. 2.10, for a sample screenshot and Fig. 2.11 for the process flow of the group/instructorcentric activity sequence). The activity sequence will be as follows:

Fig. 2.9 A screenshot of capturing concurrent contributions highlighted in different colours for each contributor

Appendix C: LAMS, “doKumaran” Tool, and Active Support System Fig. 2.10 Screenshot of a group/instructor-centric activity sequence

Fig. 2.11 Process flow of the group/instructor-centric activity sequence

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Fig. 2.12 Screenshot of a peer review

a. b. c. d. 2.

Peer review activity sequence. With this activity sequence, students can work in their group first and their completed work would be viewed by another group for critical feedback. When the group being reviewed receives the comments and critiques, they may reflect on and edit their work accordingly (see Fig. 2.12 for a sample screenshot and Fig. 2.13 for the process flow of the peer review activity sequence). The activity sequence will be as follows: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

3.

Group formation Selection of group leader and scribe Group works together to answer question(s) based on a case study Instructor reviews the work done in the activity with the class.

Group formation Selection of group leader and scribe Group works together to answer questions based on a case study Instructor selects which group’s work is to be evaluated by which group Group’s work sent to the selected reviewing group for evaluation Evaluation of the other group’s answer, with justifications. When all the groups in the class have completed their evaluations, all groups return to review the evaluations given As a group, assess the evaluation and incorporate or reject the suggestions, giving justifications for both Instructor reviews the work done in the activity with the class.

Collaboration activity sequence. This activity sequence allows different groups in a class to work together concurrently. For example, two groups can work on one document together at one time. Students will therefore be exposed to teamwork with bigger teams using this activity sequence (see Fig. 2.14 for a sample screenshot and Fig. 2.15 for the process flow of the collaboration activity sequence). The activity sequence is as follows: a. b. c. d. e.

Group formation Selection of group leader and scribe Selection of topic to cover Collaboration with another group to answer question(s) based on a case study Instructor reviews the work done in the activity with the class.

Appendix C: LAMS, “doKumaran” Tool, and Active Support System

Fig. 2.13 Process flow of the peer review activity sequence

Fig. 2.14 A screenshot of a collaboration activity sequence

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Fig. 2.15 Process flow of the collaboration activity sequence

4.

Jigsaw activity sequence. When simulating tasks that can be broken down into stages, such as planning processes or employment cycles, this activity sequence allows different groups in the class to each take on a different stage of the task. After each group has worked on their assigned stage of the task, the class can work together on the whole task together. This would enable students to see the big picture, particularly the links and connectivity between each stage of the task. Thereafter, each group can critically reflect on the overall flow of the stages in order to fine-tune their work (see Fig. 2.16 for a sample screenshot and Fig. 2.17 for the process flow of the Jigsaw activity sequence). The activity sequence is as follows: a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

Group formation Selection of group leader(s) Instructor assigns groups to each of the parts of the question Each group will answer the assigned parts of the question, based on a case study Instructor reviews the answers from the class Using the instructor’s feedback, work with the other groups to create a coherent answer connecting all parts of the question Instructor reviews the work done by the class.

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Fig. 2.16 Screenshot of a jigsaw activity sequence

5.

Unstructured activity sequence. This activity sequence allows the class to be grouped differently. For example, the entire class may be split up into two teams, with more than one group of students in one team. With more members in one team, the team dynamics would be more diverse (see Fig. 2.18 for a sample screenshot and Fig. 2.19 for the process flow of the unstructured activity sequence). The activity sequence is as follows: a. b. c. d.

Group formation Selection of group leader and scribe The class works together in groups to answer question(s) based on a case study Instructor reviews the work done in the activity with the class.

Appendix E furnishes a URL link which includes video trailers on the five activity sequences of the scaffolding support system, including a value proposition of the “doKumaran” tool and the technical description on the functionality of “doKumaran” tool.

Appendix D: Video Trailer for Flipped Classroom The video trailer for Flipped Classroom embedded with technology-enabled learning could be viewed via the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TIJrhlpFYc.

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Fig. 2.17 Process flow of the jigsaw activity sequence

Fig. 2.18 Sequence in LAMS for unstructured activity sequence

Appendix E: The Process Flows of the 5 Activity Sequences

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Fig. 2.19 Process flow of the unstructured activity sequence

Appendix E: The Process Flows of the 5 Activity Sequences The process flows of the 5 activity sequences, namely (1) group-/instructor-centric; (2) peer review; (3) collaboration; (4) jigsaw; and (5) unstructured activity sequence, can be viewed in the video trailers in the furnished link: • dKT Learning Blog Site: https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/learning-innovations/dokuma ran/ • Research Lab for Learning Innovation and Culture of Learning: https://learningintervention.wixsite.com/researchlab/dk.

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Appendix F: Student Responses to the Use of the Scaffolding Learning Support System See Table 2.4.

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Chapter 3

Learning Interventions: Collaborative Learning, Critical Thinking and Assessing Participation Real-Time

Abstract This chapter focuses on the authentic learning interventions for teambased and flipped classroom collaborative learning that assesses real-time class participation which develops competency and employability skills set. The discussions address the process in achieving the intended learning outcomes with the adoption of these learning interventions. It provides evidence-based results in terms of how these learning interventions facilitate effective learning in terms of higher-order critical thinking (refers to the process of thinking is made intensive through scaffolding approach that potentially enables learners to question and reflect deeply), deeper engagement amongst students (refers to the ability for students to be motivated and their involvement through listening and/or participation is much more spontaneous) and higher level of collaboration at inter- and intra-group levels (refers to much more interactivity, team-based involvement in engaging within the team members and/or across members of another group). Collaborative learning is generally defined as a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together (Dillenbourg in Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches 1:1–15, 1999), whereas in a cooperative learning context, individuals work together to optimize, maximize their own and each other’s learning to attain shared goals. Largely, there are three categories of cooperative learning namely informal cooperative learning groups, formal cooperative learning groups and cooperative base groups. In our context, informal cooperative learning was focused on. In accordance with research scholars (Johnson et al. in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 30(4):26–35, 1998a; Johnson et al. in Cooperation in the classroom, Interaction Book Company, Edina, MN, 1998b), informal cooperative learning entails students working together to achieve common learning goal in temporary, ad-hoc groups that last from a few minutes to one class period. In a meta-analysis performed by Johnson et al. (Johnson et al. in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 30(4):26–35, 1998a), studies since 1924 were reviewed and it was found that when students learn together, academic achievement is enhanced. Moreover, students were found to have higher self-esteem and better quality of relationships (Johnson et al. in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 30(4):26–35, 1998a). The functionalities offered within the learning interventions and support systems fundamentally promote collaboration. Student engagement is correlated with participation in public service, self-reported learning gains, increased student achievement (Carini et al. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Rajaram, Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0_3

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in Research in Higher Education 47:1–32, 2006) and job engagement (Busteed & Seymour in Gallup Business Journal 19, 2015). The goal of the learning interventions is to maximize student engagement in meaningful learning activities within classroom settings. When students engage in more meaningful learning activities, they are actively learning. DeLozier and Rhodes (DeLozier & Rhodes in Educational Psychology Review 29:141–151, 2017) believed that it is the active learning in class that is responsible for the enhancement in learning performances. The use of learning interventions also increases the number of students participating in meaningful learning activities through providing the quieter students in class an alternative avenue of input other than speaking up in front of the class. Cain and Klein (Independent School 75(1):64–71, 2015) found in their study that quiet students indeed feel more comfortable sharing their ideas online. Moreover, shy and quiet students contribute more through synchronous online discussion than in regular classroom discussion (Warschauer in CALICO Journal, 7–26, 2015). Lastly, with the synchronous online discussion feature of the activity support system and the organized class activity sequences, it is expected that there will be a reduction in time used for transitions between activities, introductions to activities, and disruptions within activities. Both collaborative learning, through “discussion, clarification of ideas, and evaluation of others’ ideas” (Gokhale in Journal of Technology Education 7:22–30, 1995), and high student engagement (Carini et al. in Research in Higher Education 47:1–32, 2006) enhance the development of critical thinking. It was also argued that critical thinking can be learnt through every interaction (MacKnight in Educause Quarterly 23:38–41, 2000) provided the interaction is supported with specific critical thinking activities (Astleitner in Journal of Instructional Psychology 29:53, 2002; Kim in Interactive Learning Environments 22:467–484, 2014; WeltzerWard & Carmona in International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning 3:86–88, 2008). Therefore, our learning interventions and supports systems, which enhances students’ engagement and collaborative learning, would also lead to a desirable development of students’ critical thinking ability. The chapter will also describe the varying functionalities and the process of how the learning interventions enable the intended learning outcomes to be achieved. This chapter also furnishes the relevant video and training resources that are developed for the learning interventions. The findings from the surveys and interviews serve as evidence based to validate the discussions that emerge from the analysis.

Research Study 1 Learning Intervention: Developing Soft Skills Competencies

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3.1 Abstract—Study 1 The study investigates the impact of a learning invention, based on its learning design effectiveness in developing soft skills, explicitly via (a) comparative analysis of students’ performance with and without the adoption of the learning intervention; (b) self-reports of students’ experiences on their perceived learning effectiveness through focus groups and survey. This learning intervention was designed and developed based on the learning gaps, to improve the learning process and learning outcomes, in terms of (a) engaging students; (b) scaffolding the learning process; (c) facilitating an objective, fair and accurate assessment; and (d) enhancing cognitive and critical thinking competencies; and (e) facilitating deep reflection. A survey was conducted for n = 212 students over 11 seminar classes to understand the overall perspectives on the perceived effectiveness of the learning intervention. 31 randomly selected students were interviewed via a focus group. The use of consensual qualitative research approach allows the data to be qualitatively analysed. The findings indicate inclination of students towards (a) having positive experiences; (b) having increased participation rate; (c) enhancing critical thinking; (d) facilitating an objective and accurate assessment; and (e) enabling higher motivation to listen to others’ contribution. This study offers an evidence-based approach in developing soft skills competencies for students. The creation of the learning intervention and its findings will provide higher education institutions, especially in Asia to understand how to increase the social and soft skills competencies in a contents-driven class by incorporating a real-time assessment and learning intervention. This addresses the unsolved “gap” for many decades by offering an evidence-based grounded solution for monitoring and assessing real-time class contributions and collaborative learning. The quality of soft skills competency training is enhanced by (a) enabling learners to be highly engaged; (b) speak up with ease and more spontaneity during class discussion; and (c) facilitating a scaffolded learning process that enhances critical thinking.

3.2 Introduction Teaching soft skills in class may lead to an unnecessary sacrifice of content teaching (Anthony & Garner, 2016). Many programmes may not have the flexibility to include relevant soft skills teaching activities into their already heavy course loads (Bedwell et al., 2014). Anthony and Garner (2016) advocates that there are also varying concerns, for example, it is challenging to measure and record the learning outcomes of teaching students on soft skills. Universities are increasingly expected to produce employable graduates who possess capabilities that enable them to work effectively with other people in teams. These capabilities have been variously referred to as employability or generic skills (Bridgstock, 2009; Fallows & Stevens, 2000). They are generally assumed to include written and verbal communication, information

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literacy, working with technology and teamwork. However, it is challenging for educators to determine exactly what the market needs are, assess students’ capabilities and customize the curriculum to help them to achieve their career aspirations. Our learning intervention design intends to provide students an opportunity to reflect on immediate formative assessment, act as a mentor to direct them on how to improve the specific aspects and serve as a continuous reflective system to monitor their progress. The peer evaluation is based on team member effectiveness (Ohland et al., 2012) and teamwork quality (Hoegl & Geneuden, 2001), which in our case, we have explicitly identified an array of possible competencies which could be measured within an activity-based learning classroom environment. Primary questions that we reflected deeply and carefully before designing the soft skills learning intervention namely are: (1) To what extent is it possible to embed the teaching of soft skills, such as teamwork, communication and interpersonal skills, within an academic curriculum? (2) What kind of learning design can be best adopted to facilitate the assessment of soft skills? Apart from instructor assessment, is peer evaluation valuable to be included? (3) What kind of experiences can we offer students both in classroom and through a rigorous learning design to facilitate the development of soft skills? Previous research has shown that social-psychological interventions can be used to improve outcomes like higher course completion of at-risk students (Yeager & Dweck, 2011; Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009), self-control (Logel & Cohen, 2012) and marriage satisfaction (Finkel et al., 2013). At their core, social-psychological interventions rely on identifying and provoke individuals to address potential cognitive blocks that may inhibit positive learning behaviours. The interventions force people to engage in effortful cognitive activities that address the blocks and give preference to alternative ways of thinking (Walton, 2014). For instance, to improve student retention amongst freshmen at a large university. Yeager and Walton (2011) identified that at-risk students who agreed with statements like “People are born with a certain amount of intelligence and not much can be done to improve it” were more likely to leave the university before completing their degrees than students who disagreed with such statements. In a randomized control experiment, researchers found that asking students to review material explaining how the brain is “like a muscle” that grows new neural pathways in response to effortful learning and subsequently writing a letter to a future student that summarized the material significantly improved the students’ chances of completing their degrees when compared to students who received material explaining various functions of the brain (Aronson et al., 2002). Similarly, in our case as a form of social-psychological intervention, by making students perform peer, group review feedback on evaluating their group members and/or leader and self-critical review on their own answers by having them justified, will enable them to reflect on the explicit behaviours which are specifically classified as soft skills competencies that facilitate the growth of new neural pathways by growing through this scaffolding exercise. Social-psychological interventions provoke individuals to address potential cognitive blocks that may inhibit positive learning behaviours. Prior research has found this class of interventions to be effective tools for redressing negative mindsets like fixed views of intelligence and learned helplessness. Our research is significant for two

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reasons, (1) it attempts to prime students for the development of a non-content-based skill with various types of real-time verbal questioning, polling and peer, group review learning activities; (2) it introduces methods of analysing competencies to be developed while leading a group or as a group member to deliver the learning outcomes of an activity assigned, besides addressing the answers to the activity. This study provides a starting point for future research in comprehending the impact and measurement of learning outcomes focusing on student engagement, soft skills development, scaffolding learning process, real-time assessment and formative feedback. This addresses the unsolved “gap” for many decades of having an objective and rigorous system leveraging on data analytics for measuring and monitoring realtime class contributions and collaborative learning in developing soft skills competencies. The quality of soft skills development is validated, for example, through the ability and confidence of students in speaking up on an ad hoc basis, facilitating better questioning techniques and through deeper thinking. The study offers practical in-class solutions for faculty who are searching for rigorous learning design interventions that monitor and assess class participation individually and through group settings focusing on collaborative and engaging class discussions.

3.3 Theoretical Background 3.3.1 Critical Thinking Critical thinking can be defined as the higher order cognitively organized and guided process of competently and actively conceptualizing, evaluating, applying and synthesizing information collated from or generated by experience, observation, reflection, reasoning and/or communication. Critical thinking in learning is a common goal in designing courses across disciplines. The development of critical thinking skills for students is a primary goal of higher education. To teach and assess thinking competencies is a challenge. We could generally agree that university graduates should have the ability to think effectively in varying contexts, especially in a multi-cultural context in a rapidly evolving global environment. Business schools are more concerned of their graduates’ thinking skills, partly because of the demands and needs expressed by the varying stakeholders. It is crucial to have the learning process developed where the learning goes beyond the intended learning outcomes. As debated by Erikson and Erikson (2018), life-long interest in new knowledge is spurred by critical thinking. We need to acknowledge that. Only skills and dispositions to think critically in a particular context can be assessed, however not the extent to which students will become life-long learners. The question is to ask how better we would design or use effective learning interventions to achieve learning outcomes through a structured yet flexible ecosystem that enables adequate autonomy for teachers to facilitate the learning process. The proposed learning intervention addresses this potential issue of ensuring the scaffolded design

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that has been embedded within the learning platform to address learning to occur beyond the intended outcomes. One of the key pedagogical trust will be leveraging on the active learning as re-iterated by Farmer et al. (2013) who emphasizes that active learning and complex evaluation will boost students’ critical thinking. The proposed learning intervention has designed a scaffolded system that addresses the role of thinking relevant knowledge and the need to have students integrate and apply their thinking skills in practical situations. Metacognitive regulation comprises of two aspects, namely a critical thinking rubric as criterion and evidence of the problem-solving process (Yasushi, 2016). The features of group review entail the critical thinking rubrics as part of the intra-group peer review as well as reviewed by instructor on their performance. This happens real-time in class that enables students to be going through a process to attain the aspects of critical thinking. The critical reflection, polling and class participation features do involve the problem-solving aspects in its own unique contexts. To develop critical thinking, smaller classes are in favour compared to larger classes as research shows that the small sized classes assist to facilitate more personalized educational opportunities for the students, which enables them to focus on developing higher-order skills (Roohr et al., 2019). Smaller classes might be easier to stimulate students’ active learning and integrate it with complex evaluation, where this will enhance students’ critical thinking skills (Farmer et al., 2013). Moreover, it is a challenge to expect high quality of effectiveness in terms of equipping such complex skills if there isn’t a standardized guided and scaffolded system to address the primary issues of (1) managing a large class which is usually the norm and (2) with many instructors teaching a large cohort of students. To address this challenge, the proposed learning intervention has adopted design thinking to understand the specific learning gaps and/or limitations. In its design, it supports the instructor on the process of task structuring, modelling the learning process to eventually attain the skills and assessment aspects which serves as a set of skills development evaluative mechanism. Basically to enhance critical thinking, our research observations highlight on three primary areas that need to be focused through the design of the pedagogical intervention, namely (1) having a broader view of effective thinking; (2) ability to respond to unprepared and challenging open-ended questions; and (3) an assessment to evaluate the developmental growth and serve as a formative feedback channel. Business students are supposed to be trained to think critically in managerial decision-making courses. However, it is more technical skills rather than applicable soft skills competencies. Skills such as critical thinking are to be developed and reiterated over a prolonged period so that the level of its impact in the growth of such skills and competencies are of high quality. For that to happen, a carefully thought through learning process scaffolded interventions must be designed to support the teachers in the class to potentially equip students with such competencies.

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3.3.2 Assessment Assessment is broadly defined as the process of collecting and interpreting information that can be used to inform students and make various educational decisions (Rogers, 1993). In assessing group work, beyond the teacher’s sole role of performing the evaluation, having the intra-peer group assessment included enables a more holistic assessment. For the assessment to be valid and rigorous, it needs to outline clearly on what are the learning outcomes to be achieved (Sally, 2005). The key objectives of groupwork peer evaluation require an accurate and fair assessment, avenues for experiential learning and group self-management. The promise of groupwork as a teaching and learning method can only be fully realized if perennial problems such as accurate and fair assessment of individual group-member performance, intragroup conflict and free riding are successfully tackled (Fellenz, 2006). These concerns were rightfully addressed in the design of our learning intervention, explicitly in the group review functionality where there is an objective assessment that enables evaluation both at an individual as well as at an inter- and intra-group level. As every group member’s involvement is being assessed, where it puts the accountability on individual student’s performance, eliminating free riding issues. Despite students being well motivated in learning, some assessment efforts may not have positive effects on the students’ way of thinking (Smith, 2014). The outcomes of assessment will have minimal effect if the results are not used to inform and improve instructions. Students’ critical and cognitive thinking skills can be developed through well-designed in-class real-time assessments, thereby enabling business schools to graduate students who can think effectively. Assessments should be tied to the expected learning outcomes for the programme and they should be grounded in theory. Effective thinking can be interpreted as the product of underlying intellectual ability or intelligence, whereas educational attempts to develop intelligence engage students in relatively abstract tasks that are assumed to exercise basic mental capacities (Smith, 2014).

3.3.3 Class Participation Student participation is defined as learners being engaged, active in the classroom and having a feeling of belonging to a community (Bovill & Bulley, 2011; CookSather et al., 2014; Masika & Jones, 2016; Zepke, 2015). Learners’ engagement and active participation has an elective affinity with neo-liberal trends, while still being a vital element in quality measurements (Bergmark & Westman, 2018). In accordance with research scholars (Carey, 2013; Zepke, 2015, 2018), the above-stated inclinations can be connected to successful student achievements, individualization, competition, marketization and performance. On the flip side, the democratic values of student participation in higher education may run the risk of being marginalized (Bergmark & Westman, 2016; Zepke, 2015). In the literature, there have been calls for

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more studies in higher education, exploring student participation based on students’ experiences (MsLeod, 2011; Seale, 2010), explicitly related to learners’ participation and engagement in education (Zepke, 2015) and also on processes where attitudes and the experiences involved (Lizzio & Wilson, 2009). Students’ learning happens through varying forms. Class participation as a learning pedagogy enables students to speak up, express themselves, ask questions in class, by facilitating through an open and easy platform that lessens communication barrier. This mode of instruction allows students to learn to express their opinions and to exchange perspectives with others. Moreover, class participation serves as an interactive and reflective platform to engage both the instructors and peers to discuss the topics covered at a much greater depth. Students who actively participate in class discussions tend to retain more information with satisfaction, compared to students who are assigned to learn through lectures (Mckeachie, 1994; Serva & Fuller, 2004; Mainkar, 2007). For almost two decades, education institutions have increased the students’ participation through several methods: active learning (Elise et al., 2006), electronic response system (Latham & Hill, 2014), case analysis (Desiraju & Gopinath, 2001) and virtual learning environment (Hwang & Fransesco, 2010). Active learning is adopted as a learning strategy to improve engagement of students through class participation and discussion. Instructional developers suggest that compared to the traditional lecture approach, discussion elicits higher level of reflective thinking and problem-solving that includes application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and that information learned through discussion is generally retained better than information learned through one-way teaching delivery, for example, through lecture-style approach (Elise et al., 2006). We need to acknowledge that there are varying types of students, where some are ready to express their opinions, others who may not be comfortable being engaged through class discussion. At times, cold call may be necessary to engage inactive and non-participative students, which may lead to a much lower quality learning experience (Elise et al., 2006). The teacher should be addressing the students by their names when they volunteer, provide affirmative reinforcement when they contribute, providing adequate time to answer a question and call on students via an ad hoc manner so that discussion is not dominated by a handful of students (Mainkar, 2007). Furthermore, class discussion increases students’ critical thinking skills where the learned knowledge is better retained than the information delivered through traditional lecture style. However, it could be a challenge in having the class discussion facilitated effectively, especially in large sized classes to achieve the intended learning outcomes and higher-order cognitive thinking. It is equally imperative to have an unbiased and objective real-time assessment forming a more holistic evaluation, for example, including peer evaluation ratings as part of the process. The traditional approach of just cold calling may not be adequate to fulfil the more complex yet essential learning process to happen effectively real-time in class.

3.3 Theoretical Background

3.3.3.1

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Instructor-Centric Grading or Multi-Level Grading?

The class discussion and participative assessment learning design should focus on a multi-level assessment to ensure there is a more holistic evaluation. Majority of class participation evaluation schemes tend to be inclined towards instructor driven. The research studies by scholars (Falchikov & Boud, 1989; Melvin, 1998; Melvin & Lord, 1995; Gopinath, 1999) reported that the correlations between instructor and peer scores are higher than those between instructor and self-assessed scores. We should work towards developing a multiple-rater system to achieve a more holistic assessment system. Hence, by having every student input their ratings in the process of their learning as part of peer-assessment transform the single-rater instructor-based system into a multiple-rater system. The adoption of peer inputs for class participation should not be viewed as a surprise to students because peer evaluations are adopted in other aspects such as grading project work, class work, term papers and even selecting candidates for student awards (Ghorpade & Lackritz, 2001). There is no concrete evidence to show that class participation-discussion peer evaluation ratings are negatively affected by likeability and/or popularity amongst peers, ethnicity or other possible factors. Indeed, in a contrary, evidence indicates that peer ratings of class presentations can be unbiased. Examples to validate these claims could be related to studies by Sherrard, Raafat, and Weaver (2010) where results show that demographic variables do not bias the peer evaluation process and Ghorpade and Lackritz (2001) where there is no tendency on the part of students to favour students from their own groups, i.e. gender and ethnicity. Hence, this evidence-based understanding has been well incorporated in the design of the proposed learning intervention as it incorporates both instructor and peer evaluative ratings.

3.4 Concept and Features of the Framework We adopted the conceptual direction advocated by the digital transformation strategy framework presented in Fig. 3.1 to empathize with the frustrations and “gaps” to be addressed, understand the explicit learning needs that are required to be identified before designing the learning intervention. We applied the three primary pillars from the framework, namely pedagogy, social engineering and learning culture & culture of learning to design our learning intervention. The first question is to understand clearly the type of pedagogy that we wanted to adopt to have our students’ learning to happen. In our case, it was flipped classroom as our focus is to have higher level of interactivity, active learning, class discussion-participation, higher-order critical thinking and cognitive reflections as the outcomes in the learning process advocated. Next, we examined the learning culture of our students’ profile and culture of learning that is currently advocated by our institution and what type of learning climate are they exposed to all this while. By doing so, we were able to comprehend the deep-rooted learning cultural values, norms and beliefs that allow us to take those important aspects in our learning design

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Fig. 3.1 Learning transformation framework (Adapted from © Research Lab for Learning Innovation and Culture of Learning, Rajaram, K. [2020])

consideration. It is also vital to be aware of the profile, aptitude and motivational level of the students to know what level of guided structure, scaffolded design is to be adopted. The next part is to have a grounded understanding on the social engineering aspects, for example, what are the humanizing elements that could be incorporated within the design, for example, gamification features that invoke positive cognitive emotions, visual connections and so on. Hence, having a thorough understanding of all these aspects enabled us to drive the transformation, in our case to design and develop the learning intervention that addresses the evolving students’ learning needs, the rapidly changing learning climate and capacity in acquiring the higher-order cognitive intellectual knowledge.

3.5 Research Questions With all the pieces in place to develop a learning intervention capable of developing soft skills, we devised three research questions that addressed the efficacy of design of the learning intervention and users’ experiences specifically. Research Question 1: What are students’ experiences in using the real-time learning intervention? Research Question 2: Does the learning intervention impacts your learning process? How does it help in terms of (a) class participation, (b) critical thinking, (c) engagement? Research Question 3: What is the effect in having this learning intervention embedded in the learning design in terms of (a) comprehension of contents,

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(b) application of contents, (c) confident in expressing thoughts, (d) ability to effectively integrate and exchange thoughts?

3.6 Methods 3.6.1 Settings We began the project by running a pilot of the learning activities within the context of a course titled “Management Principles, Skills and Competencies”. It is a capstone course in a leading Business School in Asia, 400 to 450 students take the course each semester. Enrolment is divided across 11 sections/classes by a team of instructors and overseen by a single course coordinator. Each session meets once a week for three hours, with one hour catered for pre-course online learning. We worked with the course coordinator to run a pilot of the newly designed learning support intervention across all the sections of the course.

3.6.2 Phase 1 of Study A post-course survey (n = 212) was conducted to find out whether students responded positively to the pre-class online learning system, reflected in an increase in selfreported levels of student participation, objective assessment and critical thinking. The survey questions appear in Appendix A. All students taking the eleven sections/classes were informed of the survey and could choose to participate or withdraw from it. Students who chose to withdraw would still be able to complete the course activities as part of normal education practice with no impact on their grades. Students who agreed to participate had to complete the survey at the end of the class, and members of the research team gathered and analysed the data, as well as coded the survey results. Around twenty-seven students across the eleven sections/classes were randomly selected amongst those who volunteer to participate and were interviewed to find out their experiences of the learning intervention support system adopted real-time in class. The interview questions appear in Appendix B.

3.6.3 Phase 2 of Study As an independent measure, the research team analysed students’ performance by comparing their performance before and after the implementation of the learning intervention. For the pre-implementation (n = 382) and after implementation (n = 386), the reports were evaluated using an assessment rubric with the following

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criteria, namely (a) comprehension of contents; (b) application of contents; (c) confident in expressing thoughts; and (d) ability to effectively integrate and exchange thoughts.

3.7 Results and Discussion 3.7.1 Phase 1 of Study—Survey 3.7.1.1

Overall Students’ Experience

Overall, 76% of the students rated their experience as positive with the learning intervention as ranging from “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” or “Somewhat Agree”, whereas 24% of the students indicated that they “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree” (see Fig. 3.2). The majority of the 24% are found to be mostly from the same cluster of lower scoring students who are not performing in terms of contributions and sharing in class. We dive deeper and found that this could be largely because with an objective assessment system, they would be even in a disadvantage situation as they could be easily picked up with the learning analytics. Hence, this puts them to be in a much discomfort and not so motivated to embrace such engaging learning intervention. 72% of the students rated encouragement to students’ participation as affirmative with the learning intervention as ranging from “Very Effective” (Strongly Agree) or “Effective” (Agree) or “Somewhat Effective” (Somewhat Agree) (see Fig. 3.2). When asked to provide their qualitative responses to the statement “what are your thoughts in terms of the impact of class participation through the adoption of the learning intervention?”, students responded that the support system has enhanced and facilitated their learning process. Some of the responses included: “It makes class participation less intimidating than having to raise your hand in real life”; “Allow students who are quieter a chance to speak”; and “There is a confirmation that my participation is acknowledged”. A large majority of 73.23% responded that the learning process design embedded within learning intervention motivates students to listen to others’ contributions. Students indicated the quality answers that emerged through their peers itself makes them want to listen. Whereas previously this is not the case, as majority of times

Fig. 3.2 Survey results of students’ self-reports on their experiences using the learning intervention

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students are not even motivated to answer, which effects the quality of answers producing much inferior quality as students largely do not have the urge to put in that much efforts as they are not being assessed. However, the minority who are highly self-motivated learners may still provide good answers despite the absence of real-time assessments as their end goal is driven by the spirit of learning and not merely because they are assessed. Next, the impact from the design of this learning intervention could be closely related to the effect it has on the enhancement of critical thinking skills for the students. The challenge is to design a learning process that enables students to go through in a scaffolded manner where their skills on critical thinking will be nurtured. With the adoption of this learning intervention, a large majority of 65.65%, where their responses ranges from “strongly agree”, “agree” to “somewhat agree” mentioned that the learning process design enhances their critical thinking skills. This is possible largely due to the guided learning design and the real-time assessment that is incorporated within the system. At the end of every stage of the design, there is an element of competency for students to acquire, for example, the courage to speak up, articulate logical answers, pose ad hoc and relevant questions and so on. All these do not happen spontaneously, rather there must be a carefully thought through process that should be involved. Furthermore, when asked to provide their qualitative responses to the statement “..can you explain how the use of the learning intervention has enhanced your critical thinking skills”, students generally responded positively that the support system has increased their level of critical thinking largely giving credit to how the design and the flow of the learning process assists in achieving it. Some of the responses included: “Allows you to think on the spot even for a question, topic you are not so clear about”; “By attentively listening to my classmates’ contributions, I began to carefully analyse my thoughts and perspectives”. 62% of the students rated as the learning intervention being supportive in achieving a fair assessment of students’ participation. This was a vital aspect or “gap” that is addressed of not able to provide objective, transparent and fair real-time assessment for class contributions and participation. Students largely reported that the system can provide a much fairer, objective and accurate assessment. Some of the responses included: “It is effective in the measurement of contributions and help reduce selectivity”; it provides a fair assessment; “It is a fair and objective method”.

3.7.2 Phase 1 of Study—Focus Group A focus group interview was conducted with twenty-seven students across eleven sections/classes who were randomly selected from those who volunteered to participate. Three primary themes emerge from our engagement with these students, namely (1) engagement; (2) critical thinking and (3) fair, objective and accurate assessment. Under the theme of engagement, students reported that the design of the learning intervention encourages class participation and quality contributions. They felt the quality class participation largely unfolds based on two driving forces, namely

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because there is an immediate assessment that rewards the effort of participation and the quality discussion that emerges as all students think through the answers deeper before they respond. Students also gave their responses that incline towards the ability to engage them in learning. Here, students felt this learning intervention does not come across as another one of the learning tools, rather an intervention that has incorporated well thought through design taking into the social engineering and learning cultural aspects into due consideration. Students also reported that it improves the engagement part in terms of learning and motivates them in wanting to participate, where we found that a few common responses were (a) the gamification element involved in the design of this learning intervention where it invokes positive emotions and excitement while learning occurs; (b) the social aspect of being psychologically and visually connected collectively as a class that makes them more involved; (c) the transparency of being assessed and acknowledged emerges as another pull factor. The students also highlighted they are engaged as the learning process involves discussion, sharing and listening to peers’ perspectives. Interestingly, two students reported that it does make them engage as it creates expectations to participate and contribute. However, they candidly indicated that it does make them uncomfortable and was not in their preference initially but the positive effect on the learning outcomes eventually make them change the perception and shift their mindset to accept learning to occur through the intervention. Next under the theme of critical thinking, students emphasized that the learning process through the learning intervention assists to enhance students’ critical thinking skills. Students reported that the design of the learning intervention allows deeper thinking where the real-time assessment itself makes them think through their answer more deeply and answer the question critically. There is a component called critical reflection that requires the students to answer not only challenging question real-time but to justify why they chose the answer. This process allows the students to think, rationale and reflect on their answers deeper. Students also reported that it increases competitiveness in a healthy and positive manner that eventually enables them to do better in terms of quality. They also mentioned that due to how the class participation is being facilitated, it makes them to think fast yet provide good, logical answers or responses. Under the final theme of assessment, students advocated that the design of the learning intervention provides a fair, objective and accurate assessment. Primarily, a healthy competitive learning environment is created for knowledge exchange and intellectual sharing and the reason sited was the presence of the real-time assessment. Students mentioned that learning was facilitated in an objective manner through the scaffolded design. Students feel heard, appreciated and recognized for participating (Table 3.1).

3.7.3 Phase 2 of Study We performed a comparative analysis of students’ performance on their class participation and active learning assessment criteria, comparing the results of those who

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Table 3.1 Qualitative indicators of learning effectiveness with adoption of the learning intervention Qualitative indicators of perceived learning effectiveness with adoption of KˆmAlive Engagement

Critical thinking

Fair, objective and accurate assessment

– Encourages class participation and quality contribution – Engage students on the use of technology in learning – Enhance engagement in learning – Motivates in wanting to participate – Create expectations to participate and contribute – Increases sharing and listening to others’ perspectives – Facilitates discussion

– Allows deeper thinking – Increases competitiveness – Enables to think fast

– Facilitates a healthy competitive environment – Fairer assessment of individual class contribution and participation – Feel heard, appreciated and recognized for participating – Facilitates learning in an objective manner

have not gone through the learning intervention versus those who have done so. We focused on four explicit elements of measurement that we felt is imperative to measure based on the literature discussion on class participation, namely (a) comprehension of contents; (b) application of contents; (c) confident in expressing the thoughts; and (d) ability to effectively integrate and exchange thought. The element “comprehension of contents” refers to how well the students can understand what have been taught. Explicitly, in our context, it refers to the understanding and interpretation of what and how the contents are being provided to be read and digested. To be able to accurately understand the contents delivered, the contents must be delivered in the most effective manner through a process where it facilitates students’ understanding. Two explicit aspects entail the element of comprehension in our context, namely (a) effectiveness of the content communicated; (b) the process involved in comprehending the contents. Next, the element “application of contents” refers to how well the students are able to apply from the contents taught. Two explicit aspects entail this element, basically (a) the level of depth and quality in applying the contents; (b) the process involved in the application of contents. The third element “confident in expressing thoughts” refers to how well students are able to articulate their thoughts. Two specific aspects entail the element “confident in expressing thoughts”, namely (a) the ability to seamlessly articulate; (b) the process involved in facilitating the expression of thoughts. Finally, the element “ability to effectively integrate and exchange thoughts” refers to the ability of students to engage in interand intra-group, class discussions and to effectively contribute by adding-on to the ongoing discussions and challenging the status quo. We carried out a longitudinal study where we use the time duration as a control variable for the condition of “after the adoption of learning intervention”. We carried out three different sets of time durations to experiment the outcome effect, namely

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Table 3.2 Comparative analysis of students’ performance before and after the adoption of learning intervention over a 5 weeks phase Prior to the adoption of learning intervention (n= 381)

After the adoption of learning intervention (n= 386) (over a 5 weeks phase)

Mean Score (Total rating score = 3) Assessment criteria Comprehension of contents

2.34

2.51

Application of contents

2.28

2.39

Confident in expressing thoughts

2.31

2.47

Ability to effectively integrate and 2.12 exchange thoughts

2.37

Average

2.43

2.26

(a) over a 5 weeks phase; and (b) over a 11 weeks phase. The rationale is to see if the prolonged phase of intervention does impact students’ performance on the four specific elements that we intend to measure. Table 3.2 presents the findings of the analysis of prior and after adoption of learning intervention over a 5 weeks phase as a mediating variable over the first semester. From the results, it is evident that the approach made a positive impact as there was an improvement in the mean scores across all four-assessment criteria for the control group prior and after implementation of the learning intervention. For the assessment criteria “comprehension of contents”, “confident in expressing thoughts” and “ability to effectively integrate and exchange thoughts”, there was a significant positive improvement in the range of 16–25%. As for the assessment criterion “application of contents”, there was a satisfactory positive improvement of 11%. From the results, we were very encouraged to see that the intervention has shown significant impact, especially in the ability to have students involved in the process of exchange and integration of thoughts. There was also a 17% overall positive impact which reaffirmed and validated the adoption of learning intervention. From this pilot and explorative study, we could deduce that there is a positive trajectory that enabled students to comprehend, apply, articulate and integrate their learned contents in a much effective manner that has enabled them to achieve higher average scores. As the second phase of study, in another semester, we introduced the intervention for a much longer period of 11 weeks to examine if there are any distinctive differences in the outcome of the 4 specific elements that we measured (Table 3.3). Our analysis of the results shows that this prolonged intervention did make a further enhanced positive impact as there was an improvement in the mean scores across all four-assessment criteria for the control group prior and after implementation of the learning intervention. For the assessment criteria “comprehension of contents” and “ability to effectively integrate and exchange thoughts”, there was a much more significant positive improvement in the range of 40–50%. As for

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Table 3.3 Comparative analysis of students’ performance before and after the adoption of learning intervention over a 11 weeks phase Prior to the adoption of learning intervention (n= 381)

After the adoption of learning intervention (n= 386) (over 11 weeks phase)

Mean score (Total rating score = 3) Assessment Criteria Comprehension of contents

2.34

2.74

Application of contents

2.28

2.53

Confident in expressing thoughts 2.31

2.52

Ability to effectively integrate and exchange thoughts

2.12

2.62

Average

2.26

2.60

the assessment criterion “application of contents” and “confident in expressing thoughts”, there was a good positive improvement of 21–25%. From the results, we could deduce that prolonged exposure of the learning intervention correlates to much improved outcomes. It could be well validated by the overall of 27% better improved performance when an additional of 6 weeks are incorporated as the control variable which serves as part of the meditated treated intervention. Furthermore, the longitudinal study re-iterates the consistency of the outcome effect across the four elements in a linearly positive direction.

3.8 Expert Reviews by Professors in Universities and Senior Leaders in Multi-National Corporations We decided to outreach professors to provide us independent peer reviews by offering them to evaluate the learning intervention’s functionalities and the effectiveness on its operational capabilities. We have done a pilot run to seek feedback and collate areas of improvements prior to this final shaping up of the learning intervention. The goal of this post-implementation exercise was to seek practical endorsements from Professors and Senior Leaders in Multi-National Corporations as one of the key stakeholders on the learning interventions on the level of rigour, quality and whether it has served the intended purpose in enhancing the learning process and have brought about a positive impact on the students’ learning (Table 3.4).

Country

(continued)

“…have even briefly mentioned your work in my forthcoming book on mobile learning. Student participation is fundamentally important Australia to social constructivism and related active, learner-centred pedagogical approaches such as inquiry-based learning and problem-based learning. However, students are sometimes reticent to volunteer answers to questions in class. In-class polling systems such as Dr. Kumaran Rajaram’s KˆmaLive is a great way to ensure students’ active participation by overcoming their reservations about answering in front of their peers, and simultaneously giving both students and the instructors immediate feedback on their performance”

“… I am very impressed with the learning solutions offered, level of innovation and potential for this kind of digital resource to support Hong Kong learning in the twenty-first century at the top global Universities. I will be enthusiastically mentioning KˆmAlive Learning Apps in my research work on mobile learning and learning, in the planned second edition of the “Digital Resources for Learning” and the “Fundamentals of Learning Technologies.” This learning system has effectively embraced forward looking aspects of twenty-first century learning culture, social and pedagogical aspects into due consideration. The interventions are developed to address some of the learning gaps that exist, focusing on the enhancement of learning processes and outcomes, in terms of (a) providing a fair and objective assessment, (b) equipping soft skill competencies, and (c) enhancing students’ engagement. Overall, the KˆmAlive Learning Apps, through rich affordances provides learning solution to enhance social and soft skills competencies in a contents-driven learning by incorporating real-time assessment and learning interventions, while measuring and monitoring real-time class contributions and collaborative learning. This is an exemplary Learning Apps for the twenty-first century classroom and beyond. I am very pleased that Dr. Rajaram has integrated the evidence-based findings, especially in how it assists students to enhance their learning outcomes covered in his upcoming academic book that he is authoring to be shared with the academic community at large. I will enthusiastically refer Dr Rajaram’s work to my students and colleagues”

Expert reviews from professors and senior corporate leaders

Table 3.4 Expert Reviews from Professors in Universities and Senior corporate leaders in Multi-National Corporations

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Country

“I am particularly drawn to the Real-Time Learning and Formative feedback in Class – Learning Innovation 1: KˆmAlive Learning Support System. This approach reduces the subjectivity of relying on facilitator’s memory or impression of the students. Quiet students have more motivation to speak up as their thoughtful answers are now “rated”. To fully leverage the advanced learning technologies – virtual learning environment need to model very closely or surpass the traditional classroom experience”

“Engaging students in class comes with many challenges. KˆmAlive incorporates useful features to mitigate those challenges. In my experience, one of the biggest challenges associated with class participation is its objective and accurate measurement. Often, measuring class participation is subjective and is difficult to manage on a real-time basis during class discussions. KˆmAlive’s real-time tracking of class participation (through its ‘raise hand’ feature) hugely mitigates that challenge by allowing instructors to keep track of students who have participated in class discussions and grade them later using an objective metric. In order to add more utility to this otherwise exceptionally useful tool, I propose the use of a counter to display the number of times a student has participated in class, so that instructors can, where necessary, afford more opportunity to students who participate less”

(continued)

United States

“Having used KˆmAlive in my own classroom, I can say that the app incentivizes students to participate in class discussions and allows Singapore for personalized, real-time feedback on every student’s in-class contributions. Students’ participation rates are documented in an accurate record of how often they participated in class. Instructors can evaluate every student’s comments in real time. These evaluations can be saved and shared with the student. Last but not least, KˆmAlive allows for a unifying classroom discussion experience by helping learners recognize each other’s names and faces” “The two elements in KˆmAlive that make learning effective are: its incorporation of real-time grading for students’ responses in user-friendly modes and the extraction of data analytics based on this real time grading. KˆmAlive will benefit my students in two ways: it will encourage quieter students to participate more actively without fear of speaking out loud. Also, as an outcome of real time assessment in class for students’ responses, students can rest assured they are objectively assessed in real time. In line with industry focus on data analytics for decision making purposes, KˆmAlive is in synchrony with its provision of data analytics for real time responses of students in the classroom. This will contribute towards effective curriculum decisions for the future. KˆmAlive may also have the potential to incorporate the technologies of AR, VR, and AI as it moves in tandem with these technological advancements. Moreover, it fits well with contemporary modes of learning such as gamification” “KˆmAlive is an effective teaching and learning tool, especially for students from high-context Asian culture. It does not only facilitate student’s participation, but also provide engagement data visualizing students’ learning progress. It catalyzes independent and critical thinking by connecting and integrating both virtual and real class interactions. It offers valuable record to evaluate each team member’s learning contribution. More importantly, it helps instructors to trajectorize students’ reflections to simultaneously guide discussion topics and to reshape delivery format”

Expert reviews from professors and senior corporate leaders

Table 3.4 (continued)

3.8 Expert Reviews by Professors in Universities … 95

United States

Australia Hong Kong

“…. students learn by participating in the activities…. they also have fun.. to get involved and learn.….the personal reflection and introspection through the journal can help students do develop a broad picture mindset, seeing the pros and cons of the topic studied…students can develop their abilities to synthesize information….The ideas of appropriation, fun, and personal reflection/introspection above can be included here. I also think that if students are more involved in these activities during their studies, this is more likely that they will be more involved in their jobs later. Last, I see the criteria of feasibility and evaluation of outcomes as very important for professionals like entrepreneurs, as feasibility and desirability are two criteria used….”

“..Allow to monitor real-time individual contributions of students. Understand the topic better by listening to fellow classmates’ contributions. Encourage active class participation. Fair and unbiased assessment can be achieved…”

“..KˆmaLive will not only allow the instructor to encourage and objectively assess students’ in-class participation, but will also facilitate remote teaching and collaborations among students in different physical locations. If students on two campuses or even in two countries can log onto KumaLive, and supplemented by other telepresence technologies, teaching and learning will become truly borderless. I am very glad to know that KumaLive may be made available to the whole academic community, and I am looking forward to it…”

(continued)

Singapore

“..KˆmAlive is a learning innovation that adds 2 important elements to traditional learning which is ‘fun and digital’. By adding ‘digital’ Italy platform which is something that resonate well with young generations, students’ engagement/participation will increase naturally by bringing ‘fun’ to classroom training. Being able to monitor/assess the participation in real-time is a huge benefit to professors as it will give an opportunity to professors to try to find the right balance by encouraging those students who are less engaged/contributing. Also, real-time data analysis will allow professor and students to have a discussion based on factual information as opposed to using estimation”

“..Impressive indeed. I see the learning support system from 2 perspectives: (1) Student view – definitely it increases the interactivity in class between the instructor and peers to improve learning; (2) Faculty view – (a) One can analyze the data collected during each session to get insights into the students’ understanding. This can be leveraged upon to improve or customize the delivery of subsequent sessions to enhance learning. So, in that way, the instructor can “self-assess” on their delivery capabilities; (b) Instructors can also use the tool to design the questions on the topic in such a way to gauge students understanding and/or performance from start to end of the session. The data collated from tool will provide valuable insights into both student and faculty performance which forms the bedrock for enhanced learning”

“Based on my implementation experience of the tool, I find it highly effective in encouraging the participation of the students in a fun and Singapore engaging manner. Without having to physically raise their hands in class, the students are more willing to participate in the Q &A..”

Country

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Country

Singapore

“…the 2 key aspects that makes learning more effective through this innovation are the ability for instructors to monitor in real-time responses of the students, quickly adjust the instruction based on the students’ response and offer just-in-time remediation. This learning innovation can support the students by offering opportunities to the students to collaborate. Rather than sitting back and listening passively to lectures, this innovation allows students to participate actively. This learning innovation resonates with common graduate attributes, i.e. collaboration, critical thinking, creative problem solving. I believe schools should prepare students with these skills, enabled by technology, when these students graduate, they are more readily adaptable to the workforce culture..”

(continued)

United Kingdom

“… the innovations you unveil here are really impressive. Well done……Captures real-time contribution of students related to tasks and questions raised in class…Provides students with quick feedback and interaction. Quick/real-time interaction and acknowledgement that their views are being heard…. Identification of students who might be struggling - enables conversations to be had out of class time. Enables management of larger traditionally lecture-sized classes in more active learning, rather than mass-passive learning lecture events…. Can be linked to evaluation and peer reviews…”

“I think using a support system to monitor and access students’ individual participation and contribution objectively real-time in class is a Singapore good learning innovation to augment learner-centred pedagogies. This could well lower the resistance or inhibition for faculty to adopt active learning and teaching strategies in class”

Expert reviews from professors and senior corporate leaders

Table 3.4 (continued)

3.8 Expert Reviews by Professors in Universities … 97

Country

(continued)

“It enhances the effectiveness n efficiency of engaging students in class. The App is easy to set up and intuitive to use. Students become Singapore sharply aware that the quality of their sharing are being tracked and recorded by the instructor in real-time. They are hence better motivated to be more proactive in sharing their thoughts in class. In this way, the level of engagement in sharing and learning during class automatically goes up a few notches. Instructors can use this tool with ease and not get worried about remembering the names and recognizing the faces of students. It can also be used for conducting offsite training through webinars. Key is to have the technology to capture all interactive responses during training and use data analytical tools to determine individual student’s responses and performance for final grading purpose. This would adequately address trainer’s concern about students not paying attention to the class in session since they are remotely somewhere else in front of their own screens. Overall, I’m in favor of getting this KˆmAlive tool to be used for classes that require high level of engagement between trainer n students and where grading includes active class participation”

“.. One of the key advantages of using KˆmAlive is a larger sample size. Typically, in a face-to-face course, an instructor asks one or two United States students to volunteer if they understand the material presented to them. Those students who volunteer usually know the information. The instructor infers that if those one or two students understand, then most of the class must understand and continues forward. This tool changes the sample size from one or two students to the entire class. The instructor knows in real-time whether all students understand and will make a decision to present the material again or move forward — a Win-Win condition for both the student and the instructor. It on that one-on-one tutoring is the most effective instructional method. Using KˆmAlive allows for an approximation of this instructional method in a group setting. Based on real-time feedback, the instructor can ask questions that are neither too easy or too difficult for the class. KˆmAlive allows for an appropriate scaffolding of the students learning experience. For those who teach two sections of the same course during a semester, know that class A progresses differently than class B. Using KˆmAlive could help alleviate this gap. Over the years that I have conducted a lecture-based class. I’ve always strived to get students to participate. It’s never a problem to get the extroverts to talk; I want to hear from the introverts. It always has been a challenge to get them to participate. I know, I was an introvert in class and remembered instructors trying to extract information from me. KˆmAlive offers a segue for these students to participate in class. Knowledge is not often a binary function. Having differing views offers more insight and nuisances to the lesson. Thus, students have more breadth and depth of the material and will perform better on their exams. The utilization of a student’s mobile phone in a classroom for educational outcomes has been spotty at best. At our institution, mobile phones are often put out of reach of students during a class session so that they can focus on the lesson at hand. It is a shame that students possess a powerful piece of modern technology and are not able to use them for their educational enrichment. KˆmAlive would provide a refreshing change, getting students to use their phones for learning instead of social media..”

Expert reviews from professors and senior corporate leaders

Table 3.4 (continued)

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Country

(continued)

“I can foresee that interactions amongst students and facilitator will increase, contributing positively to the richness of discussions and Singapore learning that can take place during a session. Students will feel that their contributions will be systematically rewarded, thus encouraging more participation and probably enhancing the quality of students’ contributions as well, e.g. answers will be well thought through and discussed. Encourages students who are shy and/or quiet in nature, to actively participate in meaningful discussions in class. Creates a less intimidating environment in class. Provides a fair system for students to be assessed on class participation. Millennials are more engaged in social media platforms on their devices and this platform taps on their familiarity with dynamics of the digital interactions on similar platforms. The analytics of the data involving students’ participation adds value when trying to understand learning habits/patterns and can help towards continually enhancing the learning experience revolving around classroom discussions. I habitually use the SAMR model whenever I encounter a new learning innovation/tool. In a nutshell, I feel that this platform falls between R (re-definition) & M (modification)”

“KˆmAlive is an excellent teaching tool that provide teachers with an additional effective avenue to interact with their students and Singapore facilitates accurate real-time grading of students’ responses to questions posed in class. It evens out the level of participation and is a boon to shy and introverted students who are always hesitant to speak up in class. KˆmAlive is a great example of how technology has elevated educational capabilities to greater heights”

“One of my biggest challenges that I have as a professor is engaging every member of my class in the discussions that we have. Without United States KˆmAlive, I end up only hearing from 20%-50% of the class, unless I cold-call on students. With KˆmAlive, it allows me to get the other members of the class to at least participate. But, it also allows me to better understand what they are thinking in real time so that I can more effectively bring out their thoughts and ideas”

“The KˆmAlive learning support system meets the needs of both students and instructors. For students, they become active participants of Singapore the learning process by asking questions through raising hands virtually and answering question such as one that is raised by the instructor through a poll. Through engaging the students, the instructor builds better rapport with them, especially in the context of an Asian class where students tend to be more reserved and shy in asking or answering questions. To top it all, the system’s in-built grading system served the assessment needs for class participation, which is sometimes difficult to assess if an instructor cannot recall the points that was raised in class by individual students”

Expert reviews from professors and senior corporate leaders

Table 3.4 (continued)

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“I would like to congratulate Prof Kumaran Rajaram for his teaching innovation, “KumaLive”. All instructors will value KumaLive as an Singapore in-class learning support system to monitor individual learners’ participation and contributions real-time. With the real-time feedback in class, instructors can effectively engage students and adjust the lesson accordingly. Instructors also no longer need to capture class participation manually. The data analytics capability is a great feature to allow instructors to know the learning progress of each student, enabling personalized learning. The positive feedback from students clearly show that they love KumaLive and have gained much from this impactful teaching innovation”

“KˆmaLive looks quite interesting and promising. I could see this as especially useful for a large class where the sheer size of the class United States (e.g., 75–100 + ) limits the ability for the professor to get to know everyone. Similarly, in a large class this could help students get to know each other better because they would visually see the name that corresponds to a specific question, interaction via the app. The analytics component is a particularly compelling feature as it enables faculty to review the details of in-class contributions and discussion, rather than having to rely on memory or hastily written notes, and thereby increase the accuracy of their assessment of in-class participation. I particularly like how the data can be converted into spreadsheets for easy review and analysis”

Expert reviews from professors and senior corporate leaders

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3.9 Limitations, Conclusion and Future Reflections The survey results analysis report three areas of reflections so that the minority of students’ experiences which falls under the non-affirmative cluster could be improved. First, these students found the real-time assessment on their class contributions to be putting pressure and create an expectation for them to contribute and perform. Although from a learning design perspective, this was intentional so that there is a positive push for students to participate on an ad hoc basis. However, we are currently reviewing to examine to explore if we could subtly alert students if they are lagging too much behind as a formative feedback that gives them adequate time to respond on their own initiative and being a responsible learner. However, we also interpreted that it is largely due to their initial resistance to change in the learning culture that eventually has made them climatized by realizing the benefits the system offers. Second, with some deeper analysis on the students’ profile showed that these students are the less motivated ones and/or highly introverted from the past trend of records and performance. To address this, we intend to perform a deeper study on this profile of students and what kind of customized features could assist them to blend in by addressing their learning needs from social and educational psychological dimensions. Third, in contrary some preferred more interactions and have requested to be assessed when they challenge their peers on the answers offered as a continuous flow of debate. We intend to examine how to translate this learning need into the design aspect of the learning intervention in the next phase of our development. For future research directions, this study will be conducted with multiple sections of other courses and schools to better understand the effectiveness of learning intervention with the students as well as instructors. The research may be conducted to examine whether more optional customized features may enhance students’ learning experience and instructors ease of use, explicitly addressing some of the primary needs that they are looking for, more inclined to their respective courses due to the diversity of the subjects taught. Research Study 2 The “doKumaran” Tool—A Real-Time Collaborative Functionality Embedded Within Learning Activity Management System (LAMS)

3.10 Abstract—Study 1 The revolutionization of the traditional classroom learning could be attributed to progressive evolution of the internet and rapid technological development. Having synchronous (“real-time”) collaborative learning within the classroom setting could be of high interest to educators. Learning activity management systems (LAMS) has been adopted by numerous institutions globally over the past decades with the key goal of organizing online learning activities to enhance the process of learning. An integrated feature within the LAMS platform called “doKumaran” tool has been

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created with the value proposition to increase student engagement, enhance collaboration and deepen critical thinking during classroom activities. This tool enables two or more students to be involved in synchronous collaborative learning. A semester was spent generating activities based on the “doKumaran” tool, documenting its effectiveness in classroom settings and packaging the materials for the instructor training via a flipped classroom model. Interviewees’ free-form descriptions of “engagement”, “collaboration” and “critical thinking” included words and phrases such as “facilitates discussion”, “feel valued”, “holistic grading system”, “effective”, “meaningful”, “collaborative”. The students’ feedback collectively resembles the tool’s goal towards engagement, effectiveness on critical thinking and user-friendliness in the creation of educational workflows that enhances teamwork, collaboration and the sharing of constructs and thoughts.

3.11 Introduction The “doKumaran” tool is an authentically created, new and innovative feature embedded within the learning activity management system (LAMS). The distinctive function of the tool is to enable synchronous, collaborative and peer learning between the instructors, students and/or student groups.

3.12 Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) LAMS software is an online system that allows for planning of online digital lessons (“sequences”) using learning activities. LAMS has been an open resource learning design system since February 2005 (LAMS Foundation, 2004). The ownership of the intellectual property of LAMS belongs to the LAMS Foundation, a foundation based at Macquarie University, Australia, as part of the Macquarie E-learning Centre of Excellence. The development of LAMS is led by Professor James Dalziel and is now being managed by both LAMS Foundation and LAMS International Pte Ltd (LAMS Foundation, 2004). As of 2014, there were more than 10,000 members in the LAMS communities (Dalziel, 2014). Distinctively, many higher educational institutions globally make use of LAMS to assist in their teaching and learning (LAMS Foundation, 2012). The user-friendliness of LAMS allows professors and learning designers of a course to use them without much complexity and hassle. The authoring page for the LAMS comprises of features, for example, “Mindmap”, “doKumaran”tool and “Q&A”, that can be used to create desired activity sequences. To create an activity sequence using LAMS from scratch, instructors can “drag and drop” the in-built features within LAMS to start developing the sequence. Then, they can use connecting arrows to organize the relevant features into a learning sequence. Figure 3.3 presents a sample screenshot of the authoring platform in LAMS. Some of

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Fig. 3.3 Sample screenshot of the authoring platform in LAMS

the functionalities available in the template include “Question and Answer”; “Video Recorder” and “Survey Tool”. Students may then participate in learning activities embedded within the array of the features selected based on how these are sequentially designed as planned by the instructors. Alternatively, instructors can also upload a pre-designed activity sequence from an array of activity templates (sequences) into the workspace. These activity sequences have been pre-designed and saved in a publically accessible open drive where instructors are able to access them easily. LAMS operates as a stand-alone system and/or can be integrated with other learning management systems or virtual learning environments such as “Moodle” and “Blackboard”. Some of its adaptations for use include designing of inquiry-based learning (Levy et al., 2009), as an environment for collaborative digital storytelling (Kordaki & Agelidou, 2010) or as an environment for blended learning in secondary education (Rossiou, 2012). Britain (2004) reviewed and reported that LAMS is “the most comprehensive implementation of the concept of learning design available to date”. Early feedback from the trials in Australia and the United Kingdom suggested that LAMS enabled many more instructors to transit into an online teaching environment due to its highly supportive design for both the instructors and students (Philip & Dalziel, 2004).

3.13 The “doKumaran” Tool The “doKumaran” tool is an integration tool within the LAMS system that allows instructors to create powerful and collaborative activity sequences (see Fig. 3.4 for a screenshot of the “doKumaran” tool which is presented of being dragged onto the authoring platform). It is the only tool that allows real-time collaboration online in the LAMS environment.

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Fig. 3.4 Screenshot of the “doKumaran” tool which is presented of being dragged onto the authoring platform

This feature of “doKumaran” tool has been newly created and has been included within the authoring platform of LAMS. This tool enhances the functionality of the activity sequences by capturing “real-time” students’ contributions via collaboration amongst students (see Fig. 3.5 for a sample screenshot of student collaboration). If an activity sequence has included “doKumaran” tool feature, then it allows the function of collaboration to happen. For example, when a group of students are tasked to do a group activity, such as case study, together, the “doKumaran” tool feature allows the

Fig. 3.5 Sample screenshot of student collaboration

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capturing of every group member’s inputs concurrently. This allows other students in the same group or even from other groups to visualize what the other members are inputting there and then, attaining a learning outcome while influencing each other’s thoughts. The “doKumaran” tool allows students to collaborate on a single or multiple documents in “real-time”. This means that contributions that emerge from the discussions amongst the group members are being captured and concurrently viewed by others in the assigned group(s). Depending on the activity sequences, the discussions can happen within a single group (intra-group), consisting of normally five members, or across different groups (inter-group). It also enables documents to be constructed and shared between instructors, students and/or student groups. A distinguishing characteristic of the “doKumaran” tool is the ability that allows instructors to visualize how ideas or constructs within each document have been created, shaped and how they were contributed and developed within a given timeline. As “doKumaran” tool is used within the context of a learning design system (i.e. LAMS), instructors can create educational workflows that enhance teamwork, collaboration, critical thinking and sharing of constructs and ideas that promote engagement, and leverage those to attain a learning outcome. Moreover, the documents created can be retrieved and used at any of the later stages in the learning process. This is an exceptionally valuable function for students as they can retrieve these contributions performed in-class from every group in class, including their own, any time after the class to be used for revision and reflection. This addresses the current “gap” in classroom learning of not being able to have a collective capturing of discussions and contributions performed during class activities.

3.14 Theories and Conceptual Frameworks: In Support of Creation of “doKumaran” Tool Many studies have been done that deepened our understandings on the effect of use of technology on students in learning (Kirkwood & Price, 2014). There are evidence now that technology-mediated learning helps to enhance students’ collaboration (e.g. Alavi, 1994; Hemmi et al., 2009), engagement in learning practices such as active and collaborative learning (e.g. Laird & Kuh, 2005; Coller & Scott, 2009, etc.) and also student’s critical thinking skills (e.g. Thomas, 2002; de Leng, et al., 2009).

3.15 Collaborative Learning Dillenbourg (1999) defined collaborative learning as “a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together” (p. 1). One of the distinctive value-adding functions of the “doKumaran” tool is its ability to facilitate synchronous

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collaborative learning. It allows students to discuss and work on the same activity or case questions concurrently. When students type in their inputs, contributions and thoughts on their individual laptops, tablets or mobile phones, the typed texts of all group members will appear on their devices simultaneously. Hence, the members within the group can edit concurrently while others are having their inputs and thoughts shared. Similarly, each group member’s typed texts are individualized by being highlighted in different colours so that intra-group discussions could be facilitated effectively and easily, differentiating one member’s input from another group member’s contributions. Students tend to learn more when they participate in group work (Arbaugh & Benbunan-Finch, 2006). This is largely due to the conducive learning climate that is being created which allows the students to be open and comfortable in sharing their thoughts amongst the group. The benefits of collaborative learning overarch varying contexts, namely the academic, social and psychological aspects. Panitz (1999) has listed at least 60 of them. Some of these benefits include promotion of critical thinking skills, reduction of anxiety and helping to develop a social support system for learners (Laal & Ghodsi, 2012; Panitz, 1999). In addition to these, collaborative learning serves as an excellent simulation platform of how it is like working in a typical business organization today, where teamwork is often involved. Therefore, such scaffolding learning process will certainly assist in preparing students by developing their competencies and skills for the corporate world. The design of the process that enables collaboration through this support tool is the focus as it addresses the “gap” of learners and enhances their explicit skills. Some of the “gaps” being addressed include: (a) to make informed and collective decisions through convincing others against varying opinions and perspectives that are being shared; (b) allows the introverts an opportunity to voice out their perspectives and inputs through writing first and follow-up with verbal discussions with their group mates. This avoids the only mode of communication in a traditional classroom approach of writing the discussion pointers on a white board. Interestingly, this collaborative style of learning is also a preferred approach by the millennials (McGlynn, 2005). Hence, it serves as an advantage in terms of spontaneous involvement by the students, which is fundamentally a vital aspect in getting them deeply engaged and committed in their group discussions.

3.16 Student Engagement There is a consensus that students’ higher level of engagement in learning correlates to a more desirable learning outcomes, such as critical thinking and grades (Carini et al., 2006). The rationale of this finding may be simply that the more students engage with the learning materials the more skilful they become (Kuh, 2003). As Finn and Zimmer (2012) outlined that engaged students do, in fact, have a better understanding of the covered course materials, through more reading, practising and getting feedbacks. Students who are engaged will certainly have a much higher productivity in their

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classroom experience and extending beyond the walls of a classroom. Some of the benefits include the transitional shift of engaged students’ motivations from extrinsic to intrinsic (Vansteenkiste et al., 2004) and improved students’ attendance rate (Clay & Breslow, 2006). Student engagement is also correlated with self-reported positive learning outcomes, enhanced student achievements and deeper level of involvement in public service (Carini et al., 2006) and job engagement (Busteed & Seymour, 2015). Engaged students go beyond making it easier for the instructors to manage the class, where their behavioural aspects encourage instructors to put in more efforts in their course of instruction (Skinner & Belmont, 1993). Having a thorough comprehension by the instructors of students’ learning attitudes, behavioural aspects and students’ profile allows the adoption of a well-blended mixture of instructional approaches in achieving optimal learning effectiveness (Rajaram, 2013). One of the instructional approaches is to allow students to be engaged by participating through discussions via collaborations. Meaningful contributions through group and class participations can assist students to be more actively engaged in the learning process. The intervention of the “doKumaran” tool facilitates and enhances students’ participation in class through a systematic and organized scaffolding approach where it helps each of the students to be directly involved in the collaborative learning process. This approach helps the quieter students or introverts to have an alternative avenue to express their ideas, first through contributing via writing, and then having to validate or defend their perspectives or inputs verbally as deemed appropriate. This addresses a vital issue of allowing everyone equal opportunity to share their thoughts in an avenue, in this case, a writing platform first before a verbal engagement amongst the inter-group or intra-group settings, is facilitated. Hence, this allows the thoughts or ideas, especially from the quieter students not to be always overshadowed by the more vocal ones. Many students may find it intimidating to speak up in front of the class (Freeman et al., 2006). This is especially so for students of East Asian heritage (Paulhus et al., 2002) or with a more introverted personality (Caspi et al., 2006). Quieter students, especially the introverts, may feel more comfortable sharing their ideas and contributions online (Cain & Klein, 2015). In our case, this is facilitated “real-time” or synchronously via an online writing platform in the assigned clustered group, be it inter-group or intra-group within the class. This claim could be validated as research shows that shy and quieter students tend to contribute much more through synchronous online discussions than in regular face-to-face classroom discussions (Warschauer, 1995). Also, in a K-12 school pilot evaluation done by Dalziel (2003), it was found that over 80% of students were willing to discuss their ideas within LAMS, and in comparison, only 15% of students were willing to discuss ideas in the traditional classroom setting before their peers.

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3.17 Critical Thinking Skills Critical thinking is a vital and essential competency which needs to be nurtured and trained by exposing students through varying context so that students are “job-ready” when they step out into the working world. Critical thinking is a high-order thinking that facilitates effective learning. In his research, Ghanizadeh (2017) found positive correlation between academic success and critical thinking skills. He proposed a possibility that: “the ability to analyze and critique information at a high-order level provides learners with sophisticated and complex competency to engage in effective learning strategies, to be more committed to their studies, and to be more reflective and organized in their planning and organization” (p. 110). This re-iterates that by incorporating critical thinking skills within the learning process, students can achieve much more effective learning outcomes in terms of the depth of applied knowledge comprehension. Critical thinking skills could be acquired through effective interactions (MacKnight, 2000), including synchronous online collaborative discussions (Weltzer-Ward & Carmona, 2008), provided the interactions between the students are well-supported with specific and well-designed critical thinking activities (Astleitner, 2002; Kim, 2014; Weltzer-Ward & Carmona, 2008). Synchronous collaborative learning is a distinctive key feature of the “doKumaran” tool. This allows students to participate through brainstorming and collaboration online concurrently. The synchronous collaborative approach can be contrasted with asynchronous collaborative learning, where students participate in a learning activity not in the same temporal space, for example, through email or discussion boards online. Not only do the students prefer the synchronous online collaborative learning to the one that is asynchronous (Mabrito, 2006), synchronous online collaborations are also effective in enhancing students’ critical thinking skills. The process of coming to a consensus within the group after weighing the varying perspectives of group members enables the development of critical thinking. This could be debated from the perspective that the online two-way exchange and discussions create a more conducive learning environment, which, in a way, does not intimidate students with the need to voice out their thoughts and opinions in “public”. For example, during lessons in classrooms, the pressure of other students (their peers) judging the student’s answers or opinions is high. This may also be largely due to the cultural context of how learning happens in an Asian climate in a general context, where we could relate these behaviours to the learning culture and culture of learning. This discourages many not to voice out their opinions openly, actively or even honestly. However, the online synchronous platform eliminates this “uncomfortable experience” and gives the students a space to share their thoughts via writing, then, in our case, have them to discuss verbally at any time during this process. This flexibility is the distinctive aspect of the use of the “doKumaran” tool, in helping the students to engage in the process of thinking and allow them to reflect on others’ inputs. In comparison, the traditional approach in the class only allows sharing verbally which then makes it difficult for the students to individually go through the

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process of thinking critically and deeply before a group or class discussion takes place. Kim (2014) also argued that synchronous online collaborations are conducive for development of students’ critical thinking skills. First, synchronous communication permits immediate formative feedback (Kim, 2014). Immediate feedback is vital for the development of critical thinking skills as it facilitates exchanges of thoughts, discussions of issues and clarifications to be sought instantly without having the context to be lost. Second, unlike face-to-face discussions where people may cut into each other’s verbal correspondences in the form of contributions, students are able to fully develop their thoughts and ideas individually in a synchronous online discussion (Kim, 2014) and thereafter participate in discussion verbally. Within this learning space, each of the students within the inter-group or intra-group is able to express their own thoughts and ideas openly, while also be able to read and review everyone else’s diverse opinions on the same issue(s) or question(s). Hence, the process in which the learner goes through enables the development of students’ critical thinking skills. This could be validated by Kim’s (2014) study which showed that synchronous online discussion enhanced students’ critical thinking, reasoning and literacy skills. Further to this, an earlier study by Gokhale (1995) also evidenced that collaboration in general enhanced the development of critical thinking through “discussion, clarification of ideas, and evaluation of others’ ideas” (p.30). Hence, the incorporation of the “doKumaran” tool in the learning activity sequences creates a synchronous online collaborative learning environment, which enables the students to engage more in their discussions and develop their thinking skills.

3.18 Findings and Discussions We performed a preliminary study to collate the perceived effectiveness of the “doKumaran” tool. Students enrolled to read the undergraduate course of “Principles of Management, Skills and Competencies” were informed about the study and the interview to be carried out. Students who volunteered for the study were interviewed based on their experiences of the use of the tool in-class. Two qualitative questions, namely, “(1) how do you think this “doKumaran” tool will make a difference in the creation of activity sequences in LAMS?” and “(2) what is the value proposition of this ‘doKumaran’ tool?” are posed to the interviewees. The general responses are affirmative and encouraging. Interviewees agreed that the use of the “doKumaran” tool in class is “effective” and “meaningful”. It has increased collaboration, enhanced deeper critical thinking and higher level of engagement through insightful discussions. In a traditional classroom setting, one person would go up to the white board and write down his/her own answer or the group’s answer. In a class facilitated by the “doKumaran” tool, interviewees felt that more collaborations had taken place since group members were engaged in discussions on the online platform within the

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assigned inter/intra-groups before reaching a consensus on a definite answer. One interviewee commented that this is a tool that “facilitates discussion” as: all the answers we type into the laptop itself are coded with different colours. So, in a way we can actually look at the answers, and if we have any questions we can actually find out who is the one typing and we can further question the person as to why they have phrased their answers in such a way and clarify any questions we have regarding these answers and we get to look at these answers in a more objective manner without taking into consideration who is the one typing.

Interviewees also felt that the collaboration and discussion process led to the enhancement of critical thinking skills. In a traditional classroom setting, usually, only one person would represent the group and write the answers on the whiteboard on-behalf. The pointers taken down may be limited by the size of whiteboard as well. However, with the use of the “doKumaran” tool, everyone in the group was able to contribute and the support system enabled all points from each of the group members to be taken down. Further to this, due to the scaffolding process, the use of the tool enabled new perspectives, diverse views and inputs to be taken into consideration. Any misunderstandings or uncertainties can be clarified there and then. As the process of inputting and coming to conclusive answers within the group enabled students to consider the views of others and provide each other with feedback, interviewees felt it helped them in the development of critical thinking skills. Interviewees reported that the use of the tool contributed to the changes in the dynamics of the class as the students are now much more engaged in class. Many students also expressed how, unlike traditional classrooms where only the vocal students are more inclined to obtain better participation grades, this tool “allows students who are usually quieter to voice out their opinions in a more comfortable way”. Therefore, in this scaffolding process through the “doKumaran” tool, it enabled every student to be given an opportunity to express their ideas, viewpoints, and thoughts, hence, the students “feel valued”. One interviewee expressed that the “doKumaran” tool would bring about a more “holistic grading system” as the professor can take into consideration the quality of the answers provided by students rather than just how vocal this student can be. In addition to this, since the students’ discussion pointers and inputs are captured, recorded and able to be retrieved, one interviewee felt that this function provided the learner the ability to retrieve the archived group and class discussions any time after the lessons, which was convenient and easy, and is “beneficial to the entire learning process”.

3.19 Conclusion The “doKumaran” tool integrated within the LAMS platform enhances the flexibility and autonomy by which instructors can plan, organize and execute their lessons. Some of the possible ways of integration of the “doKumaran” tool within the learning activity sequences include “real-time” intra-group and/or inter-group collaborations,

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or asynchronous collaborations within and between groups. A sample of such a learning activity sequence design is presented in Fig. 3.6. Another possible use of this “doKumaran” tool is in the flipped classroom learning design, where active, experiential and team-based learning during the face-to-face sessions are highly emphasized. By going through online lesson materials prior to the lessons, students are encouraged to come to classes prepared as each student is then able to contribute in discussions when they participate more in collaborative discussions facilitated by the “doKumaran” tool. For example, after watching a video case study, an instructor may ask the students to reflect on the content of the video. The students are requested to discuss on the real-life application of the content learnt. The discussion is carried out using the “doKumaran” tool, so that the individual contributions in the group discussion can be captured and used for grading or further discussion. With the use the “doKumaran” tool, students would not be required to physically move about in the class to facilitate intra-group or large inter-group discussions. They can communicate, discuss and share their points from their respective places where they are seated. Hence, it is indeed both time and effort saving. As the inputs are being typed into the on-line support system, the content is saved simultaneously and can be revisited any time, while it also allows the instructors to monitor the quantity and quality of each student’s contribution. Any differing thoughts can be brought up for discussions and misunderstandings clarified. These group inputs which emerge through individual contributions could be retrieved anytime should there be a need that arises to reconnect the ideas and pointers presented. In summary, the “doKumaran” tool has great potential to both assist instructors in organizing and facilitating their classes in a much systematic manner, as well as to enhance learning development and outcomes of students, namely in terms of engagement, critical thinking skills and peer learning through collaboration. Many researchers (Astleitner, 2002; Kim, 2014; Weltzer-Ward & Carmona, 2008) have

Fig. 3.6 A sample learning activity sequence design that enables intra-group and/or inter-group collaborations, or asynchronous collaborations within and between groups

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highlighted the importance of supporting a synchronous online collaborative discussion/activity with well-structured learning plans. The adoption of the “doKumaran” tool can make the classes facilitation more effectively scaffolded, which will result in an effective learning process. We hope that with the “doKumaran” tool, the instructors’ role in planning and executing the facilitation of the class activities will be made easier and more productive. Also, our goal is for the academic community to benefit from the creation of the “doKumaran” tool in varying context, for example, (1) to be able to plan for more creative and effective classes for the explicit learning needs of the students; (2) to achieve higher level of learning outcomes and enhance competency development through increased engagement, enhanced collaboration through team-based, peer learning and higher-order critical thinking skills. Acknowledgements The above two research studies were funded by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) through the NTU Educational Excellence Grants. The author would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for providing valuable feedback and guidance.

Appendix A: Post-Survey (After the Intervention of the Learning Support System) Survey Questions 1.

The experience of using “KˆmAlive” in this class is ___________________. a. b. c. d. e.

2.

3.

Very Positive Positive Somewhat Positive Negative Very Negative

What are your thoughts and feelings about your contributions in class being captured? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ The use of “KˆmAlive” in this class is a/an _________ way to encourage my participation in class. a. b. c. d. e.

Very Effective Effective Somewhat Effective Ineffective Very Ineffective

Appendix A: Post-Survey (After the Intervention of the Learning …

4.

5.

What are your thoughts in terms of the impact of class participation through the adoption of KˆmAlive? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ The use of “KˆmAlive” in this class motivates me to listen more attentively to my classmates’ contributions in class. a. b. c. d. e.

6.

8.

10.

11.

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

If you have answered “Strongly Agree/Agree” to question 5, can you explain how the use of “KˆmAlive” has enhanced your critical thinking skills? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ I believe the use of “KˆmAlive” in this course gives a fair assessment of my participation in class. a. b. c. d. e.

9.

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ The use of “KˆmAlive” in this class developed my critical thinking abilities. a. b. c. d. e.

7.

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Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

What are your thoughts and feelings regarding the grading of your participation in class using “KˆmAlive”? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ What do you like the best about the experience of using “KˆmAlive” in class? Please explain why. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ What would you like to change about the experience of the usage of “KˆmAlive” in class? Please explain why. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

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Any other comments? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Appendix B: Interview Questions • What are your experiences of using this real-time learning support system— KˆmAlive? • How does it explicitly enhance (a) higher levels of class participation; (b) make you think more critically; (c) better engagement with your peers in your group and others in the class • What are your overall perspectives of the features offered in this learning intervention—KˆmAlive on how it supports your learning process and how do you learn?

Appendix C: Video Resources • Value Proposition of Learning Support System: KˆmAlive (5 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZOpR4fWL0s • Value Proposition of Learning Support System: KˆmAlive (20 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjDQcbq84V4 • Operational Guide: KˆmAlive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Iv0q1IdiM The video trailers with supporting illustrations could also be viewed in the furnished links: • KˆmAlive Learning Blog Site: https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/learning-innovations/kum alive/ • Research Lab for Learning Innovation and Culture of Learning: https://learningi ntervention.wixsite.com/researchlab/klive

Appendix D: Screen Shot of KˆmAlive Feature Embedded …

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Appendix D: Screen Shot of KˆmAlive Feature Embedded with NTULearn (Blackboard)

K^mAlive feature

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Chapter 4

Social-Psychological Intervention: Cognitive Empathy Development

Abstract This chapter covers the topic on social-psychological intervention: competency and skills development in cognitive empathy. The evidence-based approach takes an effective psychological intervention known to elicit cognitive growth in a variety of contents and translates it into a university setting to develop students’ cognitive empathy and leadership skills from a holistic dimension. The intervention aims to prepare students for the development of cognitive empathy and by extension, leadership skills in a university business course. Social-psychological interventions provoke individuals to address potential cognitive blocks that may inhibit positive learning behaviours. Prior research has found this class of interventions to be effective tools for redressing negative mindsets liked views of intelligence and learned helplessness. This research is significant for three reasons (1) it attempts to prime students for the development of a non-content-based skill with a generalizable activity sequence; (2) it compares the effects of this priming activity against students receiving more domain-specific content; (3) it introduces methods of analysing student work for holistic solutions and for indicators of graduate attributes instead of merely addressing content knowledge and domain-specific skills.

This chapter presents some specific deliverables which could be easily adopted by others to inculcate and train others on the aspects of competency and skills in the area of cognitive empathy. A set of activities and learning measures for cognitive empathy building and leadership development will be shared. Empathy and leadership, as skills and abilities, fall under all of the university’s graduate outcomes. They relate to communication, civic-mindedness, character, competency and creativity. As such, curriculum that develops empathy and leadership is valuable not only for business school courses, but university-wide. Additionally, this study provides ways of using survey questions and coding student work to measure the development of these constructs which can also be applied university-wide and beyond. A template for developing social-psychological interventions has been developed to facilitate the development of empathy and leadership in a measurable way, hence similar interventions can be used to develop other non-content-based skills. The key to making the intervention cycle transferable is being able to identify the psychological blocks that are hindering the development and creating materials to force students to address © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Rajaram, Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0_4

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those blocks. Different skills will have different blocks. This study provides a tested template for the development and use of social-psychological interventions that can be modified for the development of materials for interventions that address other “tough to teach” skills and abilities. Many Universities are pursuing ways of engaging instructors to look at their courses as research opportunities to further teaching and learning throughout the University. The discussion of how we built a set of processes to make such research not only viable but also valuable to all parties involved. The process of how the set of processes and binding infrastructure was developed to facilitate such research will also be described and discussed. This study serves as a pioneering opportunity for the development of such resources and a concrete example to be pointed to when advocating for more scholarship of teaching and learning.

4.1 Introduction In a management education classroom, practitioners often face a dilemma between dedicating the precious class time to the teaching of content and the development of the softer skills related to that content (Rubin & Dierdorff, 2009) such as leadership skills. Teaching soft skills in class may lead to an unnecessary sacrifice of content teaching (Anthony & Garner, 2016). Furthermore, many programmes may not have the flexibility to include relevant soft skills teaching activities into their already heavy course loads (Bedwell et al., 2014). There are also concerns that it is difficult to measure and record the educational outcomes of teaching students on soft skills (Anthony & Garner, 2016). It is as if practitioners must serve as a referee for this educational tug-of-war— believing they must choose one side at the expense of the other. For instance, practitioners must balance how much time should be spent introducing the four functions of management against how much time students spend on investigating, testing and applying the theories. They must teach business ethics and still gather a sense of whether their students will make ethically responsible decisions (Gioia, 2002). Fortunately, developmental, educational and social psychology have shown the possibility of using the same activity to allow students to gain a greater depth of knowledge in a field and a development of the skills, beliefs and identity necessary for that field (Rogoff, 2003; Van Haneghan et al., 1992; Walton, 2014). This translation project builds on 15 years of findings from social psychology and the promising results of a pilot study conducted with a university business management course. The goal of this study presented in this chapter is to promote the development of cognitive empathy as part of the leadership skills in university students. It has long been debated whether empathy can be even taught, let alone, to university students (Hatcher et al., 1994). Empathy is not only crucial for professionals in counselling, it is also important in interpersonal relationship (Hatcher et al., 1994) and is essential to transformational leadership. It is a type of leadership that is built upon a leader’s ability to establish a common understanding with others (Kellett et al., 2002). Okonofua, J. A. et al. (2016) pointed out that a transactional leader may expect the

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employees to act as they have been instructed, whereas a transformational leader would inspire the employees to perform more than what they are asked to do (Hartog et al., 1997). Transactional leaders look at their employees as means to ends or cogs in a machine. In contrast, transformational leaders look at their workers and see people with wants, needs and desires (Bass, 1990). There has been a shift from transactional leadership style to transformational leadership style (Bass, 1990) and modern business school instructors want to groom their students into transformational leaders. Transformational leaders analyse situations holistically from the perspective of each other stakeholders to weigh options and make decisions (Bass, 1998). To be an effective transformational leader who can manage interpersonal relationships, empathy is a key asset the leaders should possess. Empathy allows the leaders to respond and calibrate their behaviours and actions through putting themselves in their employees’ shoes. Empathy is, therefore, imperative to effective leadership in the modern world of business (Holt, 2012; Isaac et al., 2009; Tzouramani, 2017). It is in this context that our study seeks to close the research gap on teaching of soft skills, especially empathy, in a way that does not disturb the teaching of content, so that more programmes, perhaps beyond business classes, may adopt such an intervention to develop students’ quality of empathy. The study was carried out in a staged progression that corresponded with the university’s academic terms. As the intervention has achieved successful cognitive empathy or leadership learning outcomes, it is currently at the stage to be modified and scaled to additional courses within the business school and translated to courses in other colleges.

4.2 Goals of the Research Study There has been a growing awareness amongst the educators to prepare our students to respond to the ever-changing needs of the increasingly globalized contemporary workplace, the mere teaching of contents is not good enough. There is a demand by employers for new employees to possess soft skills which include interpersonal skills, communication skills and empathy (Andrews & Higson, 2008; Bedwell et al., 2014; Goleman, 1998). Unfortunately, it was also suggested by various reports that there is a lack of soft skills in graduates and employees (Anthony & Garner, 2016; Bedwell et al., 2014). Soft skills differ from the “hard” and technical skills (Anthony & Garner, 2016). Apart from improving new graduate’s employability (Andrews & Higson, 2008; Anthony & Garner, 2016), soft skills are also believed to be important for work performance, success as a manager and have other work-related benefits (Bedwell et al., 2014; Hayes, 2002; Morgeson et al., 2005). Our study is particularly targeted at the development of one of the soft skills: cognitive empathy. One of the essential competencies as a leader is the ability to handle interpersonal relationships. This study partially closed this institutional gap in knowledge and provided a model for developing non-content-based learning outcomes, relevant activities and the measures that connect those activities to the

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outcomes. The study was executed with two primary aims, namely: (1) using a social-psychological intervention to prepare students for empathy and leadership development and (2) using students’ written work and class activities as measures of cognitive empathy and leadership development. We measured spontaneous displays of cognitive empathy in students’ written work and analysed self-evaluations of their empathy and leadership qualities.

4.3 Impact of the Study At its simplest level, this study tested a way of introducing and developing noncontent-based skills in tertiary courses. Rather than impressing upon students the importance of psychological constructs such as empathy, leadership and academic engagement directly, the study sets the stage for students to converge on these realizations for themselves. Empathy is a fundamental concept in the design thinking framework. By tapping on the theories of social-psychological interventions, students are indirectly being introduced to the importance of this soft skill embedded in the teaching of design thinking. Our intervention results showed definite effect of the course design in the short terms helping the students internalize the importance of empathy in facilitating holistic management plans and leadership. Our findings show that the use of socialpsychological intervention can impact the display of empathy in students’ course work in the long term. Nevertheless, teaching and learning at the university are affected in two ways. First, it introduces a process of introducing and measuring non-content-based outcomes that can be scaled across the university. Second, the results of this study can be disseminated for use by the learning design and solution teams as evidence for transitioning more courses to outcome-based assessments.

4.4 Significance of the Study 4.4.1 Importance to Teaching and Learning Locally at the university, and internationally, there are ongoing discussions about how to infuse the development of graduate attributes, such as character, creativity and civic-mindedness, into degree programmes. What is missing from these discussions is an operationalization of what outcomes constitute these attributes and rigorously collected evidence from local courses that shows how courses can develop them. This study takes two outcomes, leadership and empathy and tests a way to sustainably develop them within the context of an existing course. Without taking away from time spent introducing management-related content, the intervention and associated activities will provide students with opportunities to

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develop quality like cognitive empathy—qualities that are essential to their intended professions and important for being able to critically analyse information and make decisions in the future. The results show immediate positive impact of the interventions on students’ learning outcome. Empathy is shown in students’ writing when the students go through the experimental condition. It is a very encouraging news even though there are more fine-tuning needs to be done for a longer effect of the social-psychological interventions on students’ internalization of empathy.

4.4.2 Leads to Improved Students’ Outcomes Without taking away from time spent introducing management-related content, the intervention will provide students with an opportunity to develop qualities like empathy and leadership—qualities that are essential to their intended professions and important for being able to critically analyse information and make decisions in the future. As Fig. 4.1 shows, from our pilot study with 81 students spread across two sections with the same instructor, we found students who received empathyrelated resources in the context of a social-psychological intervention activity were three times more likely to display signs of cognitive empathy and perspective taking

Fig. 4.1 Per cent of students analysing multiple perspectives in their essay

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in their individual essays three weeks later than were students who received extra resources summarizing the course’s content. Not only did students in our pilot’s empathy condition spontaneously show more empathy in their writing, they also showed more holistic solutions to hypothetical management issues by identifying solutions that spanned the entirety of the corporate hierarchy. We also know from the literature, that cognitive empathy is related to improved transformational leadership practices in the workplace and heavily influences the abilities that underpin transformational leadership (Bass, 1990).

4.5 Impact on Teaching and Learning at the University There are several concerns an educator may have in including the teaching of soft skills, such as empathy, in classroom. Firstly, introducing the teaching of soft skills in class may lead to an unnecessary sacrifice of content teaching (Anthony & Garner, 2016). Many programmes may not have the flexibility to include relevant soft skills teaching activities into their already heavy course loads (Bedwell et al., 2014). There are also concerns that it is difficult to measure and record the educational outcomes of teaching students on soft skills (Anthony & Garner, 2016). What is addressed in this project is the blending in teaching of soft skills within a course without disrupting the course structure. From a course design level, the study provides a process for incorporating and measuring non-content-based learning outcomes into a course design. Also addressed is the operationalization of what outcomes constitute these attributes and rigorously collected evidence from local courses that shows how courses can employ measures of them. It is in this context that our project seeks to close the research gap on teaching of soft skills, especially empathy, in a way that does not disturb the teaching of content, so that more programmes, perhaps beyond business classes, may adopt such an intervention to develop students’ quality of empathy.

4.6 Literature Review 4.6.1 Leadership Competencies Leadership is a very complex concept. Leadership competency is defined as “the underlying characteristics of a person that lead to or cause effective and outstanding performance” (Boyatzis, 2009, p. 750). Emotional and social competencies are crucial for leaders (Boyatzis & Cavanagh, 2018) in almost all industries (Bedwell et al., 2014).

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As “a central characteristic of emotionally intelligent behaviour” (Salovey & Mayer, 1990, p. 194), empathy was not given much of recognition on lists of management competencies by prior research (Holt & Marques, 2012) and even less recognition for its development in the context of business school courses (Brown et al., 2010). It may be due to a misperception of empathy as being opposite to the stereotype of an assertive, competitive and dominant leader. However, empathy is by no means a weakness. However, research suggests that the most effective leaders possess high emotional intelligence (Goleman et al., 2002). Emotional intelligence either cause or predict effective leaders (Amdurer et al., 2014; Boyatzis, 2009; Druskat et al., 2005). According to Goleman (1998, p. 100), “empathy is particularly important today as a component of leadership for at least three reasons: the increasing use of teams, the rapid pace of globalization, and the growing need to retain talent”. Being empathetic allows the leaders to better navigate intricate work relationships. When a leader empathizes, the team members may feel more valued and understood, and therefore more trust for the leader, more motivated at work and more unity within the team. Empathy can also promote better communication and therefore improve team problem-solving and decision-making abilities (Tzouramani, 2017). As the world of business becomes more globalized, diversity in workplace is also becoming more common. Empathy is required from modern leaders to allow connection with team members from different cultural and racial backgrounds and understanding of diverse perspectives. Therefore, empathic leadership is expected to play an increasingly important role in leadership today. Moreover, research has shown a strong relationship between empathy and current theories of leadership (Tzouramani, 2017). For example, high levels of empathy are required for transformational leadership (Bass & Avolio, 1990) as it makes a leader effective (Ashkanasy & Tse, 2000) through the leader’s ability to establish a common understanding with others (Kellett et al., 2002). This is in contrast with transactional leaders who look at their team members as means to ends or cogs in a machine. However, not everyone agrees that empathy can or should be taught in a classroom (Holt, 2012). Some feel that teaching empathy in class takes away the precious time that should be used to teach students contents of the course. The coverage demands of the undergraduate business school curriculum often preclude opportunities to develop students’ propensity for cognitive empathy (Brown et al., 2010). To resolve this dilemma, we proposed the use of design thinking in the form of a social-psychological activity embedded in the course in the form of a pre-course activity to prepare students for empathy development.

4.6.2 Empathy 4.6.2.1

History

Primatologist Frans de Waal argued that empathy has existed in prehistoric time (from Segal et al., 2017). It has been postulated that empathy as a trait in human

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beings came about due to the evolution needs such as altruism, as a type of social intelligence (Davis, 1996) or kin selection (Segal et al., 2017). It helps to bring about prosocial behaviour, altruism, morality and justice, cooperation, attachment and emotional intelligence (Segal et al., 2017). It allows individual human beings to come together and work as a community to help increase the chances of our survival. For example, evolution tends to favour females, as caretakers of infants, as they were able to understand and respond to the infants’ needs (Segal et al., 2017). Empathy is a concept came about in the early 1900s by Theodor Lipps and Edward Titchener (Davis, 1996). Lipps applied a German word, einfühlung, typically used in the context of art, to describe the psychological process of a person reflecting the feeling of another person. Tichener invented the English word of “empathy” as a “translation” of Lipps’ “einfühlung”. The initial conceptualization of empathy consists of either cognitive responses or affective response. Davis (1983, 1996) had argued for a multidimensional construct of empathy which contains both emotional and cognitive aspects, with an “equal status to both cognition and emotion” (Davis 1996, p. 221).

4.6.2.2

Different Aspects of Empathy

We acknowledge that the vast literature on empathy is diverse and transdisciplinary. However, there is a general agreement that empathy is multidimensional, with cognitive and affective components (Davis, 1983; Davis et al., 1994). Cognitive empathy being a conscious processing of others on the mental level and affective empathy being a physiological and unconscious processing of others (Segal et al., 2017). Our study focused on developing the cognitive component that is also at times called perspective taking. Cognitive empathy is a conscious and intellectual process of making one comprehend another person’s emotional state or point of view (Davis, 2009; Stephan & Finlay, 1999). One can take the perspective of someone else without having to feel it oneself. It enables one to simulate another person’s thoughts or physiological processes (Davis et al., 1994). It is “the tendency to spontaneously adopt the psychological point of view of others in everyday life” (Davis et al., 1994, p. 57). Highly cognitively empathetic individuals are aware of their own thoughts and emotions, hence could effectively use those insights when interacting with others (Carré et al., 2013). On the other hand, affective empathy is the unconscious, affective response to another’s emotional state. Highly affective empathic people are often able to “feel other people’s emotions” as if they were experiencing those feelings themselves (Bryant, 1982). The affective process often involves mirroring (Iacoboni, 2008). There are three reasons why we chose cognitive empathy as the focus of this study. First, we used design thinking as a tool for teaching empathy. The framework of design thinking that we adopted makes cognitive empathy as an important first step. Second, we have designed measurement of display of empathy in students in the form of cognitive role-taking, i.e. when students display in their writing that they had inferred the mental state of others (Davis, 1996). Also, empathy trainers

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distinguish teaching “basic empathy” and “trained empathy” (Alligood, 2002; Morse et al., 1992). Basic empathy is related to the affective component of empathy, and it is something that we develop through interactions with others (Howe, 2013). It is believed that trained empathy is more cognitive in nature and that is what trainers focus on when the trainees are taught how to take another person’s perspective.

4.6.2.3

Common Misconceptions of Empathy

Empathy is generally understood as a person’s understanding or feeling of what another person is experiencing from that person’s point of view, basically to be in another person’s shoes (Henriksen, 2018). Being empathetic is a complex, demanding, strong yet subtle and gentle way of being (Rogers, 1957), it “at least temporarily unites the separate social entities of self and other” (Davis, 2009, p. 515). People commonly use sympathy interchangeably with empathy. However, empathy is not the same as sympathy based on evidence from neurosciences (Gerdes, 2011). Sympathy is a feeling of pity and sorry for someone else’s misfortune while empathy allows us to understand, not necessarily fully accepting, others’ perspectives (Henriksen, 2018). Sympathy does not require putting oneself into the shoes of another (Darwell, 1998). We can be sympathetic without engaging in any of the empathetic aspects (Segal et al., 2017). Furthermore, being sympathetic can be “condescending” as the sympathetic person can “feel bad” for someone else without feeling the same as the other person and instead being at a higher hierarchical position (Segal et al., 2017). Empathy is also not compassion. Compassion can be defined as “the feeling that arises in witnessing another’s suffering and that motivates a subsequent desire to help” (Goetz et al., 2010, p. 351). Compassion limits itself in more stressful and negative situation (Segal et al., 2017). People do not usually feel compassionate for happy people. However, compassion may share some similar aspects with empathy.

4.6.2.4

Barriers to Empathy

Although we are neurologically made to mirror others that help us in gaining an empathic insight into people, there are barriers to empathy (Segal et al., 2017). For example, we form an empathic connection easier with people we know or are familiar to us versus people who are not (Segal et al., 2017). Therefore, we tend to be more empathetic towards people who share our group identity to ensure the survival of our social group (de Waal, 2010). Fortunately, some of these barriers are cognitive-based and may be altered when our beliefs are altered (Segal et al., 2017).

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Teaching Empathy

Empathy is a quality trait that develops over time (Holt, 2012). Scholars found that younger aged individuals use empathy-based emotions less than more matured individuals (Greimel et al., 2010). Empathy is believed to be fully developed by early adulthood (Eisenberg et al., 2005) or mid-twenties (Greimel et al., 2010). While some studies seem to suggest that empathy appears to decline during college years (Hojat, 2009; Konrath et al., 2010), Eriksen (2009) found that certain aspects of empathy development can be highlighted and reinforced through the intervention of learning activities. Many scholars also found that perspective taking can still be developed in college (e.g. Eisenberg et al., 2005; Holt & Marques, 2012), as it can be enhanced with practice and feedback (Gagne et al., 1992). Indeed, Batt-Rawden et al. (2013) reviewed relevant articles and found that educational interventions increase empathy in students of medical field. The types of intervention used include reflective writing exercises requiring students to write about their own experience of illness (DasGupta & Charon, 2004; Baker, 2017; Cheung & Reeves, 2014; Gerdes et al., 2011; Hatcher et al., 1994). In this study, a significant increase in students’ empathic content in their essay was found. Other interventions being reviewed include drama intervention where students were taught to act their role (Lim et al., 2011). This study has also found an increase in students’ empathy. Also, a study done to investigate empathy for medical students, Cheung and Reeves (2014) found that students who completed an undergraduate course on Compassion in Medicine have shown greater empathy than the control group who did not complete the course. Medical students who have gone through a course on mindfulness which focuses on mind-body approaches such as meditation and guided imagery have shown greater empathic concerns in their self-reports. Hatcher et al. (1994) found empathy developing activities, i.e. Rogerian-based curriculum in Peer Facilitation training to have significant effects with tertiary students. However, it was ineffective with high school students (Hatcher et al., 1994). Specifically, for managerial and leadership development, Taylor and Ladkin (2009) advocated use of art-based methods, such as theatre, music and poetry to teach empathy. Other methods of teaching suggested including using art, role plays, interactions with people from different walks of life (Hoffman, 2000), role modelling, shadowing, mentoring (Hojat, 2009), interviews and cross-cultural exchanges (Bowen, 2014). Baker (2017) suggested that the “most authentic” way of teaching students to empathize is through travel abroad programme, service-learning projects or internship in non-profit organization (p. 852). This is because, it could reduce in-group bias, similarity bias and here-and-now bias, which would in turn increase empathy (Baker, 2017).

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4.6.3 Social-Psychological Intervention 4.6.3.1

What Is Social-Psychological Intervention?

Social-psychological interventions are a class of intervention or exercise that is typically short and appears conventional and similar to everyday experience (Walton, 2014). It aims to change how people think or feel through identifying and resolving the cognitive blocks that shape how people interpret the world (Spitzer & Aronson, 2015) or it motivates wanted behaviour (Yeager & Walton, 2011). The seemingly innocuous activities guide people to engage in effortful cognitive processing that addresses the cognitive blocks and gives preference to alternative ways of thinking (Walton, 2014).

4.6.3.2

Past Research

There are several areas where social-psychological interventions have been used. In medical field, a simple intervention of a checklist of tasks for doctors and nurses to be filled up for surgical safety has helped to reduce death rate of patients by almost 50% (from 1.5 to 0.8%) (Haynes et al., 2009). Finkel et al. (2013) designed a 21 minutes short writing tasks for subjects to complete that were aimed at helping the subjects to reassess the conflicts during their marriages to improve the marriage quality. This intervention has successfully stopped the decline of the marriage quality over time (Finkel et al., 2013). In another study, a social-psychological intervention was designed to have subjects write about positive events to help them cope with their cancer diagnosis (Meyer & Mark, 1995).

4.6.3.3

Social-Psychological Interventions in Education

In an educational context, although one of the goal of these interventions is to enhance the complex and challenging soft skills to teach, they do not replace traditional education. Instead, it supplements and enhances traditional education. If the design of such interventions is well incorporated within the learning design, there are a lot of potential in short-term and even long-term effect of these interventions in students learning process. However, it is noted that the effects of the interventions are not “magic bullets” and can be “context dependent and reliant on the nature of the educational environment” (Yeager & Walton, 2011, p. 268). Therefore, it is vital to acknowledge that these social-psychological interventions cannot exist alone, without the foundational basis of traditional education to enhance students’ learning (Yeager & Walton, 2011). We could re-visit a few well validated studies in the literature to validate the socialpsychological interventions are effective in varying contexts within the educational settings. The study by (Wilson & Linville, 1982, 1985; Wilson et al., 2002) focused

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on the intervention created to intervene a self-reinforcing attributional process where improved performance reinforced more adaptive attributions for early academic struggles. It was proven that the students in treated group were 80% less likely to drop out of college. It was also re-iterated that this fundamental intervention was replicated numerous times with varying populations (Haynes et al., 2009; Wilson et al., 2002) including adolescents (e.g. Good et al., 2003). Another study by Dweck and colleagues examined on how students’ implicit theories of intelligence shape their interpretation of and response to academic setbacks Dweck, 2006; Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Molden & Dweck, 2006). The effectual outcomes of the implicit theories are positive and robust. On a similar vein, other implicit theory interventions have also generated similar improvements in varying populations (Aronson et al., 2002; Good et al., 2003). Blackwell et al. (2007) studied the effect of the belief that intelligence is malleable on 7th grader students (as compared to the effect of the belief that intelligence is fixed). By teaching the students that intelligence is malleable, there is a positive change in class motivation in the math class as compared to a decline in motivation when students believe that intelligence is fixed. Good et al. (2003) targeted to help female, minority and low-income students to overcome threats due to stereotyping. Mentors from college would help these 7th grade students in experimental group to recognize that intelligence is malleable or view the challenges they experience in studies as a result of their new learning environment. The results showed that female, minority and low-income students in experimental conditions scored higher in tests than students in control conditions. Miyake et al. (2010) found that a short intervention about writing one’s most important values can decrease the gap in achievement between male and female students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. From a teacher’s perspective, these interventions may just serve just as one of the many classroom activities but to from a student’s perspective who is focused on their course performance (Yeager & Walton, 2011), an experience that enables the brain to flourish and build new connections when challenged or being invited to describe vital personal values may feel quite “large” (Aronson et al., 1978). Research evidence (Chase et al., 2009; Schwartz & Martin, 2004) emphasized that such socialpsychological intervention strategies help to facilitate deep processing and enable transferability of contents to new settings. One such validated approach adopted in various instances are interventions requesting students to write letters to younger students advocating the treatment message (e.g. Aronson et al., 2002; Walton & Cohen, 2007, 2011). We could acknowledge that these such interventions leverage on research on the psychology of persuasion to optimize the impact on students. Indeed, the interventions enable students to be actively involved by generating the intervention itself (Lewin, 1952). This could be re-iterated through the research on the “saying-is-believing” effect shows (Aronson, 1999), creating and articulating a persuasive message to a receptive audience is an impactful means of persuasion (for a related example, see Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). Educational social-psychological interventions are usually aimed at altering students’ emotion and thoughts regarding school or themselves. It is important that social-psychological interventions are designed from students’ viewpoint and how it

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is presented to students is carefully calibrated to ensure maximum impact. For it to be effective, the intentions of the interventions cannot be too obvious to the student, i.e. it must be “stealthy” in Yeager and Walton’s conception (2011). To achieve the “stealthiness”, students cannot be told of the intention of the interventions, and the interventions must be short and cannot seem controlling to students (Yeager & Walton, 2011). In education, there have been short exercises devised not aiming at teaching academic content but to shape students’ thoughts, feelings and beliefs in and about school (Yeager & Walton, 2011) to improve student achievement. One example of such intervention is a study conducted by Hulleman and Harackiewicz (2009) where 9th grade students were made to write a brief essay every 3 or 4 weeks to describe how the material learnt in their science class can be applied in their lives. This is based on the theory that if a science class is more personally relevant, there will be an increase in interest, engagement and performance in these students. The results of their intervention indeed provided evidence to the theory. Educational interventions have also been used to improve student retention amongst freshmen at a large university (Yeager & Walton, 2011). In a randomized control experiment, researchers asked students to review materials which explain how the brain is “like a muscle” that grows new neural pathways in response to effortful learning and subsequently write a letter to a future student that summarizes the materials (Aronson et al., 2002). They found that this intervention has significantly improved the students’ chances of completing their degrees when compared with students in the control group who received material explaining various functions of the brain (Aronson et al., 2002). Social-psychological interventions’ effects do not stop with individuals experiencing the interventions. Studies have shown that with the increase in number of students in a class who received the intervention, the class average in terms of grades is also higher. This suggests that interventions conducted on individuals are influential to the individuals’ environment. Social-psychological interventions’ effects also don’t stop at its immediate temporal effects. They are found to have long-lasting effects (Brisson et al., 2017). In Brisson et al. (2017), the effect of a short relevance intervention on students is found in 6 weeks and 5 months after the completion of intervention.

4.6.4 Evidence-Based Pedagogies: Engagement The student engagement theory is highly debated, with many different theories and reviews (Kahu & Nelson, 2017). For example, it was defined by Kuh et al. (2008, p. 542) as “both the time and energy students invest in educationally purposeful activities and the effort institutions devote to effective educational practices”. Others may include students’ cognitive and emotional involvement into their learning (Fredericks et al., 2004).

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There is a consensus that students’ higher level of engagement in learning correlates to a more desirable learning outcomes, such as critical thinking and grades (Carini et al., 2006). The rationale of this finding may be simply that the more students engage with the learning materials the more skilful they become (Kuh, 2003). As Finn and Zimmer (2012) outlined that engaged students do, in fact, have a better understanding of the covered course materials, through more reading, practising and getting feedbacks. Students who are engaged will certainly have a much higher productivity in their classroom experience and extending beyond the walls of a classroom. Some of the benefits include the transitional shift of engaged students’ motivations from extrinsic to intrinsic (Vansteenkiste et al., 2004) and improved students’ attendance rate (Clay & Breslow, 2006). Student engagement is also correlated with self-reported positive learning outcomes, enhanced student achievements and deeper level of involvement in public service (Carini et al., 2006) and job engagement (Busteed & Seymour, 2015). Engaged students go beyond making it easier for the instructors to manage the class, where their behavioural aspects encourage instructors to put in more efforts in their course of instruction (Skinner & Belmont, 1993). Having a thorough comprehension by the instructors of students’ learning attitudes, behavioural aspects and students’ profile allow the adoption of a well-blended mixture of instructional approaches in achieving optimal learning effectiveness (Rajaram & Collins, 2013). Apart from a supportive (Pike et al., 2006; Zepke et al., 2014) and adaptive institution (McInnis, 2003; Yorke, 2006; Zepke et al., 2014), students also need support in their family, social, cultural and employment environment (Zepke et al., 2014). Research so far has identified important factors in engagement of students such as motivation, teachers, institutions and environment (Zepke et al., 2014). Students are motivated by competency, autonomy and relatedness (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Zepke et al., 2014). When teachers support learning, especially in helping students to learn collaboratively, and respect students despite their different backgrounds, they tend to engage students (Gavala & Flett, 2005; Zepke et al., 2014). However, teachers and students may not agree on the type of teachers’ behaviours which engages students (Zepke et al., 2014). From studies on massive open online courses (MOOCs), we also learnt that: (1) student engagement decreases through the semester (Kizilcec et al., 2013); but (2) instructor’s intervention can initiate engagement (Gaševi´c et al., 2015); and (3) the type of learning activities students are exposed to affects how much they are engaged. Learning practices such as making students learn in a community or complete serviceoriented activities increase engagement (Brownell & Swaner, 2009). Other practices like traditional lecture decrease engagement. Based on the previous research, we made the conscious decision to schedule the first activity right before the semester started and focused on a service-oriented problem, through advising a younger student in improving education.

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4.6.5 Design Thinking As the business world gets more and more complex and competitive, design thinking becomes a very useful tool solving the ill-defined and vague problems one could encounter (Glen et al., 2014). This tool enables business schools to relate and comprehend the actual needs of all stakeholders and have the courses highly contextualized to the continuous changes, highly complex and demanding needs and expectations.

4.6.5.1

Definition

Design thinking is defined as an interactive and iterative process where designers (a) investigate the identified issues in some context of problem-solving concepts/ideas; (b) relate and connect between ideas to address the problem; and (c) examine the collated information as a reference for advanced design endeavours (Do & Gross, 2001; Lloyd & Scott, 1994). Kolko (2015) defines design thinking as a collective set of principles that empathizes with users, a discipline of prototyping and is tolerant in terms of failure on its operation. Whereas Tim Brown advocates that design thinking “is a disciple that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity” (HBR). Its introduction into the business world has been advocated by scholars such as Herbert Simon since 1960s (Glen et al., 2014).

4.6.5.2

History

The history of design thinking can be traced all the way back to the 1960s (Brenner et al., 2016), originating in the world of commercial, process and environment design (Eisbach & Stigliani, 2018). Design thinking has often been described as “usercentered” (e.g. Carlgren et al., 2014) and driven by “empathy” (Koppen & Meinel, 2015).

4.6.5.3

Application of Design Thinking

More and more governments have been looking into the use of design thinking in solving national problems (Koh et al., 2015). One may also find the application of design thinking in areas such as product design (e.g. Brown, 2008), food product (e.g. Olsen, 2015; Sheehan et al., 2018) and community services and social innovation (e.g. Liedtka et al., 2013; Sheehan et al., 2018). In the field of management, design thinking has been attracting a lot of interest with practitioners, including in business strategy formulation (Sheehan et al., 2018). In education, scholars are also increasingly examining the use of design thinking in improving curriculum and pedagogy

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(Koh et al., 2015). For teachers, design thinking can also be used to develop their pedagogical skills, formulate and create lesson strategies (Koh et al., 2015), helping case writers in writing new teaching cases (Sheehan, 2018). For students, design thinking is a skill that they can use to support broad learning and for complex problem-solving. It prepares them for the workplace in the complex and dynamic current world (Koh et al., 2015). It has also been used in creating learning experiences for student (Welsh & Dehler, 2013), development of students’ critical reasoning and interpersonal skills (Glen et al., 2015; Sheehan, 2018), improve student and programme assessment (Benson & Dresdow, 2015) and establish business studios for students (Barry & Meisiek, 2015).

4.6.5.4

Design Thinking and Leadership: Transformational Leadership

In business management education, distinction was made between transactional and transformational leadership styles (Bass, 1998). Transactional leaders look at their workers as means to ends or cogs in a machine while transformational leaders look at their workers and see people with wants, needs and desires (Bass, 1990). In the modern globalized business world, transformational leaders make effective leaders as they would come into contact and deal with people from diverse backgrounds. As such, the modern business school instructors also seek to groom their students into transformational leaders. To be a transformational leader, a leader is required to establish a common understanding with others (Kellett et al., 2002). To build this connection between leaders and employees, leaders would require having cognitive empathy. Working within an existing curriculum, we sought to elicit and capture a measure of cognitive empathy development by introducing the Stanford d. school’s version of the design thinking process (Brown, 2008) since it has a specific emphasis on empathizing.

4.6.5.5

Design Thinking Versus Management Functions

Design thinking and management functions both perform the role of providing a workflow. Design process involves 5 stages which include understanding the needs, defining the problem, brainstorming the findings, having to test the proposed prototype or models and seeking feedback. Each of these stages has an important rationale in terms of practicality aspects of why it is carried out. The first stage of need analysis serves as an avenue to examine by relating and empathizing from the users’ perspectives. The raw findings are then interpreted to define the problem and solutions explored through the brainstorming sessions. Thereafter, a proposed prototype is then put to test which enables to solicit feedback. As for the management functions, there are 4 key pillars which characterize them, namely POLC—Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling. In each of these functions, a few key essential workflow processes are addressed. In planning phase, relevant organizational goals and courses of action are identified to achieve those goals. Whereas in organizing

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Fig. 4.2 Design thinking process flow

Fig. 4.3 POLC management functions process flow

phase, authority and task relationships are established which enables people to work together to achieve organizational goals. For the leading phase, coordinating, energizing and motivation of individuals as well as groups in attaining its organizational goals through working together are essential aspects. In controlling phase, precise measuring and monitoring systems are established to access the performance of the organization through the achievement of its goals. Figures 4.2 and 4.3 illustrate the flow of design thinking process and POLC functional stages. In designing activities for a management course, we could frame the course either as focusing on a process or on pillars of knowledge that facilitate different forms of learning. Design thinking emphasizes on the process flow by which the activities are being created, whereas with a POLC framework, it focuses more on the pillars of knowledge through each functional phase. Taking a deeper perspective on both the design thinking process and POLC workflow, we could identify some key distinctive features amongst them. It is clear that design thinking focuses on the re-iterative aspect in its workflow process whereas the POLC emphasis on the end outcomes through the pillars of knowledge with an inclination towards a one-directional flow and fulfilling the requirements at each of its functional stages respectively. The feedback phase in the design thinking process serves directly as an avenue to inputs the needs from the end users as a re-alignment and calibration tool. However, for POLC, the controlling phase serves as a final stage as more of a monitoring mechanism. In Table 4.1, a comparative analysis on the design thinking process versus POLC

138 Table 4.1 Design thinking process versus four functions of Management—POLC (*)

4 Social-Psychological Intervention … Measuring criteria Design thinking

POLC (*)

Value of Information

Qualitative

Quantitative

Organizational Structure

Fluid

Rigid

Problem-Solving

Collaborative (Inter-disciplinary)

Cooperative (Multi-disciplinary)

Decision-Making

Flat

Hierarchical

(*) Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling

workflow is performed against four key distinctive features. Firstly, the value of information refers to the common type of outputs expected. For design thinking, we could categorize that as more towards qualitative as the work process tends to focus towards iterative whereas the POLC workflow expects quantitative outputs. This is largely because at each functional stage of the knowledge pillar, the expectation tends to be in the form of meeting certain explicit requirements which are supposedly to be quantified. Next, the organizational structure refers to the structure of the workflow. The structure is more fluid for design thinking process and inclined towards rigidity for POLC workflow. This categorization of structure is largely due to the nature of how the process of information is being communicated and used for decision-making. From a problem-solving perspective, design thinking tends to be more collaborative and inter-disciplinary because the scope of analysis tends to be within a specific domain. This means there will be collaboration that happens amongst the individuals and groups within the context. In comparison with POLC workflow, problem-solving is seen to more towards cooperative and multidisciplinary due to the functional nature of its process by and large. This is to say that to achieve the expected outcomes eventually, there should be cooperation between each of the functional stage. Moreover, the process is inclined towards more multidisciplinary largely because at each functional stage, various disciplines, for example, marketing, human resource, finance, accounting, etc. may be involved to fulfil the explicit functional needs at that particular stage. Lastly, for the decision-making, for the design thinking process, it tends to be flat. This is largely due to the possibility of anyone involved within process could make their inputs as the emphasis is about the iterative process which targets at enhancements through the cyclic flow. However, the decision-making for the POLC workflow is more towards hierarchical because the unspoken sequential flow is present, and it may not be possible to reverse that process so easily and conveniently. Furthermore, the requirements at each stage need to be fulfilled so that the next stage’s flow could be easily achieved.

4.6 Literature Review

4.6.5.6

139

Design Thinking Frameworks

There are several interpretations of what design thinking is (Retna, 2016), that include frameworks proposed by Brown (2008), Liedtka and Ovilvie (2011), Martin (2009) and the Stanford d.school. These frameworks may have different terminology for the design steps, but the fundamental principles are similar (Liedtka, 2014). Amongst the frameworks, teachers often adopt the Stanford d.school’s framework when teaching students how to apply design thinking (Purdy, 2014; Sheehan et al., 2018). The process of design thinking in the Stanford d.school framework consists of five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test (Fig. 4.4 shows the stages of this version of design thinking). The most crucial part of the process is “empathize” where the designer is required to understand the needs and wants of the people he is solving the problems for. Only then, the designer can define the problem and brainstorm the solution, which leads to prototypes and testing of the prototypes to obtain feedback on whether it meets the needs of people. Current Research Study We designed the learning activity based on the Stanford d.school’s process of design thinking as a way of introducing and developing the non-content-based skills of empathy in our course. It does not impress upon students the importance of psychological constructs such as empathy, leadership and academic engagement directly, rather, it sets the stage for students to converge on these realizations for themselves. Interventions

Fig. 4.4 Stanford d.school’s framework of design thinking

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4.7 Intervention 1 4.7.1 Introduction For this intervention, it comprises of two conditions. Students from four sections of one course were randomly assigned into the two conditions of Principles of Management (POM) and Design Thinking (DT). Students from each condition go through their assigned resources. At the end of the activity, the students will have to complete a writing activity. Condition 1 (Course Section A)

Condition 2 (Course Section B)

Management (POM)

Empathy (Design Thinking)

4.7.2 Hypothesis Hypothesis 1. Students are unlikely to complete a voluntary course activity that is only tangentially related to the course content. Hypothesis 2. Condition effect on use of terms Hypothesis 2A. Of the students who completed the voluntary activity, they will use the terms introduced in their version of the voluntary course activity when asked to solve a problem based on those resources.

Hypothesis 3. Students will not apply the material provided in an optional activity to the activity itself.

4.7.3 Methods 4.7.3.1

Participants

For the writing activity, 86 undergraduate students enrolled in a business management course voluntarily consented to making their course activity data and assignments available for analysis. 54 of the students were female, and 32 were male. The students came from four course sections of a larger cohort. Different instructors facilitated these sections. For the ethical assignment, 71 undergraduate students consented for their writing data to be made available for analysis. 43 students were female, and 28 were male. For the field report, 84 undergraduate students consented for their writing data to be made available for analysis. 54 students were female, and 30 were male.

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141

Materials

Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) sequences. With guidance from the course instructor, we used the LAMS platform to assemble two sets of learning sequences. LAMS enables learning designers and course developers to sequence the presentation of online materials and host learning activities like quizzes, written assignments and collaborative activities for students to complete (Ghiglione & Dalziel, 2007). The platform interfaces with the campus’ learning management infrastructure so the outcomes of the individual LAMS activities can be recorded in the course’s online gradebook. Although the two themes of the resources and materials differed slightly, our two activity sequences proceeded through the same presentation structure: (1) an overview of the module and what students were expected to do while completing the sequence, (2) two animated videos followed by a transcript of an interview related to the sequence’s theme, (3) a summary of recent psychological studies related to decision-making processes and (4) a short writing activity asking students to apply what they learned from the resources. Figures 4.5 and 4.6 show the structure of the functions of management and design thinking LAMS sequences, respectively. Regarding the themes themselves, the resources and materials within the sequences highlighted either design thinking stages or business management functions. The design thinking sequence focused on the steps of Stanford’s d.school design thinking process (Brown, 2008) and explicitly referenced the importance of cognitive empathy for understanding people and solving problems. The management functions sequence presented students with the four functions of management based on Fayol’s (1949) model and an abridged interview with Henry Mintzberg (1994) on

Fig. 4.5 Functions of management LAMS sequence

Fig. 4.6 Design thinking LAMS sequence

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the qualities of good managers. While the concepts explained in the design thinking materials were new to the students, the concepts in the management material were a review of concepts introduced earlier in the semester. LAMS writing activity. For the final component of both LAMS sequences, students read a short scenario embedded within a letter from a prospective university student. In the scenario, a high school student explains that she has been tasked with providing input into the formation of a committee to imagine the future of learning in higher education. The scenario states that the committee must to be composed of high school students from across the district and needed to meet monthly for six months. At the end of the six months, the committee will present its vision and a detailed proposed plan to university and education leaders. At the end of the scenario, the prospective student asks for advice on how to approach the situation. The activity then specifies that students should write a short letter of at least two to three paragraphs to the prospective student in response to her query. Students entered their response to the scenario into a text box below the scenario description. As not to unintentionally prime students towards a particular response, none of the design thinking and the functions of management terms explained in the resources were used in the scenario’s description. We also intentionally left the focus of the advice and how to structure it undefined. Students completed the entire activity sequence on their own time outside of class. Course materials and lectures. Students in each section met once a week for the scheduled class session with the instructor. Each session ran for four hours. During class time, the instructor led students through a mix of lecture slides, discussion activities and case studies. Both sections followed the same syllabus, covered the same course materials in the same sequence, conducted the same in-class activities and used the same lecture slides presented by the same lecturer. By the time of the activity, the lectures had presented students with an overview of the four functions of management and provided opportunities for in-depth discussions about planning and organizing. Procedures. Before the start of the semester, the course coordinator made a version of the LAMS module available to the students through the course’s online learning management system. The instructors of the course did not take part in developing the content and structure of both LAMS sequences and were blind to which sequence was provided to which sections. Each version of the sequence presented a slightly different set of resources. In one condition, students received content emphasizing the functions of management, project management and decision-making. In the second condition, students received content emphasizing design thinking, empathy and decision-making. Table 4.2 contrasts the differences between each condition. Prior to the activity’s release, the instructor briefed the students in each section about the activity at the end of their respective class periods. He emphasized that the activity was voluntary and would not be directly graded, but it was nonetheless important to the course’s learning outcomes and objectives. The activity remained active for three weeks. In accordance with the university’s institutional review board’s policies regarding voluntary consent, a description of the research study, a consent form requesting

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Table 4.2 LAMS sequence resource descriptions by condition (activities) Resource

Condition Principles of management

Design thinking

Video 1

Introduction to the principles of management

A. Introduction to empathy B. Importance of empathy

Video 2

Introduction to project management

Introduction to design thinking

Reading 1

Interview with Henry Mintzberg on the qualities of a good manager

Interview with CEOs on design thinking’s application to management

Reading 2

Summary of recent psychological findings relevant to business decision-making

access to students’ activity data and course assignments and a learner profile questionnaire were available to the students online. It was emphasized that participation in the study was voluntary, and participation neither would positively nor negatively affect participants’ grades. Students then choose whether to provide or withhold consent. Students who provided consent subsequently filled out a questionnaire focusing on their expected level of academic engagement of the remainder of the semester, the quality of their learning, and their propensity for perspective taking. The answer choices for each item were presented as a four-point, unidirectional Likert scale. Students who chose not to participate in the study were also able to access the LAMS sequence content.

4.7.3.3

Measures and Reliability

We coded the LAMS writing activity according to five variables, (1) whether a response was submitted, (2) how many of the introduced management terms the activity included, (3) how many of the six introduced design thinking terms the activity included, (4) what the focus of the advice was and (5) whether the student empathized with the prospective student featured in the activity. We used a binary coding scheme to indicate whether a participant completed the LAMS sequence. For the management and design thinking terms, we created categories for each of the core management functions and design thinking stages. While reading each response, a researcher assigned a binary value to each category based on the presence or absence of the given concepts. The management terms included planning, organizing, leading, controlling and goal setting. The design thinking terms included empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing, along with design thinking itself. Students received credit for using a concept even if they only mentioned the term. Students did not have to apply the term to their solution or explain its meaning. After the initial coding of the writings, we totalled the scores for the management terms into a single variable ranging from zero to five. We calculated the total for the design thinking terms the same way into a variable ranging from zero to six.

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We also coded the LAMS writing activity for the presence or absence of cognitive empathy towards the prospective student. As an example, a student could show cognitive empathy for the prospective student in the LAMS writing activity by recognizing that the prospective student may not have had experience organizing diverse groups of individuals and explained the procedure for how to set a meeting, book a room and organize people. We also coded the type of focus students showed when responding to the prospective student. We identified four levels of focus related to process orientation: (1) the student opted out of the activity by either not submitting a response or attempting the activity, (2) the student did not provide an obvious focus, (3) the student focused on the scenario’s outcome (the presentation) and (4) the student focused on the process (forming a committee). For responses judged not to have a focus, students merely summarized the content of the resources and did not address the prospective student. Outcome focused responses emphasized the presentation the committee had to give at the end of the six months. When focusing on the process, students explained how or what the prospective student should consider when setting up the committee that was responsible for developing the presentation. For all the qualitative measures of level of focus and the presence of empathy, a second coder was used to provide a calculation of inter-rater reliability. As with the first coder, the second coder is blind to condition. With respect to identifying the set of management and design thinking terms, a custom automated text analysis tool was used in lieu of a second coder. The average Cohen’s κ for all measures was 0.998 and the kappa value for every measure exceeded 0.51 and reached significance at the 0.05 level, indicating a very good level of inter-rater reliability.

4.7.4 Results 4.7.4.1

Results (Activities)

Assignment Completion by Conditions 94% of the students enrolled in the 4 classes, i.e. 162 (out of 172 students) agreed to participate in the study. 55% of the consenting students, i.e. 89 (out of 162 students) completed the writing activity. Of the 89 students who completed the study, 52 underwent design thinking sequence and 37 underwent management sequence. The chi-square goodness-of-fit test results in a p value of 0.112, hence we can conclude that the difference in the number of students between the two conditions is not statistically significant,1 which confirms the good spread of students. Distribution Across Conditions

1χ 2

(1) = 2.528, p = 0.112.

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Table 4.3 Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (activities) Variable

Management (SD) (N = 35)

Design thinking (SD) (N = 51)

F ratio

Sig.

Gender

1.60 (0.50)

1.65 (0.48)

0.193

0.662

Year

2.29 (0.52)

2.57 (0.78)

3.519

0.064

Residency

1.14 (0.49)

1.18 (0.52)

0.091

0.764

Class preparation

3.81 (1.83)

4.68 (2.02)

4.089

0.046

*Out of the 89 students who completed the writing activity, only 86 of them consented for their particulars to be used in the studies

Before analysing the data to answer the hypothesis, we conducted MANOVA to determine whether gender, year in school, residency or academic expectations differed by conditions. Table 4.3 shows the results of the analyses. None of the analyses were found to be significant, so we proceed under the assumption that the samples found amongst the two conditions were equivalent. Use of Management and Design Thinking Concepts by Conditions We conducted a MANOVA using the LAMS sequence conditions (Management and Design thinking) as the independent variables and the number of used management concepts and design thinking concepts as dependent variables. The analysis shows that differences between the sequence conditions on the combined dependent variables were statistically significant.2 Follow-up univariate ANOVAs identified a main effect of condition with respect to both usage of design thinking concepts3 and usage of management concepts.4 As Fig. 4.7 shows, those who went through design thinking sequence used an average of 1.8 more design thinking concepts than those who went through management sequence. The results from the follow-up univariate ANOVA test showed that this difference was statistically significant. As for management concepts, those who went through management sequence used an average of 0.8 more management concepts than those who went through design thinking sequence. The results from the follow-up univariate ANOVA test showed that this difference was statistically significant. As for comparison within a sequence, the result from paired samples test showed that when one goes through the management sequence, there is a greater use of management concepts compared to design thinking concepts used and this difference is statistically significant.5 Similarly, when one goes through the design thinking sequence, there is a greater use of design thinking concepts than management concepts and the difference is statistically significant as well.6 (2, 86) = 27.470, p < 0.0005; Wilks’  = 0.610. (1, 87) = 41.573, p < 0.0005; partial η2 = 0.323. 4 F (1, 87) = 7.382, p = 0.008 < 0.025; partial η2 = 0.078. 5 t (36) = 6.220, p < 0.0005, d = 1.023. 6 t (51) = − 2.983, p = 0.004, d = 0.414. 2F 3F

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Fig. 4.7 Usage of concepts by conditions (activities)

Presence of Empathy by Conditions As shown in Fig. 4.8, we found that 19 (36.5%) out of the 52 students who went through design thinking sequence empathized with the prospective students. On the other hand, 5 (13.5%) out of the 37 students who went through management sequence

Fig. 4.8 Presence of empathy by conditions (activities)

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Table 4.4 Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (ethical assignment) Variable

Management (SD) (N = 32)

Design thinking (SD) (N = 39)

F ratio

Sig.

Gender

1.59 (0.50)

1.62 (0.49)

0.033

0.855

Year

2.28 (0.52)

2.59 (0.82)

3.404

0.069

Residency

1.16 (0.52)

1.21 (0.57)

0.141

0.709

Class preparation

3.78 (1.89)

4.65 (2.11)

3.304

0.073

*Out of the 73 students who completed the writing activity, only 71 of them consented for their particulars to be used in the studies

empathized with the prospective students. A chi-square test of homogeneity indicates that this difference in proportion of 23.0% was statistically significant.7

4.7.4.2

Results (Ethical Assignment)

Assignment Completion by Conditions 94% of the students enrolled in the 4 semesters, i.e. 162 (out of 172 students) agreed to participate in the study. 55% of the consenting students, i.e. 89 (out of 162 students), completed the writing activity. Out of the 89 students who completed the study, 73 completed the ethical assignment, where 39 of them underwent design thinking sequence and 34 of them underwent management sequence. The chi-square goodness-of-fit test results in a p value of 0.558, hence we can conclude that the difference in the number of students between the two conditions is not statistically significant.8 Distribution Across Conditions Before analysing the data to answer the hypothesis, we conducted MANOVA to determine whether gender, year in school, residency or academic expectations differed by conditions. Table 4.4 shows the results of the analyses. None of the analyses was found to be significant, so we proceed under the assumption that the samples found amongst the two conditions were equivalent. Presence of Empathy by Conditions As shown in Fig. 4.9, we found that 15 (38.5%) out of the 39 students who went through design thinking sequence empathized with the prospective students. On the other hand, 10 (29.4%) out of the 34 students who went through management sequence empathized with the prospective students.

7χ 2 8χ 2

(1, N = 89) = 5.819, p = 0.016. (1) = 0.342, p = 0.558.

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Fig. 4.9 Presence of empathy by conditions (ethical assignment)

4.7.4.3

Results (Field Report)

Assignment Completion by Conditions 94% of the students enrolled in the 4 semesters, i.e. 162 (out of 172 students) agreed to participate in the study. 55% of the consenting students, i.e. 89 (out of 162 students), completed the writing activity. Out of the 89 students who completed the study, 87 completed the field report, where 50 of them underwent design thinking sequence and 37 of them underwent management sequence. Distribution Across Conditions Before analysing the data to answer the hypothesis, we conducted MANOVA to determine whether gender, year in school, residency or academic expectations differed by conditions. Table 4.5 shows the results of the analyses. None of the Table 4.5 Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (field report) Variable

Management (SD) (N = 35)

Design thinking (SD) (N = 49)

F ratio

Sig.

Gender

1.60 (0.50)

1.67 (0.47)

0.471

0.494

Year

2.29 (0.52)

2.57 (0.79)

3.491

0.065

Residency

1.14 (0.49)

1.16 (0.51)

0.033

0.856

Class preparation

3.81 (1.83)

4.62 (1.98)

3.635

0.060

*Out of the 87 students who completed the writing activity, only 84 of them consented for their particulars to be used in the studies

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Fig. 4.10 Presence of empathy by conditions (Field Report)

analyses was found to be significant, so we proceed under the assumption that the samples found amongst the two conditions were equivalent. Use of Management and Design Thinking Concepts by Conditions. Presence of Empathy by Conditions As shown in Fig. 4.10, we found that 16 (32.0%) out of the 50 students who went through design thinking sequence empathized with the prospective students. On the other hand, 7 (18.9%) out of the 37 students who went through management sequence empathized with the prospective students. A chi-square test of homogeneity indicates that this difference in proportion of 13.1% was statistically insignificant.9

4.7.5 Discussion Hypothesis 1—Students opt-out of optional activities We posited Hypothesis 1 to counter the perception held by many instructors that when students see the word “optional” they tend to “opt out” of the activity. As our results show, when provided with a novel opportunity to showcase what they have learned, majority of the students in the four sections seized it (55% of the consenting students completed the writing activity). While this study was not designed to test which features of the activity actually drew students in and engaged them, as previously mentioned, we did design the activity in accordance with common design principles for increasing and harnessing engagement by offering it early in the semester, 9χ 2

(1, N = 87) = 1.871, p = 0.171.

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Fig. 4.11 Usage of concepts in functions of management and design thinking activity sequences

using a variety of materials, and making the writing activity personally meaningful to students. Hypothesis 2—Condition effect on use of terms Hypothesis 2A—Of the students who completed the voluntary activity, they will use the terms introduced in their version of the voluntary course activity when asked to solve a problem based on those resources.

An analysis was carried out to determine the effect of students who went through two different sequences, the management sequence and the design thinking sequence. Figure 4.11 presents the results of usage of the number of management and design thinking concepts in the management and design thinking activity sequences. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean management concepts used between students who underwent management and design thinking sequences.10 Students who underwent design thinking sequences used 1.8 more design thinking concepts than students who underwent management sequences. The results from the follow-up univariate ANOVA test showed that this difference was statistically significant. As for management concepts, those who went through management sequence used an average of 0.8 more management concepts than those who went through design thinking sequence. The results from the follow-up univariate ANOVA test showed that this difference was statistically significant. Hence, we can conclude from the results that the type of activity sequences that the student went through shows a correlated effect with the number of types of concepts used, respectively. 10 F

(2, 86) = 27.470, p < 0.0005; Wilks’  = 0.610.

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Hypothesis 3—Students will not apply the material provided in an optional activity to the activity itself We realized it is one thing to show students will complete a learning activity. It is another to show students actually applied what they learned during the activity to the assessment of the learning activity. One worry amongst instructors is students “go through the motions” when completing ungraded assignments because there is nothing at stake. In our own experiences consulting with instructors, we have encountered instructors devising schemes to award fractions of points to assignments just to ensure students generate “meaningful” responses. We took a different approach and worked to ensure the design of the activity was inherently meaningful to students by casting the protagonist of the activity’s scenario as someone students could readily identify with—a capable student tasked with completing an ambiguous task for the benefit of others like themselves. The design decisions seem to have worked. As indicated, by using the introduced terms, students did use sequence specific terms when advising the prospective student on how to solve the problem. While it is heartening to know students took the time to review the materials and apply them to a novel problem, in another sense, it is troubling that when students are asked to “apply what they have learned” they gravitate toward mentioning the key terms they have been recently introduced to— even if the situation does not call for it. Essentially, the use of design thinking and management terms were measures of students’ ability to comprehend and recall recent information rather than apply the meaning behind those terms. That 95% of students used the terms from their respective conditions implies that students interpreted “apply” as actually meaning “summarize and/or correctly use”. Hypothesis 4—Condition effects on the presence of cognitive empathy Hypothesis 4A—Students who received resources on design thinking will be more likely to display empathy in letter writing activity than students who received resources on management.

Finally, our analyses support the hypothesis that the design thinking process that emphasizes empathy would induce students to display cognitive empathy in their advice. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the study, we cannot conclude whether the design thinking sequence facilitated cognitive empathy or whether the functions of management sequence suppressed it. Our study does not have a control condition on which to base such a conclusion. Still, as far as providing an easy-to-execute activity for students to display complex problem-solving and cognitive empathy in a management context, our activity must be considered a success. Students in the design thinking condition were more likely to identify the potential feelings of the prospective student and consider them as they offered management advice. Hypothesis 4B—Students who received resources on design thinking will be more likely to display empathy in ethical assignment than students who received resources on management.

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Our analyses showed a higher presence of cognitive empathy in the design thinking condition than the management condition. This validates that the process pathway in design thinking enables the presence of cognitive empathy to be higher. Hypothesis 4C—Students who received resources on design thinking will be more likely to display empathy in field report than students who received resources on management.

Finally, our analyses showed a higher presence of cognitive empathy in the design thinking condition than the management condition. We are unsure whether it is the time lapse between the exposures of resources to the date of field report completion that caused the effect of the design thinking resources on students’ cognitive empathy to decrease. Inline to the hypothesis 5B and 5C that were analysed, despite the positive outcomes that emerge, there were some aspects that we would like to further investigate. For example, we are unsure whether it is the time lapse between the exposures of resources to the date of field report completion that caused the effect of the design thinking resources on students’ cognitive empathy to decrease. Design thinking is not normally used in everyday life of a student. During the four to five weeks since the introduction of the design thinking to students, students would also learn many other concepts. It is possible that students would have forgotten the learning of concepts during this period. Another possibility for the decreasing effect of the intervention on students is the nature of what is changed by the intervention. In past studies where long-term effects were observed (Yeager and Walton, 2011), students’ selfmotivation or conditions within were altered due to the intervention which creates long-term improvement in their own grades. In our project, the same conditions within the students were altered to be applied to external conditions (empathy to other stakeholders). Therefore, the motivation for change to others vs self may be different. It is argued that perhaps students are less motivated to change themselves for others. Perhaps, future reiterations of the interventions will explore the effect of time on the results.

4.8 Intervention 2 The intervention has expanded to include students from 6 sections of one course. In the current iteration, students may go through one of the four different conditions. They may still go through either function of management resources or design thinking resources. The difference is that at the end of the resource viewing, they may again be randomly assigned to either write a letter of advice or simply a summary of the resources being viewed. The four conditions are functions of management-active (FM-A), functions of management-passive (FM-P), design thinking-active (DT-A) and design thinking-passive (DT-P). The students wrote a letter of advice after they go through the two active sequences: FM-A and DT-A. The students wrote a summary after they go through the two passive sequences: FM-P and DT-P.

4.8 Intervention 2 Activity types *

153 Conditions Functions of Management-Active (FM-A)

Design Thinking-Active (DT-A)

Functions of Management-Passive (FM-P)

Design Thinking-Passive (DT-P)

* Activity Types Active = Write a letter of advice Passive = Write a summary

4.8.1 Hypothesis Hypothesis 1. Students are unlikely to complete a voluntary course activity that is only tangentially related to the course content. Hypothesis 2. Condition effect on use of terms Of the students who completed the voluntary activity, they will use the terms introduced in their version of the voluntary course activity when asked to solve a problem based on those resources. Hypothesis 3. Students will not apply the material provided in an optional activity to the activity itself Hypothesis 4. Conditions effects on the presence of cognitive empathy Hypothesis 4A. Students who received resources on design thinking (active) and functions of management (active) process will be more likely to display empathy in letter writing activity than students who received resources on design thinking (passive) and management (passive) to display empathy in summary writing. Hypothesis 4B. Students who received resources on design thinking (active) and functions of management (active) process will be more likely to display empathy in ethics reasoning assignment than students who received resources on design thinking (passive) and management (passive) to display empathy in the ethics reasoning assignment. Hypothesis 4C. Students who received resources on design thinking (active) and functions of management (active) process will be more likely to display empathy in ethics reasoning assignment than students who received resources on design thinking (passive) and management (passive) to display empathy in the field report.

4.8.2 Method 4.8.2.1

Participants

This study involves 133 undergraduate students enrolled in a business management course voluntarily consented to making their course activity data and assignments available for analysis. For the writing activity, 132 undergraduate students voluntarily

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consented to making their course activity data and assignments available for analysis. 75 of the students were female, and 57 were male. The students came from six course sections of a larger cohort. Different instructors facilitated these sections. For the ethical assignment, 128 undergraduate students consented for their writing data to be made available for analysis. 73 students were female, and 55 were male. For the field report, 131 undergraduate students consented for their writing data to be made available for analysis. 75 students were female, and 55 were male.

4.8.2.2

Materials

As for the two themes, functions of management sequences presented to students a video of four functions of management based on Fayol (1949)’s model and an abridged interview with Henry Mintzberg (1994) on the qualities of good managers. The design sequences focused on the steps of Stanford’s d.school design thinking process (Brown, 2008) and explicitly referenced the importance of cognitive empathy for understanding people and solving problems. While the concepts explained in the design thinking materials were new to the students, the concepts in the management material were a review of concepts introduced earlier in the semester. LAMS writing activity. For the final component of four LAMS sequences, there were two possible writing activities. Some students were asked to write a short summary of what they had learnt from the materials and resources. Others would first read a short scenario embedded within a letter from a prospective university student. In this letter, a high school student explained that she had been tasked to provide input for the formation of a committee that imagines the future of learning in higher education. The scenario stated that the committee must be composed of high school students from across the districts and the committee had to meet up weekly for six months. At the end of the six months, the committee would present its vision to universities and education leaders. At the end of the scenario, the prospective student asked for advice on how to approach the situation. The activity then specified that students to write a short letter of at least two to three paragraphs to the prospective student in response to her query. Students then entered their responses to the scenario into a text box below the scenario description. As not to unintentionally prime students towards a particular response, none of the design thinking and the functions of management terms explained in the resources were used in the scenario description. We also intentionally left the focus of the advice and how to structure it undefined. Students completed the entire activity sequence in their own time outside of the class. Course material and lectures. Students in each of the six seminar groups met once a week for the scheduled class session with their respective instructor. Each session ran for three hours. During class time, the instructors led students through a mix of lecture slides, discussion activities and case studies. All seminar groups followed the same syllabus and covered the same course materials in the same sequence. By the time of the second writing activity, the ethical reasoning assignment, students

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would have been presented with an overview of the four functions of management and provided opportunities for in-depth discussions about planning and organizing.

4.8.2.3

Procedures

LAMS writing activity. Before the start of semester, the course coordinator made a version of the LAMS module available to all six seminar groups through the course’s online learning management system. The course coordinator helped to develop the content and structure of the LAMS sequences but was blind to which sequence was provided to which students. Each version of the sequence presented a slightly different set of resources. For the functions of management conditions (FM-A and FM-P), students received content emphasizing the functions of management, project management and decision-making. In the design thinking conditions (DT-A and DTP), students received content emphasizing design thinking, empathy and decisionmaking. Table 4.6 contrasts the differences between each condition. Table 4.6 LAMS sequence resource descriptions by condition Resource

Condition Principles of management (active)

Principles of management (passive)

Design thinking Design thinking (active) (passive)

Module overview Description of what needs to be done in this LAMS module

Description of what needs to be done in this LAMS module

Description of what needs to be done in this LAMS module

Description of what needs to be done in this LAMS module

Video 1

Introduction to the principles of management

Introduction to the principles of management

Introduction to empathy

A. Introduction to empathy B. Importance of empathy

Video 2

Introduction to project management

Introduction to project management

Introduction to design thinking

Introduction to design thinking

Reading 1

Interview with Henry Mintzberg on the qualities of a good manager

Interview with Henry Mintzberg on the qualities of a good manager

Interview with CEOs on design thinking’s application to management

Interview with CEOs on design thinking’s application to management

Reading 2

Summary of recent psychological findings relevant to business decision-making

Written output by To write an advice students to a prospective student in response to her query

To write a summary of what the student has learned from the LAMs module

To write an advice to a prospective student in response to her query

To write a summary of what the student has learned from the LAMs module

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Students were informed that the activity was voluntary and they would not be graded, but it was nonetheless important to the course’s learning outcomes and objectives. The activity remained active for one week. Ethical reasoning assignment. In the fifth week of the semester, students had to submit an individual assignment of 800 words, analysing unethical acts in organization(s). All students must submit the individual assignment which carries 15% weightage of the total course score. In this ethical reasoning assignment, students were required to describe the business ethical issue(s) in a case study provided. They would then need to evaluate the ethical issue(s), report its implications, support the judgement and then apply ethical reasoning to develop solutions. Finally, they would need to evaluate the appropriateness and feasibility of the proposed solutions. They were assessed based on ethical sensitivity or awareness, ethical knowledge, understanding and judgement and ethical reasoning and solution. In the last class, after the completion of the writing activity and ethical reasoning assignment, students from all six seminar groups received an information packet that includes a description of the research study, a consent form requesting access to students’ activity data and course assignments, and a learner profile questionnaire. It was again explicitly mentioned in writing that participating in the study was voluntary, and participation in the study would neither positively nor negatively affect participants’ grades. Students would then choose whether to provide or withhold consent. Students who provided consent subsequently filled out a questionnaire focusing on their expected level of academic engagement of the remainder of the semester, the quality of their learning and their propensity for perspective taking. The answer choices for each item were presented as a four-point, unidirectional Likert scale. After the end of the semester and after the instructor had submitted the final course grades, the researchers proceeded with exporting an archive of the LAMS activities for the consenting students.

4.8.2.4

Measures and Reliability

Coding was done for LAMS writing activities for functions of management and design thinking active and passive conditions and ethical reasoning assignment. Active writing activity. We coded the letter writing activity according to five variables: (1) whether a response was submitted; (2) how many of the introduced management concepts the activity included; (3) how many of the six introduced design thinking concepts the activity included; (4) what the focus of the advice was; and (5) whether the student empathized with the prospective student featured in the activity. Passive writing activity. We coded the summary writing activity according to four variables: (1) whether a response was submitted; (2) how many of the introduced management concepts the activity included; (3) how many of the six introduced design thinking concepts the activity included; and (4) whether there was a display of empathy.

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Ethical reasoning assignment. We coded the ethics reasoning assignment according to five variables: (1) whether a response was submitted; (2) how many of the introduced management concepts the activity included; (3) how many of the six introduced design thinking concepts the activity included; (4) whether there was a display of empathy; and (5) whether the student proposed ethics-based education as a solution to unethical corporate behaviour. We used a binary coding scheme to indicate whether a participant had completed the LAMS sequence. For management and design thinking concepts, we created categories for each of the core management functions and design thinking stages for both the active and passive activity sequences’ condition. While reading each response, a researcher assigned a binary value to each category based on the presence or absence of the given concepts. The management terms included planning, organizing, leading, controlling and goal setting. The design thinking terms included empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing, along with design thinking itself. Students did not receive credit for simply mentioning the term. Students had to apply the term to their solution or explain its meaning. After the initial coding of the writings, we totalled the scores for the management terms into a single variable ranging from zero to five. We calculated the total for the design thinking terms the same way into a variable ranging from zero to six. We also coded the LAMS writing activity for the presence or absence of cognitive empathy towards the prospective student. As an example, a student could show cognitive empathy for the prospective student in the LAMS writing activity by recognizing that the prospective student may not have had experience organizing diverse groups of individuals and explained the procedure for how to set a meeting, book a room and organize people. We also coded the type of focus students showed when responding to the prospective student. We identified four levels of focus related to process orientation: (1) the student did not provide an obvious focus; (2) the student focused on the scenario’s outcome (the presentation); (3) the student focused on the process (forming a committee); and (4) the student focused on both the scenario’s outcome and process (presentation and forming a committee). For responses judged not to have a focus, students merely summarized the content of the resources and did not address the prospective student. Outcome focused responses emphasized the presentation the committee had to give at the end of the six months. When focusing on the process, students explained how or what the prospective student should consider when setting up the committee that was responsible for developing the presentation. For all the qualitative measures of level of focus and the presence of empathy and number of management and design thinking concepts across the 4 conditions, a second coder was used to provide a calculation of inter-rater reliability. Similar to the first coder, the second coder is also blinded to the stipulated condition(s). With respect to identifying the set of management and design thinking terms, a custom set of specific guidelines and standardized agreed coding definitions and themes were used in lieu of a second coder. The average Cohen’s κ for all measures was 0.990 and the kappa value for every measure exceeded 0.51 and reached significance at the 0.05 level, indicating a very good level of inter-rater reliability.

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Table 4.7 Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (activities) Variable

Management Active (SD) (N = 34)

Design thinking active (SD) (N = 30)

Management passive (SD) (N = 34)

Design thinking passive (SD) (N = 34)

F ratio

Sig.

Gender

1.50 (0.51)

1.60 (0.50)

1.47 (0.51)

1.71 (0.46)

1.581

0.197

Year

2.41 (0.86)

2.17 (0.38)

2.32 (0.77)

2.21 (0.54)

0.912

0.437

Residency

1.12 (0.48)

1.30 (0.70)

1.06 (0.34)

1.41 (0.78)

2.490

0.063

Class Preparation

4.31 (2.00)

3.83 (2.27)

3.38 (1.70)

4.28 (1.92)

1.660

0.179

*Out of the 133 students who consented and completed the study, only 132 of them filled up their particulars to be used in the studies

4.8.3 Results (Activity) Assignment Completion by Conditions 97.4% of the students enrolled in the 6 classes, i.e. 226 (out of 232 students) agreed to participate in the study. 58.8% of the consenting students, i.e. 133 (out of 226 students), completed the writing activity. Of the 133 students who completed the study, 34 underwent Management (active) sequence, 30 underwent Design Thinking (active) sequence, 34 underwent Management (passive) sequence, and 34 underwent Design Thinking (passive) sequence. The chi-square goodness-of-fit test results in a p value of 0.977, hence we can conclude that the difference in the number of students between the four conditions is not statistically significant.11 Distribution Across Conditions Before analysing the data to answer the hypothesis, we conducted MANOVA to determine whether gender, year in school, residency or academic expectations differed by conditions. Table 4.7 shows the results of the analyses. None of the analyses were found to be significant, so we proceed under the assumption that the samples found amongst the four conditions were equivalent. Use of Management and Design Thinking Concepts by Conditions We conducted a MANOVA using the LAMS sequence conditions [Management (active), Management (passive), Design Thinking (active) and Design Thinking (passive)] as the independent variables and the number of used management concepts and design thinking concepts as dependent variables. Figure 4.12 presents the analysis, which shows that differences between the sequence conditions on the combined dependent variables were statistically significant.12 Follow-up univariate ANOVAs

11 χ 2 12 F

(3) = 0.203, p = 0.977. (6, 256) = 30.405, p < 0.0005; Wilks’  = 0.341.

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Fig. 4.12 Usage of concepts by conditions

showed that both the usage of management concepts13 and the usage of design thinking concepts14 were statistically significantly different between the students that went through different sequence conditions. Tukey post hoc tests showed that for management concepts, students who went through FM-A has the highest usage of this type of concepts, followed by DT-A. However, there is no significant difference between students who went through FM-P & DT-P (p = 0.985) in terms of the usage of management concepts. For design thinking concepts, Tukey post hoc tests showed that students who went through DT-A have the highest usage of this type of concepts, followed by DT-P, subsequently FM-A and lastly FM-P. As for comparison within individual condition, the result from paired samples test showed that all the difference between the number of management concepts and design thinking concepts used is statistically significant [DT-A,15 DT-P,16 FM-A17 and FM-P18 ]. Focus of Advice in Letter Writing by Conditions As shown in Fig. 4.13, for students who went through DT-A sequence, more will

(3, 129) = 29.804, p < 0.0005. (3, 129) = 32.645, p < 0.0005. 15 t (30) = -3.291, p = 0.003, d = 0.591. 16 t (33) = -6.384, p < 0.0005, d = 1.095. 17 t (33) = 5.190, p < 0.0005, d = 0.890. 18 t (33) = 2.312, p = 0.027, d = 0.0.397. 13 F 14 F

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Fig. 4.13 Focus of advice for students who went through design thinking (active) sequence

focus on process than outcome and result from chi-square goodness-of-fit test shows that this difference in proportion is significant.19 Presence of Empathy by Conditions As shown in Fig. 4.14, 9 students (29.0%) who underwent the DT-A sequence showed indications of cognitive empathy in their writing activity, while 10 students (29.4%) in the FM-A sequence, 4 students (11.8%) in the FM-P and 1 student (2.9%) in the DT-P sequences, a statistically significant difference in proportions.20 The proportion of students who underwent DT-A and FM-A sequence who showed cognitive empathy was significantly higher than those who underwent DT-P.

4.8.4 Results (Ethical Assignment) Assignment Completion by Conditions 97.4% of the students enrolled in the 6 semesters, i.e. 226 (out of 232 students) agreed to participate in the study. 58.8% of the consenting students, i.e. 133 (out of 226 students), completed the writing activity. Of the 133 students who completed the writing activity, 129 completed the ethical assignment, where 32 underwent Management (active) sequence, 30 underwent Design Thinking (active) sequence, 19 χ 2 (1) 20 χ 2 (3,

= 4.481, p = 0.034. N = 133) = 11.652, p = 0.009.

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Fig. 4.14 Presence of empathy by conditions

Table 4.8 Mean comparison of Demographic Measures Between Conditions (Ethical Assignments) Variable

Management active (SD) (N = 32)

Design thinking active (SD) (N = 29)

Management passive (SD) (N = 34)

Design thinking passive (SD) (N = 33)

F ratio

Sig.

Gender

1.50 (0.51)

1.62 (0.49)

1.47 (0.51)

1.70 (0.47)

1.501

0.218

Year

2.34 (0.77)

2.17 (0.38)

2.32 (0.77)

2.21 (0.55)

0.539

0.657

Residency

1.13 (0.49)

1.31 (0.71)

1.06 (0.34)

1.42 (0.79)

2.517

0.061

Class preparation

4.34 (1.95)

3.93 (2.11)

3.38 (1.70)

4.19 (1.82)

1.664

0.178

*Out of the 129 students who consented and completed the study, only 128 of them filled up their particulars to be used in the studies

34 underwent Management (passive) sequence, and 33 underwent Design Thinking (passive) sequence. The chi-square goodness-of-fit test results in a p value of 0.965, hence we can conclude that the difference in the number of students between the four conditions is not statistically significance.21 Distribution Across Conditions Before analysing the data to answer the hypothesis, we conducted MANOVA to determine whether gender, year in school, residency or academic expectations differed by conditions. Table 4.8 shows the results of the analyses. None of the analyses were found to be significant, so we proceed under the assumption that the samples found amongst the four conditions were equivalent. 21 χ 2

(3) = 0.271, p = 0.965.

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Fig. 4.15 Presence of empathy by conditions (ethical assignment)

Presence of Empathy by Conditions As shown in Fig. 4.15, 10 students (30.3%) who underwent the DT-P sequence showed indications of cognitive empathy in their ethical assignment, as compared to 18 students (56.3%) in the FM-A sequence, 16 students (47.1%) in the FM-P sequence and 15 students (50%) in DT-A sequences, a statistically insignificant difference in proportions.22

4.8.5 Results (Field Report) Assignment Completion by Conditions 97.4% of the students enrolled in the 6 classes, i.e. 226 (out of 232 students) agreed to participate in the study. 58.8% of the consenting students, i.e. 133 (out of 226 students), completed the writing activity. Of the 133 students who completed the writing activity, 131 of them completed the field report, where 33 underwent FMA sequence, 30 underwent DT-A sequence, 34 underwent FM-P sequence and 34 underwent DT-P sequence. The chi-square goodness-of-fit test results in a p value of 0.955, hence we can conclude that the difference in the number of students between the four conditions is not statistically significant.23 Distribution Across Conditions 22 χ 2 (3, 23 χ 2

N = 129) = 4.836, p = 0.184. (3) = 0.328, p = 0.955.

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Before analysing the data to answer the hypothesis, we conducted MANOVA to determine whether gender, year in school, residency or academic expectations differed by conditions. Table 4.9 shows the results of the analyses. None of the analyses were found to be significant, so we proceed under the assumption that the samples found amongst the four conditions were equivalent. Presence of Empathy by Conditions As shown in Fig. 4.16, 11 students (36.7%) who underwent the DT-A sequence showed indications of cognitive empathy in their ethical assignment, as compared to 10 students (30.3%) in the FM-A sequence, 7 students (20.6%) in the FM-P sequence and 12 students (35.3%) in DT-P sequences. Table 4.9 Mean comparison of demographic measures between conditions (field report) Variable

Management active (SD) (N = 33)

Design thinking active (SD) (N = 29)

Management passive (SD) (N = 34)

Design thinking passive (SD) (N = 34)

F ratio

Sig.

Gender

1.52 (0.51)

1.62 (0.49)

1.47 (0.51)

1.71 (0.46)

1.553

0.204

Year

2.33 (0.74)

2.17 (0.38)

2.32 (0.77)

2.21 (0.54)

0.530

0.663

Residency

1.12 (0.49)

1.31 (0.71)

1.06 (0.34)

1.41 (0.78)

2.466

0.065

Class Preparation

4.39 (1.97)

3.97 (2.19)

3.38 (1.70)

4.28 (1.92)

1.834

0.144

*Out of the 131 students who consented and completed the study, only 130 of them filled up their particulars to be used in the studies

Fig. 4.16 Presence of empathy by conditions (field report)

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4.8.6 Discussion Hypothesis 1—Students opt-out of optional activities A total of 232 students enrolled in the course. 97.4% of these students (226 students) agreed to participate. We posited Hypothesis 1 to counter the perception held by many instructors that when students see the word “optional” they tend to “opt out” of the activity. As our results show, when provided with a novel opportunity to showcase what they have learned, majority of the students in the four sections seized it. While this study was not designed to test which features of the activity actually drew students in and engaged them, as previously mentioned, we did design the activity in accordance with common design principles for increasing and harnessing engagement by offering it early in the semester, using a variety of materials, and making the writing activity personally meaningful to students. Hypothesis 2—Condition effects on use of terms Of the students who completed the voluntary activity, they will use the terms introduced in their version of the voluntary course activity when asked to solve a problem based on those resources.

An analysis was carried out to determine the effect of students who went through two different sequences, namely (a) functions of management activity sequences, i.e. FM-A and FM-P and (b) design thinking activity sequences, i.e. DT-A and DT-P. Figure 4.17 presents the results of usage of the number of management and design thinking concepts in the management and design thinking activity sequences. An

Fig. 4.17 Usage of concepts by conditions

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independent t-test was carried out. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean management concepts used between students who underwent management and design thinking sequences. For management concepts, students who went through FM-A have the highest usage of concepts, followed by DT-A group. There is no significant difference between students who went through FM-P and DT-P sequences. This result suggests that students in the active groups tend to use more management concepts than the passive groups. For design thinking concepts, students who went through DT-A had the highest usage of concepts followed by DT-P, subsequently FM-A and lastly FM-P. This result suggests that DT sequences result in the students using more DT concepts. Hence, in general, we could make a conservative deduction that the type of activity sequences that the students went through shows a correlated effect with the number of type of concepts used, respectively. There is some evidence that students who completed the writing exercise used more concepts than students who completed a summary of what they viewed. This is probably because students have to be more engaged when they give advice to other students than writing a summary. This also informs instructors to give students more active exercises when they want better learning engagement and outcome from the students. In the future, studies can be done to test and confirm the exact effect of writing exercises. Hypothesis 3—Condition effects on the presence of cognitive empathy Hypothesis 3A. Students who received resources on design thinking (active) and functions of management (active) process will be more likely to display empathy in letter writing activity than students who received resources on design thinking (passive) and management (passive) to display empathy in summary writing.

Finally, our analyses support the hypothesis that students who went through active sequences would be more likely to display cognitive empathy in their advice. The proportion of students who underwent DT-A and FM-A sequence who showed cognitive empathy was significantly higher than those who underwent DT-P. However, the difference in display of cognitive empathy between DT-A and FM-A is insignificant, which does not allow us to conclude any effects of design thinking sequences or management sequences on the display of empathy. Still, as far as providing an easy-to-execute activity for students to display complex problem-solving and cognitive empathy in a management context, our activity must be considered a success. Students in the design thinking condition were more likely to identify the potential feelings of the prospective student and take them into consideration as they offered management advice. Hypothesis 3B. Students who received resources on design thinking (active) and functions of management (active) process will be more likely to display empathy in ethics reasoning assignment than students who received resources on design thinking (passive) and management (passive) to display empathy in the ethics reasoning assignment.

Our analyses showed a higher presence of cognitive empathy in the active conditions than the passive conditions. Unfortunately, the difference was not statistically significant. We are unsure whether it is the time lapse between the exposures of

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resources to the date of ethical assignment completion that caused the effect of the active conditions on students’ cognitive empathy to decrease. Design thinking is not normally used in everyday life of a student. During the four to five weeks since the introduction of the design thinking to students, students would also learn a lot of other concepts. It is possible that students would have forgotten the learning of concepts during this period. Hypothesis 3C. Students who received resources on design thinking (active) and functions of management (active) process will be more likely to display empathy in ethics reasoning assignment than students who received resources on design thinking (passive) and management (passive) to display empathy in the field report.

Finally, our analyses showed a higher presence of cognitive empathy in the design thinking conditions than the management conditions. We are unsure whether it is the time lapse between the exposures of resources to the date of field report completion that caused the effect of the design thinking resources on students’ cognitive empathy to decrease. Another possibility for the decreasing effect of the intervention on students is the nature of what is changed by the intervention. In past studies where long-term effects were observed (Yeager & Walton, 2011), students’ self-motivation or conditions within were altered due to the intervention which creates long-term improvement in their own grades. In our project, the same conditions within the students were altered to be applied to external conditions (empathy to other stakeholders). Therefore, the motivation for change to others vs self may be different. It is argued that students are less motivated to change themselves for others. Perhaps, future reiterations of the interventions will explore the effect of time on the results.

4.8.7 Conclusion Overall, our results show that introducing a short activity through four varying conditions of design thinking and management functions with letter and summary writing activities highlight the value of a few aspects namely the process of problem, outcome of the problem and empathizing with others. It becomes a viable alternative to sacrificing course content in favour of developing softer management competencies. Not only are students willing to complete optional assignments that are designed with the principles of academic engagement in mind, students are also willing to produce meaningful and nuanced responses to management problems that consider the needs, thoughts and feelings of stakeholders when needed. Our results showed that the sequences have immediate effects on the subsequent writing task and showed some promises of a higher presence of cognitive empathy in the active conditions than the passive conditions, although the results now are not conclusive. This follow-up study will eliminate the confounding variables associated with within section designs. Perhaps, a study can be conducted when the follow-up ethical assignment or fieldwork report is closer to the time when the resources were

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presented. Alternatively, a refreshment of resources (design thinking concepts) can be presented to the students in the middle of the course. A follow-up study will address some of the confounding limitations and issues that emerged. As a future research plan, we also intend to investigate individual learning profiles to better understand the influences that make students exhibit empathy when others do not when both went through similar conditions in varying cluster groups as mentioned above. In summary, there is much work to be done to transit traditional business courses towards helping students meet the needs of a rapidly changing world. However, if business instructors and course coordinators are prepared to move beyond using traditional pedagogical approaches through, for example, sanitized case studies and problem-based activities that highlight a limited set of core business principles, and group and class discussions that inadvertently coax students to match course terms to decontextualized questions, adding a modicum of emphasis on humanistic design principles and processes to the curriculum may be a way forward. Our data suggests that undergraduate students are prepared to deliver the promise of more holistic decision-making and management solutions if the situation warrants it. All we have to do is to facilitate this process to happen and we could see potentially a great amount of effect in creating awareness and cognitively have the students engaged towards the competency and skills development. Acknowledgements The principal investigator and author, Dr. Rajaram would like to acknowledge that this Tertiary Education Research Fund (TRF) project is funded by Ministry of Education, Singapore. He extends his appreciation to Ms. Huang Jing Jing, Research Associate and Mr. Aaron Ming Zhou Chia who was in the research team for their assistance in this project. In addition, he would also like to extend his appreciation to Mr. Kevin Hartman and Ms. Jamie Koh from the Centre for Research and Development in Learning, Nanyang Technological University during the preliminary stint of the study. He would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback on the conference papers (as mentioned below) that were presented as the preliminary findings during the midst of the ongoing project. This chapter leverages on the studies presented in the following conferences as me being the principal investigator (PI) and author/co-author of the conference papers: (a) Rajaram, K. (2018, July). Design Thinking for Leadership Competency Development. Paper presented at HERDSA Annual Conference 2018, Adelaide, Australia; (b) Rajaram, K. (2018, June). Social-psychological intervention for cognitive Empathy as Leadership Ability Development in Business Students. Paper presented at European Academy of Management 2018, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; (c) Hartman, K. & Rajaram, K. (2017, Dec). Using Design Thinking to promote displays of cognitive empathy in Undergraduates. Paper presented at SHRE Research Conference 2017, Newport, South Wales, United Kingdom; (d) Hartman, K., Koh, J. & Rajaram, K. (2017, August 4–8). When Practitioners and Scientists Collide: An Evidence-based Activity for Management Education. Paper presented at Academy of Management Meeting 2017, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

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Chapter 5

Student-Centric Learning: A Transformation in the Learning Culture

Abstract This chapter covers the student-centric learning focusing on the transformation of the learning culture. The research covered in this chapter focuses on the learning design towards a hybrid learning framework to enhance understanding of concepts with application context, encourage deep learning and involves accessibility of information on a global scale that enhances diversity in learning and much broader training development in context. The success of classroom learning is very much dependent on how students relate to each other, how the classroom environment is, how effectively students cooperate and communicate with each other and what roles the teacher and learners play. To achieve a well-blended, holistic and practiceoriented education, more interactive, experiential and active-learning pedagogical approaches are encouraged. By shifting the learning to participants, this deepens their ability to develop self-awareness and relate the practicality in applying the concepts to be acquired. With a caring and supportive learning environment, students are encouraged to learn from making mistakes through the reflection process, sharing their failures openly, taking risks and gaining valuable insights with open, authentic dialogues, especially with those having differing perspectives. In this chapter, we will share the contextualized and authentic framework that we had adopted on active and experiential activity-based learning, how that influences the learners positively in their knowledge acquisition and learning process. There will also be insights shared on the analysis of evidence-based feedback from students’ experiences and instructors’ views on their in-class experiences and how they see value in such learning design framework. The various types of active and experiential activities which have been successfully tested out and the scope of learning outcomes, the varying aspects of competencies potentially developed will be discussed as well.

Rajaram (2020) and (2013) reports that effective learning and optimal knowledge acquisition cannot be guaranteed by any fixed type of instructional strategy. This chapter is adapted from the Conference Proceeding: Rajaram, K. 2013. Perspective transformation of instructors in pedagogical strategies: Achieving effective learning for new generation business students in higher education, IEEE 63rd Annual Conference International Council for Educational Media. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Rajaram, Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0_5

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Instructors should have a thorough comprehension of students’ learning attitudes, behavioural aspects and students’ profile by adopting a well-blended mixture of instructional techniques to achieve optimal learning effectiveness (Rajaram, 2013). Hybrid or blended learning is a term that means a well-blended combination of online and conventional face-to-face classroom-based teaching and learning (Darby, 2002; Procter, 2003). This means the design of curriculum incorporates suitable replacement of equal quality and standard e-learning materials and activities that students worked through their own time and pace. However, students continue to attend the seminar session where more value is placed and given in terms of focusing on collaborative and active learning, enhancing their understanding of concept and its applicability to the industry context. Collis and Moonen (2001) report “flexible learning” as referring to learner’s choice, learners being able to make decisions about when, how, in what order, for how long and where they will study. The ultimate intention of hybrid/blended learning, active and experiential learning is to provide learners with choices as to what they learn, how they want to learn and at what pace they wish to learn. E-learning incorporated with these pedagogical approaches also facilitates the opening-up of different avenues for formative assessment which helps to review the course materials again that can be taken by learners when they feel that they are ready or want further practice. This model also allows them to quickly move through the courses they are comfortable with and spend longer time on the areas of difficulty. Siemens (2004) in his theory of connectivism defines that (a) capacity to know is more critical than what is currently known; (b) learning may reside in non-human appliances; (c) decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality, while there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alternatives in the information climate affecting the decision. This clearly emphasizes the shift in the design and incorporating the pre-and-post hybrid/blended active and experiential learning platform. This implementation facilitates students to achieve deeper level of learning with more collaboration, cooperative and participative context through higher emphasis beyond just merely information delivery during the seminar sessions. In this chapter, we will share the contextualized and authentic framework that we had adopted on active and experiential activity-based learning, how that influences the learners positively in their knowledge acquisition and learning process. There will also be insights shared on the analysis of evidence-based feedback from students’ experiences and instructors’ views on their in-class experiences and how they see value in such learning design framework. The various types of active and experiential activities which have been successfully tested out and the scope of learning outcomes, the varying aspects of competencies potentially developed are discussed as well.

5.1 Introduction

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5.1 Introduction Today’s environment and climate is changing at a fast pace and momentum with evolving expectations from varying stakeholders in the higher education context. This consistent change expects educators to carefully and mindfully reflect, review and design or even re-improvise its programme, course curriculums and pedagogical approaches to attain the relevance, “know-hows”, skills and competencies, quality and rigour of business and management training. Today’s contemporary management and business education is expected to nurture and equip students the skills, competencies embedded with the “know-hows”, imperatively to apply and innovate with the goal of developing competent business leaders and managers. The students are to be made aware and consequently realize their vital role as change catalysts in building a productive and sustainable world, in which enterprises of all sorts can be leveraged on humanistic as well as economic assumptions. In today’s contemporary and rapid evolving learning environment, there is a high, demanding expectation from different stakeholders to enhance understanding of concepts with application, encourage deep learning and enable accessibility of information on a global scale that enhances diversity and broad training. Some of the key aspects that need to be thoroughly examined are (a) attainment of learning effectiveness in terms of enhanced students’ performance on course assessments and final examination. These outcomes should be measured in comparison with their past performance on assessment results and from qualitative and quantitative inputs from the students, instructors and administrators, taking reference from prior implementation of the pre-and-post e-learning models; (b) freeing up face-to-face, teacherstudent engagements for deeper level of interaction, discussion and collaborative learning, instead of merely disseminating information; (c) facilitation of formative feedback throughout the course, that could be done through online quizzes and other online activities, self-reflection journals which will be useful in providing students a clearer picture of their learning progress; (d) inclusion of higher cognitive order of collaborative learning beyond the classroom context; (e) facilitation of interactivity amongst learners through sharing of diverse perspectives where self-assessments are to be made immediate and autonomous; (f) reinforcement and extension of blended learning through online contents and virtual asynchronous activities; (g) motivating, enhancing and sustaining interest, getting learners engaged through the element of fun; (h) facilitation of learning to take place anytime, anyplace, where a shift of mindset is to be advocated to obtain the “real value” of learning, gaining knowledge and experiences that may not necessarily be fully obtained through textbooks alone. Aside the major commitment to teaching, for one reason or another, there are the day-to-day questions that confront professors as they plan and reflect on their teaching. Some common myriad of issues are: How do I assist my weakest student? How do I facilitate and provide a positively challenging learning climate for my brightest students? Do I provide students the answers or let them discover by themselves? How do I facilitate simulation games effectively inline to the learning outcomes in context so that it does not degenerate into a play period? How do I

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construct an assessment that measures critical thinking with reflective learning more than rote memorization? Is programmed instruction better than lecture?—and such questions keep instructors wanting to explore deeper on how to achieve effectiveness in students’ learning across varying profiles in terms of sociocultural contexts and the rapid changing conditions influencing them. Management educators must perform a periodic review of the syllabus and curriculum design to respond, incorporate the continuously changing, complex agendas that leaders and managers face in the world. This can be performed by (1) comprehending and reflecting on critiques of management education holistically; (2) engaging key business and management practitioners in industry to seek their perspectives, brainstorm the specific gaps in management; (3) the real-life cases which pinpoint the failures of business leaders and managers—analysing the trend and gaps identified from the behavioural and leadership perspectives. In accordance with management education critiques, educators need to enhance on the process of reflective capacity (Mintzberg, 2004; Ghoshal, 2005) and what Bower (1966) called “the will to change” (and to lead), self-awareness. Cheit (1985) and Leavitt (1989) called this capacity “soul”. Waddock and Lozano (2013) mentioned that there should be a degree of “heart” involved in the design and teaching process which is often lacking as the focus is simply on techniques, tools and analysis. In other words, educators should empathize and resonate with the students’ predicaments and challenges that enable them to design, execute teaching and learning processes that involves compassion. Colba et al. (2011) reported that, out of the four key elements of what the business education should address, namely (1) development of analytical thinking; (2) multiple framing; (3) reflective exploration of meaning and (4) practical reasoning, where most business education programs focus largely on the first element and only partially address the latter three.

5.2 Instructional Strategies There is no fixed type or one set of instructional strategy that guarantees effective learning and optimal knowledge acquisition all the time. Instructors have to keep abreast of the varying, continuously changing issues that may influence their choice of instructional techniques. For example, the increasing heterogeneity of student abilities, attitudes, behaviours and backgrounds; the exponential growth of knowledge; the contracting job market; the increased complexity of instructional technology and instructors’ own re-evaluations of their role in the classroom. By acknowledging the relevance of learners’ characteristics, or aptitudes to instruction, the instructors could better align the usage of instructional approaches. George (1971) has highlighted how the differing characteristics of students can influence the instructional situation. His research reported that the final examination scores and teachers’ rating was higher for the “Achievement-via-Independence” profile of students when they were taught in an unstructured class, while these scores were higher for the “Achievement-viaconformance” profile of students when they were taught with the structured style.

5.2 Instructional Strategies

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Pre E-Learning Platform

4 hours face-toface seminars

Simulation Management Games/Activities (getting students involved through hands-on)

Pedagogical strategy Interactive Lecture (with the adoption of a certain degree of flipped classroom concept) With Active Learning Approaches

LAMs (Learning Activity Management System) Informative learning (Short video clips, recent articles, noticeboards, resource sharing, image gallery) AcuStudioDuo A series of e-recorded lectures

Participative, Social & Collaborative Learning Experiential Learning

Post E-Learning Platform LAMs (Learning Activity Management System) Collaborative learning (Discussion Forum) Reflective Learning (Question and Answer Session; eassessment, Quizzes, mind maps)

Fig. 5.1 Conceptual framework for blended learning

These results show the difference between the aptitude treatment interactive approach and the less sensitive “one best way” approach. Figure 5.1 suggests the adoption of different mix of instructional techniques that can be adopted for facilitating business students. However, having a good understanding of the students’ profile, behavioural aspects and learning attitudes allow instructors to use the right mix of instructional techniques to achieve optimal learning effectiveness. A good mix of instructional strategies, namely interactive lectures (with flipped classroom concepts); experiential learning; active, participative, social and collaborative learning; social learning through social media were adopted for an independent study in the core management course at the Nanyang Business School. Over the 12 weeks, the course covered various management topics where a good mix of appropriate instructional techniques was adopted to best deliver the contents of the topic. In general, the shift in adopting instructional pedagogies is largely targeted towards achieving inquiry-centred outcomes. This primarily results in learning which is organized around a problem that students become interested in, where their learning becomes personalized (Finkel, 2000). The aftermath of adopting these well-blended instructional strategies is well proven in their performance outcomes of the project reports, group presentations and final examinations.

5.3 E-Learning E-learning can be defined as learning that takes place in the context of using the Internet and associated Web-based applications as the delivery medium for the

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learning experience (e-learning advisory group, 2002). E-learning is also defined as learning that is facilitated and supported using information and communications technology (ICT). The potential advantages of e-learning include the opportunity to learn anytime, anywhere, to communicate and collaborate virtually across countries. E-learning is viewed as an opportunity in offering better flexible learning opportunities for students, reaching out to new student markets, facilitating the tracking of students’ progress and activities and providing an opportunity for developing new and innovative learning environments. E-learning is pervading in higher education, not just as an effective infrastructure for distance learning online courses but blended with more traditional approaches on campus. Carr-Chellman and Duchastel (2000) state the new online paradigm emerges not so much for providing instruction at a distance but rather to facilitate the access to learning resources and instructional activities to students. The teacher is to take on the role of a coach and facilitator in the potentially rich learning environment where students are typically engaged in multiple activities in pursuit of multiple learning goals (Wilson, 1996).

5.4 Blended Learning Rajaram (2013) reports that effective learning and optimal knowledge acquisition cannot be guaranteed by any fixed type of instructional strategy. Instructors should have a thorough comprehension of students’ learning attitudes, behavioural aspects and students’ profile to adopt a well-blended mixture of instructional techniques to achieve optimal learning effectiveness (Rajaram, 2013). Blended learning could be defined as a well-blended combination of online and conventional face-to-face classroom-based teaching and learning. This means the design of curriculum incorporates suitable replacement of quality e-learning materials and activities that students go through in their own time and pace. However, students continue to attend the seminar session where more value is placed in terms of focusing on collaborative and active learning, enhancing their understanding of concept and its applicability to the industry context. “Flexible learning” can be referred to learner’s choice, learners being able to make decisions about when, how, in what order, for how long and where they will study. Blended learning has been in the spotlight since the early 2000 where research scholars are drawn to perform research and have debate around this learning design. Blended learning is defined by Graham (2013) as integration of face-to-face and online instruction, has been widely advocated by research scholars as the “new traditional model” (Ross & Gage, 2006, p. 167) or the “new normal” in course delivery (Norberg et al., 2011, p. 207). On the flip side, the accurate tracking extent in terms of its growth has been challenging due to its definitional ambiguity (Oliver & Trigwell, 2005). The blended dimensions could be viewed as in-class and online learning, structured and unstructured learning, collaborative and self-paced learning,

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customized content with off-shelf content (Singh, 2003). Blended learning comprises face-to-face with distance delivery systems (Osquthorpe & Graham, 2003), where their recommendations include three blended models, namely blend of learning activities (activities in face-to-face classroom and online learning environment), blend of students (students in face-to-face classroom can be blended with different students in online learning environment) and blend of instructors (students in the face-to-face classroom can benefit from other instructors through online learning environment). Blended learning has positive impact on students’ learning success and satisfaction (Dziuban & Moskal, 2011; Means et al., 2013). Rovai and Jordan (2004) reported that there is also increased students’ sense of community when compared to faceto-face courses. The success of the blended learning is tied to the emphasis on the institutional support for course redesign and planning (Moskal et al., 2013; Dringus & Seagull, 2015). Chen and Jones (2007) reported that students in traditional settings are more satisfied with the clarity of instructions, whereas those in the blended class have improved in analytical skills. This could be further validated by Melton et al. (2009)’s study on effectiveness of blended learning, explicitly on students’ satisfaction and achievement for an undergraduate health course. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted and measured students’ course grades, satisfaction and instructor’s evaluation. The results showed that the satisfaction was higher in the blended class setting compared to a traditional class (Melton et al., 2009). The ultimate intention of blended e-learning is to provide learners with choices as to what they learn, how they want to learn and at what pace they wish to learn. E-learning also facilitates the opening-up of different avenues for formative assessment which helps to review the course materials again that can be taken by learners when they feel that they are ready or want further practice. This model also allows them to quickly move through the courses they are comfortable with and spend longer time on the areas of difficulty. Siemens (2004) in his theory of connectivism defines that (a) capacity to know is more critical than what is currently known; (b) learning may reside in non-human appliances; (c) decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality, while there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alternatives in the information climate affecting the decision. This clearly emphasizes the shift in the design and incorporating the preand-post hybrid/blended learning platform. This implementation facilitates students to achieve deeper level of learning with more collaboration, cooperative and participative context through higher emphasis beyond just merely information delivery during the seminar sessions. Literature evidence validates that “blended learning” is perceived as beneficial, supportive, flexible and a motivator for learners. More participation through social exchanges and interaction through collaboration are viewed as the value-adds. As technology disrupts the higher education field, educators need to embrace and be ready to respond to new types of blends. However, the key question will still be “What are the changes and transformations that are to be embraced in order to support learning more effectively?” It is imperative to continuously examine carefully on how

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to embed collaborative and constructivist frameworks into the blended learning environments to heighten the rapidly changing learning needs. We could acknowledge that with the rapidly changing demands with varying definitions of “blended learning”, there is a need for continued research on instructional technique, pedagogical design to optimize achievement and success.

5.5 Learning Through Simulation and Management Games/Activities Business simulation games are often viewed to be able to provide transformational experiences as learners can reflect and internalize business principles, concepts, tools and ways of thinking (Cadotte, 2016). It comprises collaborative and teamwork, analytical activities, strategy formulation to potentially addresses issues and decision-making, application of theoretical concepts, active learning and an element of fun. The learning process through business simulations increases the motivation, creativity and performance, especially in the idea generation aspect (Laurischkat & Viertelhausen, 2017) and the involvement through the experiences of design and development of the simulation (Brudon & Munro, 2017). Although the concept of using business simulations is not new and has been used for many decades, however the newer versions have been continuously developed aligning to the rapid learning climate and culture to meet the present and future learning demands (Goi, 2019). Studies on members of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business indicate that there has been an increasing trend of usage of business simulation games in teaching and learning (for example Dale & Klasson, 1962; Faria & Wellington, 2004; Graham & Gray, 1969; Roberts & Strauss, 1975; Wellington & Faria, 1995). An activity is thus a game when it comprises the attributes within a predefined framework. Through numerous studies on games, five attributes have emerged that encapsulate the concept of “game” (Sauvé et al., 2005): player or players, conflict, rules, predetermined goal of the game and its artificial nature. A game is for fun if it is not used in an educational or didactic context (De Grandmont, 2004). To understand the definitive aspect of games, the definition of educational and didactic games should be examined. Sauvé, Renaud, Kaufman, and Marquis (2007) state that the “purpose of an educational game is only implicitly centred on learning since the purpose is hidden from the player and the notion of pleasure which it engenders is rather extrinsic. In contrast, the purpose of a didactic game is clearly focused on the task of learning and that is explicitly identified, appealing to the intrinsic pleasure of performance” (p. 250). In both cases, the contributions towards learning from the games are achieved through the influence of interaction within one’s environment that is defined as a process of new behaviour or knowledge acquisition. The predetermined goal of a game refers to the end of the game and to the notion of winning, victory or reward (Salopek, 1999; Dickey, 2005), includes the objectives that the player(s) seek to attain (Sauvé et al., 2007). Learning by games enables

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transfer of learning, creation and acquisition of new knowledge, nurturing of expected attitudes, behaviours and development of intellectual skills (e.g. problem-solving, anticipation, function-movement relationships, abstraction, spatial representation, strategy-building and lateralization) (Whelan, 2005). However, to achieve quality and effective learning outcomes, the games must comprise appropriate tools (or mechanisms) incorporated for such types of learning to materialize. Scholars (Kneebone et al., 2005; Griffin & Butler, 2005; Schwabe & Goth, 2005; Shreve, 2005; Virvou, Katsionis, & Manos, 2005; Ward & O’Brlen, 2005) highlighted that all educational games should comprise tools such as interactivity channels, instant feedback, active participation by the learner, communication between players, challenge, motivation, repeated practice, player control of their learning and teamwork. These mechanisms allow the use of socio constructivist pedagogy inherent in games that respond to the needs of the rapidly changing needs and expectations of learners. This is exactly what is required to tackle the current issue of engaging current and future generation of business students to have the knowledge transfer optimized. “Gamers” comprise a large majority in the current generation and potentially would continue to be such for future generations as well. This group has an exploratory approach and short attention span during learning, which could be referred to having a cognitive style characterized by multi-tasking while learning (Asakawa & Gilbert, 2003; Bain & Newton, 2003; Prensky, 2005). Shaffer et al. (2004) report that during the game, the learner plays first, understands after and then generalizes in order to apply this learning in a new situation. Drawing from a constructivist approach, the authors affirm that the learner becomes active during the game and participates in the construction of his/her knowledge. Today’s adolescents have a profile as communicators—intuitive and visual who responds and relates to games (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005). These learners prefer to learn through experimentation rather than by direct instruction. As their interest span is short, they easily and quickly move from one setting or activity to another. They also tend to expect a quick response similarly to how they respond rapidly to questions (Sauvé et al., 2007). In summary, these new generation learners expect interactivity, interaction, kinesthesis, active visualization and immediacy. Simulations offer a miniature version of a sphere of concrete activities in real life (Cioffi, Purcal, & Arundell, 2005). Educational simulation offers a type of controlled reality and is similar to real life where learners can explore with elements of reality (Martin, 2003; Swanson & Ornelas, 2001). Effective simulation places learners in real situations in which they can act and make decisions with the aim of obtaining real-time feedback (Maier & Grobler, 2001; Goldenberg, Andrusyszyn, & Iwasiw, 2005). There is a clear distinction between the concepts of games and simulations. A game is developed without any reference to reality, which is never the case for simulation or a simulation game (Sauvé et al., 2007). Simulation is not necessarily a competition or conflict, and the individual who uses it,is not desiring to win, whereas it is such in the case of a game (Sauvé et al., 2007). The goal of business simulation is to teach a specific process (the practice) within an explicit environment (the context), where simulations are based on a simple yet

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effective, learning strategy—practice (Mahboubian, 2009). As reported by Klopfer et al. (2009), some of the other perspectives from educators would be as follows: (a) facilitate students with a problem-solving experience that enables higher-order thinking skills; (b) collaborating and reflecting on ideas and possible solutions; (c) bringing out the real-world contexts through project-based learning; (d) connecting with learners globally on topics of study. There is compelling reason to be optimistic about the positive effect of business simulations (Qian & Clark, 2016) that assist in the development of the twenty-first-century skills which is essential for a sustainable future generation (Stavroulia et al., 2015). The Industrial Revolution (IT 4.0) has an adverse impact in the millions of jobs to be lost by 2020 as the need for human workers is replaced by socioeconomic factors, robotics, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology (World Economic Forum, 2016). Goi (2019) advocate mentioned that there is a need to embed the stages of employability into the curriculum and organizations to bridge the gap between the industry-expected skills and possessed skills. To align and cope with the future employability skills, there is an emphasis to shift from rote learning practices to reflective learning that encompasses more emphasis on personal, people and social skills, higher-order thinking skills and employability skills (Mistra & Khurana, 2017).

5.6 Shift in the Roles Undertaken by Instructors The success of classroom learning is very much dependent on how students relate to each other, what the classroom environment is, how effectively students cooperate and communicate with each other and what roles the teacher and learners play (Dörnyei & Murphey, 2003). Brown (2007) mentioned that to facilitate learning, instructors play many roles while teaching. Their ability to effectively perform their instructional duties will depend on a large extent on the rapport they establish with their students and on their own level of knowledge or skills. With the rapid evolution of changing dynamics around the education industry, it becomes clear that the new millennium classrooms are very different from the ones of the past. Instructors are shifting their roles to be facilitators of student learning and creators of productive classroom environments where students are nurtured on their skills required for their future workplace. The shift of the twenty-first-century classroom is on students experiencing the environment they will enter as twenty-firstcentury workers. Today’s instructors are faced with challenges opened by globalization. Instructors should leverage on the diversity, introduce students to this world of challenges and inculcate in them a sense of their drive to be able to influence the business decisions in the future. They should realize that just transmitting of knowledge to students is no longer their only key responsibility. Students should be made to sense their place in the larger world and be urged to become active participants. Today’s role of an instructor is shifted towards more interaction. An interactive instructor would be fully aware of the group dynamics of a classroom to facilitate effective learning. Students’ opinions and thoughts are treated with respect which encourages

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them to contribute more. Critical and independent thinking are encouraged so that students are inspired to resolve issues on their own which shifts the learning to be more student-centric rather than teacher-centric.

5.7 Learning Activity Management System (LAMs) Learning activity management system (LAMs) is a learning design system with a particular focus on sequencing of collaborative learning activities. LAMs guides practitioners through the process of learning design (Dalziel, 2003). Users can pick and mix different types of learning activities using a “drag and drop interface”. LAMs is an integrated system for authoring, running and monitoring learning designs.

5.8 Proposed Conceptual Framework: Hybrid Learning Model The proposed framework allows the face-to-face seminar to be shifted to emphasize more (with the 50% to approximately 80%) on how deeper learning on key essentials can be examined through various approaches of active learning. The pre-seminar (before attending the face-to-face seminar session) e-learning activities allow learners to get some hands-on (simulation activities) feel on the topic, get them started thinking about the contextual part of contents and having them excited on what they could expect to learn in the class. There would be varying activities, for example, a simulating management game (having students to hands-on the management concepts through a virtual reality platform), viewing some short videos, read short magazine/newspaper articles, some debate discussions via Facebook, Twitter or via other social media platforms, reflection journals, posting a blog, etc., to relate to the topic which will be covered. For a few selected topics, students will also be asked to view a series of recorded lectures, broken down to separate segments (max of 7–8 min) with a quick reflective quiz to answer. For these topics, the flipclassroom concept will be brought in to facilitate the sessions. However, this applies to only 25% of the topics covered. The remaining 75% of the syllabus will have designated pre-learning activities which gets the students have some ideas, reflections and questions on the topics before the face-to-face interactive seminars, where the traditional style of “one way” lecture is avoided. Instead, key concepts will be delivered in a more interactive manner, where deep learning occurs. However, the post elearning platforms will facilitate a series of short e-recorded lectures which facilitate as a refresher and further extend beyond classroom learning which can be viewed at students’ own time and pace. Moreover, there will also be other e-learning activities (e.g. discussion forums, case study debate with question and answer sessions and so on) to facilitate collaborative learning with formative self-assessment (e.g. quizzes,

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self-tests, etc.). These are to serve as self-practice assessments which are included within the learning framework, whereas their formal course assessments in week 3 (individual assignment report) and weeks 11 and 12 (group project work report and presentation) are evaluated through respective assignment assessment rubrics accordingly.

5.9 Impact and Outcomes of the Proposed Conceptual Blended Learning Framework The improvised pedagogical framework aims to achieve the following key outcomes by enhancing the learning experience of students pursuing the management course in year 2 of the university: • To be able to facilitate students with pre-learning, preparation process and reflection time so that their class time is driven towards more value-adding activities and having it optimized in terms of their learning. For example, more discussions and reflections on areas that need explicit practical examples, experiences and tacit knowledge which may not be found in the textbooks or reading materials; • To be able to facilitate more experiential, collaborative, social and interactive learning that enhances deeper learning through higher involvement of active learning activities during the face-to-face seminar sessions. • To train and nurture students to become better problem solvers and independent thinkers by enabling more engagement and participation by challenging norms. This enables them to develop their confidence and ability to become critical thinkers and problem solvers instead of just merely acquiring the theoretical knowledge without much deep learning. The post-learning activities through the e-learning platform encourage students to go through, reflect and assess their acquired knowledge. This also enables students to self-practice through these interactive e-activities (e.g. discussion board, assessment quizzes and so on). The proposed project is essential and timely (due to students’ changing learning behavioural traits and easy information availability) to address the rapid changing needs and requirements of students’ learning style as well as to nurture them holistically. Providing students, the knowledge and skills to become future managers and business leaders, as a business school, is crucial to keep enhancing how better the knowledge can be delivered more effectively through reviewing the pedagogical approaches embedded with technology. Learning happens only when students are placed out of their comfort zones where they are made to think, examine and question the unknown. By doing so, they are made to go through the rationale and reasons behind the answers to the questions that they want to find out eventually. This project comprising the pre/post e-learning platforms addresses the rationale of matching with the new generation students’ learning styles and how they acquire

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knowledge. The shift in having the basic information learned beyond the classroom, having the students to get excited as well as prepared before the seminar session and post-seminar activities serve as a refresher and self-assessment tool. Moreover, this implementation of the project enables more valuable time within the classroom for students to perform deep learning through active, collaborative, experimental and social learning—this enhances the learning process for students as they are able to apply, be engaged and able to reflect deeply on what they have been taught.

5.10 Shift in Learning Culture: Embracing Creative Learning Learning culture should not be understood as the context or environment within which learning takes place, rather learning cultures are the social practices through which people learn (Biesta, 2011). There are many influencing factors that eventually lead to the formulation of the required customized learning culture in an educational setting. Instructors play a vital role as they are at the frontline to execute and implement the planned curriculum with the intended learning outcomes. For the management course identified, the approach of creative learning was adopted. Figure 5.2 reports four key elements of how this creative learning culture can be created/nurtured, namely (1) encourage mistakes (not intentionally but to develop the ability to not fear getting it wrong the first time around)—learning through failures; (2) Ability to think and solve issues differently—out of the norm; (3) Facilitating an environment to ask questions; (4) All opinions are to be respected—no one’s ideas are out casted or looked down upon. Instructors were convinced on the importance of the shift in the learning culture and the key rationale behind that. Instructors were advised to set up the appropriate learning environment that facilitates an open culture where students are encouraged to make mistakes and are not penalized. For example, the participation marks tied to their course assessments are inclined and focused towards the students’ attitude/ability of one to participate/contribute rather than emphasizing on the right answers.

5.11 Grades Focused Versus Effective Learning Despite providing the framework which encompasses the proposed instructional strategies for instructors to adopt, effective learning only occurs when students are made to see the value in how this will benefit them achieving their outcomes. The outcomes vary; however, in formal university settings, students’ motivations and their actions are usually more oriented towards achieving good grades. Hence, instructors and course administrators must strategically adopt the instructional approaches to shift the learning culture that make students perceive and realize that learning

Fig. 5.2 Conceptual framework: student-centric—active and experiential learning

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through such methods enables them to score good results in their course assessments and/or examinations. However, instructors themselves must be convinced of how the intended learning outcomes could be achieved through the most appropriate instructional approaches inline to their course expectations. Here, the key emphasis is on how the shift in learning can be achieved in making students acquire knowledge in the most optimal manner with effective understanding and application which would concurrently prepare them for their course assessments and final examinations.

5.12 Mindset Shift and Habitual Behavioural Issues One of the key challenges for both instructors and learners is embracing the continuous change in adapting new demands and expectations. Instructors may have their own comfort style and belief in how teaching should be done and their perceived notions on how learning occurs. This may be largely influenced by the educational setting that they went through which helped them excel in their own area of specialization coupled with the learning cultural values which they have been moulded by. Hence, instructors must now come out of this zone of “idealism” or “one-way success approach” to comprehend the varying differences and complexity that prevails in an educational setting. The first step in successfully achieving this comes from the ability to shift the mindset of embracing the issue of changing variables which influences the effectiveness of how students learn in today’s easily available information with ready technology.

5.13 Value Creation in the Subjects Through the “eyes” of the Business Students For students to be committed and put in their efforts for their courses, one key issue is to ensure they appreciate and understand the value of their course of action. This value can be attained in varying forms by linking the importance of how it relates to their future; the skills and knowledge acquired in terms of relevance and practical applicability; the benefits gained. The value and the importance must relate to the students through making them see the link between the context of their topics and the practical implications of these when they enter the industry. For example, students must be told about the importance of managing a team effectively and how this contributes to the productivity and achievement of competitiveness in the marketplace. The tacit knowledge and the skills that they acquire are not only to pass their examinations, but the consequences that result if they are unable to fully comprehend them are to be emphasized by reasoning techniques to the students. This makes them realize why this set of skills and strategies is key for their survival in the business world in the future. Stories and

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past testimonials by industrialists who are successful have to be facilitated to make these students relate to how vital the learning is as life skills.

5.14 Assessment: Rigorous, Objective, External, Unbiased and Standardized—Examining Students’ Understanding, Critical Thinking and Application Bearman et al. (2014, 2016) define the assessment as the process that entails determining the purposes, the learning outcomes, its context and the process in which the feedback will be facilitated and the assessment tasks involved. Learners’ performance will be evaluated through the assessment tasks which forms as the central focus where these judgements would be made by assessors, learners themselves, their peers or other relevant agents and be communicated through oral or written comments and recommendations or through grades (Ibarra-Saiz et al., 2020). Assessment provides quality information to enhance learning. “It is a process of defining a program or unit’s mission, developing desired outcomes, continuously monitoring progress towards those outcomes, communicating results and using those results to make improvements” (IPART, 2013, p.4). Assessment is a “continuous process of gathering, evaluating and communicating information and using it to improve learning and institutional effectiveness” (IPART, 2013, p.4) According to IPART (2013), the assessment process involves four key stages, namely (1) Developing precise and clear learning outcomes (the knowledge and skills that students should have acquired at the completion of a course, program or learning experience); (2) Facilitating/offering programs, courses or learning experiences that provide opportunities for students to achieve those outcomes; (3) Assessing attainment/achievement of these outcomes; (4) Using the results of those assessments to improve teaching and learning and guide planning and resource allocation. This entire process entails a cyclical nature, where a continuous review with reflective inputs from the earlier phase enables each stage of the process to be re-aligned and calibrated from evolving expectations and changes. Let us examine a case study for a core management course offered in the university. The course assessment for this management course was designed carefully to ensure it is rigorous, meet the learning objectives, unbiased and standardized. While designing the assessments, a lot of emphasis is placed in ensuring that the evaluation is largely based on examining students’ understanding, critical thinking and application. This is crucial to ensure the right skills and applied knowledge are measured to nurture and mould future business leaders. This management course has a wellbalanced assessment that assess students in terms of professional skills (e.g. teamwork, critical thinking, decision-making and problem-solving, creative thinking), contents knowledge and application of the concepts and theoretical frameworks via examination, communication skills via class participation and active learning and presentation skills through group project presentations and the practical oriented

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skills through the reflective and inquiry-oriented individual and group assignments (e.g. ethical reasoning case study and problem-solving group reports based on a reallife organization and fieldwork report that requires students to perform interviews with practitioners and write up a report embedded with evidence-based discussions from published academic articles). The design of this management course assessments is based fundamentally to achieve the following in reference to IPART (2013), namely: (1) Ensuring the participants of this course have acquired all the essential skills, values and attain the key learning outcomes; (2) Enabling direction and coherence to the course’s curriculum; (3) Assisting in clarification on the goals of the course and identifying the knowledge, skills, values and perspectives that are essential to be addressed; (4) Providing students with clear expectations that help them understand how faculty will evaluate their work; (5) Enhancing the communication, cooperation and coordination amongst faculty for this course taught across the university; (6) Allowing students to understand their strengths and weaknesses and where they need to focus more attention through the feedback provided as advocated by Suskie (2004) and finally (7) Furnishing instructors with well-informed facts about students’ understanding which allow them to calibrate and adapt their instructional approaches, reflect on their instructional skills and build on a knowledge base of scholarly research on learning, for business management students, in this case. In this management course, the course assessment feedback is provided using the assessment rubrics where the emphasis is largely shifted towards the scale the student falls into rather than specific marks. Rubrics (Andrade Goodrich, 1997) consists of a scoring scale that scores performance, based on a set of predetermined criteria. Petkov and Petkova (2006) mentioned that the use of rubrics helped to make assessment more uniform, better communicate expectations and performance to students, measure student progress over time and help to lay the foundation for a long-term assessment program. The rubrics largely have six rating scale where three key groups, namely (1) below expectations (scale rating 1–2); (2) meet expectations (scale rating 3–4); (3) above expectations (scale rating 5–6), are classified—the students are accessed inline to this scale measurement and only a grade (instead of marks) is provided. This helps students to be more objective in reflecting and evaluating where their work is in comparison with the actual outcome. Hence, the feedback provided by the faculty will then address the gaps which serve as areas of improvement and reflections for students, respectively. To facilitate easier use for faculty in terms of assessing and providing feedback to students and to enable students to access their feedback and assessed rubrics anytime/anywhere, the use of e-assessment rubrics through the eUreka system is adopted. Moreover, to ensure the assessments are indeed measuring the continuously evolving skills set (new add-ons and/or more intensified skills) and knowledge acquisition in management studies, an internal review is performed every bi-yearly to calibrate and align to stay abreast and current. This is vital so that these students who are groomed to be future business leaders and managers are trained adequately to be equipped with the necessary skills to succeed in their chosen career.

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5.15 Professional Soft Skills Training Business education should address, as highlighted by Waddock and Lozano (2013), “a global and societal oriented perspective, emphasizing the soft skills of leading and managing, and developing reflective and interpersonal skills with an enhanced sense of purpose, ethics, values and corporate responsibility in society” (p. 2). To achieve these skills and instil a well-blended holistic and practice-oriented management education, a more interactive, experiential, dialogue and action-learning is required. This can be validated by research (Crilly et al., 2008; Schön, 1983) which reports that the orientation of social conscience is enhanced through various reflective and mindful practices. Students pursuing a business degree are to acquire and meet a range of essential skills over their 3–4 years taking varying courses. To illustrate, let me use the management course that I lead as an example to illustrate. Five key essential managerial skills are focused upon, namely critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making, teamwork and interpersonal activities, ethical reasoning and creative thinking. These skills are to be achieved through active learning activities over the entire duration of the course. Table 5.1 reports on how these applied knowledge, cognitive and behavioural skills are being assessed. Largely, in this course, four key characteristics are intended to be achieved through these professional soft skills training: (1) The emphasis in reflective practices and incorporating self-awareness and the ability to lead with empathy, or what some call “heart and soul”; (2) the ability and skills for integrative analysis, systems thinking and comprehending the rapid changing issues from a globalized context; (3) Capability in applying these learned attributes through careful analysis, implementing the broad responsibility, purposes and values (e.g. ethical, integrity, equity, human rights) associated and related to business and management context; (4) Ability to resolve issues with a creative mindset through managing the morale of teams yet achieving the organization’s goals in terms of productivity and sustainability.

5.16 Feedback Process Feedback is identified as one of the core principles for effective practice in university and college teaching (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). Students’ performance in higher education is closely intertwined with the effectiveness of feedback provided as it influences learning quality. Feedback is ranked amongst the top five strongest influences on student performance, in line with areas such as students’ cognitive skills (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Providing effective feedback is identified as one of the essential skills for instructors in higher education, which has a high influence and implication on the quality and effectiveness of learning (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Giving quality and effective feedback to students is not easy task as not all feedback can be equally effective.

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Table 5.1 Managerial soft skills versus assessment of applied knowledge and soft skills Managerial soft skills

Approaches in accessing the applied knowledge and managerial soft skills

Critical thinking

Students are assessed on how they present and articulate their thoughts both individually as well as in groups, through the weekly class participation via active learning activities

Problem-solving and decision-making

The ability of students to analyse and solve real-life problem/case in a group setting. The outcome is to be presented in a report form which will be assessed on specific criteria linked to problem-solving and decision-making

Communication, teamwork & interpersonal abilities

Assess the ability of students to work in a team with different personalities accomplishing the assigned task. Their ability to present and articulate their thoughts and ideas is also evaluated via group presentations

Ethical reasoning

To ensure students can understand the importance of ethicality and its implications from a larger context. This is to be achieved through the individual assignment report

Creative thinking

This is an element which is encouraged throughout the 13 weeks during class participation, group and class discussions, activities, dialogues and debates in their formal course assessments. This is also linked to a criteria-based measurement termed class participation, explicitly termed as “Review of pre-class learning and Participation in Active Learning Activities”

Sadler (1983, 1989, 2010) reported three conditions for achieving quality, efficient and effective feedback in classroom practice. The first condition addresses the essential need in designing the assessment criteria and the need for students to be familiar with them. The second condition emphasizes the importance of incorporating the comparative analysis between the actual and expected levels of the products. The third condition proposes to have helpful information included in the feedback that can help students to improve their assignments. Besides influencing general student performance, feedback is used as a tool to encourage students to learn in a more self-regulated way. One key goal of the feedback process is to encourage students to learn in a more self-regulated manner and develop the self-evaluation and regulation skills amongst students (Rushton, 2005; Nicol & Macfarlene-Dick, 2006). In the management course that I lead as the course director, the process of providing feedback is given high priority to ensure not only quality is met, but the learning through it is optimized. A 5-stage feedback process framework was adopted. Firstly, the pre-assessment criteria to perform a reflection are to be done by the question setter together with a team of other instructors and a small pool of students to

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ensure the assessment criteria (1) is application-based; (2) examines understudying the concepts; (3) requires critical thinking; (4) enables students to interpret the criteria with clarity. The second stage involves the need to have the students reflect on the assessment criteria and thereafter have a class discussion to ensure that students are familiar with the criteria. Research scholars (Orsmand et al., 2002; Herman et al., 1992; Sadler, 1987) emphasized that if necessary, these criteria should be further explained, perhaps by sharing and discussing with students’ examples of assignments which optimally meet the criteria, are somewhat mediocre and fail to address the criteria. This allows students to familiarize the assessment criteria and enabling them to build up their confidence and experience in applying them. Familiarizing themselves with assessment criteria fulfils the basis of learning in evaluating their own work and that of others. Thirdly, the feedback provided to students includes the actual level of standard achieved and expected level/standard, expressed in the criteria. Feedback focuses both on key elements which students perform below the expected level (i.e. mistakes), their areas weakness and improvements, but it also includes strong points and strengths. Although it is crucial for students to know what needs to be improved, in the similar vein, it is also equally essential for them to understand where they are already performing and scoring well. Fourthly, the feedback provider should suggest specific ways and recommendations in which the students can close the gap between the actual performance and expected performance levels in line to the assessment criteria. The fifth and final condition allow students to perform a self-reflection both individually and, in a group setting, thereafter, given an opportunity to discuss and pose questions and clarifications during the discussion session. The rationale is to ensure the gaps are not to be repeated in their future assignments as well as the ability to discover areas of improvements and better way of getting things done with enhanced effectiveness.

5.17 Learning for the Twenty-First Century To achieve a well-blended, holistic and practice-oriented business education, more interactive, experiential, dialogue and active learning pedagogical approaches are encouraged. This shift in the approach of instruction will enable more holistic and practice-grounded oriented management, leadership and soft skills to be ingrained on students. Moreover, this enables developing students’ key essential skills and abilities to serve human needs by helping to create a world that is more equitable, just and ecologically sustainable. By shifting the learning to students, it deepens their ability to develop self-awareness and relate the practicality in applying the concepts acquired. By facilitating a caring, supportive and encouraging learning environment, students are encouraged to learn from making mistakes, sharing their failures openly, taking risks and gaining valuable insights with open debates, exchanges and dialogues with those with differing views and perspectives. These interactive and reflective learning frameworks (refer to Figs. 5.1 and 5.2) comprise the following key aspects incorporated (1) learner-centred instructional strategies; (2) creative learning culture;

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(3) feedback process; (4) design of course assessments and (5) professional soft skills training, to facilitate the shift in achieving the optimal learning process.

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Chapter 6

Reflective Peer Review Feedback: Leadership Development

Abstract This chapter addresses the topic on reflective peer review feedback for leadership ability development in students. This research takes an effective intervention known to elicit leadership competencies growth through a reflective peer review analysis after every activity-based learning. The intervention aims to prepare students for the development of leadership competencies and, by extension, leadership in a university business course. Rather than impress upon students the importance of psychological construct such as leadership directly, the project sets the stage for students to converge on the realization of leadership competencies for themselves. Social-psychological interventions provoke individuals to address potential cognitive blocks that may inhibit positive learning behaviours. Leadership ability serves as one of the core principles of business management. Effective managers not only exert leadership when making organizational decisions, but they also use their leadership to empower individuals and devise holistic strategies for moving the organization forward (Bass in Organizational Dynamics 18:19–31, 1990). Leadership itself has been decomposed into sets of attributes like purposefulness and proactivity that correlate with effective leadership styles (Bass in Transformational leadership: Industry, military, and education impact. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 1998). This project takes an effective intervention known to elicit leadership competencies growth (Hess in Journal of Management Education 31:195–213, 2007) through a reflective peer review analysis after each activity-based learning. The six different leadership competencies that we intend to measure through the questionnaire are (1) Goal Setting (Knippen in Journal of Management Education 13:39–46, 1989; Hess in Journal of Management Education 31:195–213, 2007); (2) Conflict Resolution (Knippen, 1989; DiStefano & Howell, 1990; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 1983, 2011; Hess, 2007); (3). Motivating Others (Knippen, 1989; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 1983, 2011); (4). Problem-Solving (Knippen, 1989; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 1983, 2011); (5). Team facilitation (DiStefano & Howell, 1990; Hess, 2007; Whetten & Cameron, 1983, 2011); (6) Empathy (Holt and Marques in Journal of Business Ethics 105:95–105, 2012). Social-psychological interventions provoke individuals to address potential cognitive blocks that may inhibit positive learning behaviours. Prior research has found this class of interventions to be effective tools for redressing negative mindsets like fixed views of intelligence and learned helplessness. This study is significant for © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Rajaram, Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0_6

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two reasons, (1) It attempts to prime students for the development of a non-contentbased skill with various types of activity-based learning (e.g. case study, video case, problem-based learning, etc.); (2) It introduces methods of analysing competencies to be developed while leading a group to deliver the learning outcomes of an activity assigned, besides addressing the answers to the activity

6.1 Introduction Teaching soft skills in class may lead to an unnecessary sacrifice of content teaching (Anthony & Garner, 2016). Many programmes may not have the flexibility to include relevant soft skills, teaching activities into their already heavy course loads (Bedwell et al., 2014). Anthony and Garner (2016) advocate that there are also varying concerns that it is challenging to measure and record the learning outcomes of teaching students on soft skills. Universities are increasingly expected to produce employable graduates who possess capabilities that enable them to work effectively with other people in team (Bridgstock, 2009). These capabilities have variously been referred to as employability or generic skills (Bridgstock, 2009; Fallows & Stevens, 2000). They are generally assumed to include written and verbal communication, information literacy, working with technology and teamwork. However, it is challenging for educators to determine exactly what the market needs are, assess students’ capabilities and customize the curriculum to help them to achieve their career aspirations. The proposed competency development support system intends to provide students an opportunity to reflect on immediate formative assessment, a e-mentor to direct them on how to improve the specific aspects and serve as a continuous reflective system to monitor their progress. The peer evaluation is based on team member effectiveness (Ohland et al., 2012) and teamwork quality (Hoegl & Gemuenden, 2001), which in our case, we have explicitly identified an array of possible competencies which could be measured within an activity-based learning classroom environment. Primary questions are to be reflected upon before designing the competency support system, namely: (1) To what extent is it possible to embed the teaching of generic skills, such as teamwork, communication and interpersonal skills, within an academic curriculum? (2) How can technology be used to facilitate the assessment of generic skills? Is peer evaluation the best way to do this? (3) Is assessment of generic skills enough; what kind of follow-up is required by educators? (4) What kinds of experiences can we offer students both in classroom and through technology to facilitate the development of generic skills? This study takes an effective intervention to elicit soft skills competencies growth through a collective and reflective peer review analysis after every activity-based learning with a guided process that adopts social-psychological interventions as part of the cognitive developmental cycle. The intervention aims to prepare students for the development of a non-content-based ability, in specific soft skill and employability skill and competencies and, by extension, leadership in a university course.

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The study also introduces methods of analysing student work as indicators of graduate attributes instead of merely content knowledge and development of domain specific skills. Rather than impressing upon students’ employability competencies directly, the project sets the stage for students to converge on the realization of these competencies for themselves.

6.2 Social-Psychological Interventions Previous research has shown that social-psychological interventions can be used to improve outcomes like higher course completion of at-risk students (Yeager & Dweck, 2012; Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009), self- control (Logel & Cohen, 2012) and marriage satisfaction (Finkel et al., 2013). Walton (2014) emphasized that a wise intervention commences with an explicit well-grounded psychological theory that enables to develop a rigorous tool, mostly instantiated through an activity to change a psychological process in a real-world setting. Research studies show that the outcomes of such wise interventions produce prolonged positive effects. For example, the study by Finkel et al. (2013) showed that three 7-minute perspectivetaking exercises improved couples’ marriages over the course of a year. Further to this, various studies have shown that short activities with less than an hour duration can increase the ethnic-minority students’ school achievement for a lengthy period of up to 3 years thereafter (Cohen et al., 2009; Sherman et al., 2013; Walton & Cohen, 2011). Kenthirarajah and Walton (2013) emphasized that to understand the magical effects (Yeager & Walton, 2011), one must resonate on how interventions change not a moment in time but a process that unfolds over time. The recursive dynamics that accumulates with time through the psychological processes enhances the downstream consequences (Garcia & Cohen, 2013). At the core, social-psychological interventions rely on identifying and provoke individuals to address potential cognitive blocks that may inhibit positive learning behaviours. The interventions force people to engage in effortful cognitive activities that address the blocks and give preference to alternative ways of thinking (Walton, 2014). For instance, to improve student retention amongst freshmen at a large university. Yeager and Walton (2011) identified that at-risk students who agreed with statements like “People are born with a certain amount of intelligence and not much can be done to improve it” were more likely to leave the university before completing their degrees than students who disagreed with such statements. In a randomized control experiment, researchers found that asking students to review material explaining how the brain is “like a muscle” that grows new neural pathways in response to effortful learning and subsequently writing a letter to a future student that summarized the material significantly improved the students’ chances of completing their degrees when compared to students who received material explaining various functions of the brain (Aronson et al., 2002). Similarly, in our case, by making students perform peer review feedback on evaluating their group members and/or leader having to reflect on

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the explicit behaviours which are explicitly classified as soft skills and/or employability competencies facilitates the growth of new neural pathways by growing through this scaffolding exercise. Design thinking process is introduced to students through the vehicle of a socialpsychological intervention. This intervention is an exciting new development in psychological sciences. It is an intervention or exercise that is typically short appears conventional and similar to everyday experience (Walton, 2014). It is targeted to change how people think or feel. These interventions rely on identifying and removing cognitive blocks which have influenced how students view the world (Spitzer & Aronson, 2015). Through what appears to be innocuous activities, students are forced to engage in effortful cognitive processing that addresses the cognitive blocks and gives preference to different ways of thinking (Walton, 2014). In our project, the social-psychological intervention comes in the form of three phases, first observation of how the expert team and each of the team members performs on their roles; Here, it enables each student in the participating group to reflect on the images of how a leader should be in terms of the six leadership competencies formulated. The goal is to get started with the self-awareness phase where they go through the reflective process which is self-centred. Secondly, they are to reflect and resonate to the grounded definitions of each of the leadership competency elements. The discussion to get the evaluation process performed amongst the group members get students to realize how their peer evaluations are alike, or different from, others’ in the team, tapping into both self-awareness (in terms how each of their assessments may differ from their understanding based on the specific scope defined). This process helps them to collectively gather perspectives where they are required to come to a common ground of agreement. Finally, they are to decide through evaluating from all their combined perspectives in a scale rating with two qualitative feedbacks to be provided. This entire process enables them to understand the collective perspective from each of their group members, but more importantly to appreciate the depth of thinking involved.

6.3 Leadership Development One of the primary and urgent concerns in Universities today would be how ready are they routinely developing the skills needed to address the challenges and behavioural demands of the professional or job transition experiences of its graduates. Not adequate focus and efforts have been provided to training and equipping the required competencies to perform well as a manager (Mintzberg & Gosling, 2002; Pfeffer & Fong, 2002). Leadership is defined as a process in which an individual influences a group of people to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2010). Similarly, Rost (1991) defined leadership as an influence relationship amongst leaders and followers who intend real change that reflects their common purposes. A peer is defined as a person or thing of the same rank, value, quality and ability (Webster, 2008). A peer leadership in a

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learning context could be defined as students helping other students to accomplish goals or solve problems (Ender & Winston, 1984). It consists of members who are essentially similar in their skills, abilities, social status and power (Hare & O’Neill, 2000). It is a process in which group members engage with each other to operate, make decisions and attain goals (Adelman, 2002). In our research study, each of the team member in the expert group adopts peer leadership as they must be able to work well on their role assigned based on the case study activity. Each of the team will be assigned a task which they need to work both at an individual as well as together in a collaborative manner a as a team. Leadership is conceptualized as a social process, where it is more than just a skill set of an individual (Day, 2001). Rightfully, he makes a distinction between “leadership development” (addresses the wider relational or social context where leadership takes place) from “leader development” (addresses the individual skills). The leadership development that is based on social context has received much lesser attention in research and practice than the individual leader (leader development). Self-awareness can be referred to be part of leader development from an individual context, whereas social awareness is a part of interpersonal awareness for leadership development. Leadership needs to be shifted from individualistic to collective forms. There has been a “gap” in social context of leadership that attracted a call for attention on this explicit context in leadership development (Liden & Antonakis, 2009). The six different leadership competencies that we intend to monitor and measure, which is derived from leadership development context, are: (1) Goal Setting (Knippen, 1989; Hess, 2007); (2) Conflict Resolution (Knippen, 1989; DiStefano & Howell, 1990; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 2011; Hess, 2007); (3). Motivating Others (Knippen, 1989; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 2011); (4). Problem-Solving (Knippen, 1989; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 2011); (5). Team facilitation (DiStefano & Howell, 1990; Hess, 2007; Whetten & Cameron, 2011); (6) Empathy (Holt & Marques, 2012). Social-psychological interventions provoke individuals to address potential cognitive blocks that may inhibit positive learning behaviours. Prior research has found this class of interventions to be effective tools for redressing negative mindsets like fixed views of intelligence and learned helplessness. This study is significant for two reasons, (1) It attempts to prime students for the development of a non-content-based skill with various types of activity-based learning (e.g. case study, video case, problem-based learning, etc.); (2) It introduces methods of analysing competencies to be developed while leading a group or as a group member to deliver the learning outcomes of an activity assigned, besides addressing the answers to the activity. With the implementation of this peer leadership competency intervention, we respond to Bell’s (2010) call for “evidence-based teaching”, that is, teaching that “includes current, impactful research in our classes”, and address what Burke and Rau (2010) call the research–teaching gap. We do this by illustrating a research study on how to make the students reflect deeply and practice leadership competencies on a content’s heavy management course. The goal is to equip students with leadership competencies while they are learning and having the contents applied through case

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study activities where they can distribute the knowledge acquired in class into the corporate organizations that they will be working for eventually.

6.4 Student Peer Review Peer feedback provides an opportunity for students to benefit from the collective perspectives that enable students to learn by reflecting on issues from varying dimensions. It encourages students to take a proactive, reflective role in learning that promotes higher-order cognitive and advanced critical thinking skills (Liu & Carless, 2006, Topping, 1998). This is a vital ability required to be developed as students are expected to manage and deal effectively with such diverse views. The best way to learn is through such exposure within the classroom context that enables them to develop their confidence and competence. This could be well validated by qualitative review studies in the literature that indicates that peer feedback can enhance domain specific skills (Van Zundert et al., 2010). Research evidence emphasizes the varying advantages of students’ participation in peer review (Gielen et al., 2011; Lundstrom & Baker, 2009). Fundamentally, the process of providing peer feedback itself can be valuable (Lundstrom & Baker, 2009; Cho & MacArthur, 2011; Lee, 2015). As students are expected to give due consideration to the assessment criteria (Huisman et al., 2018) before providing peer feedback, the outcome would be beneficial in terms of the feedback quality that could be potentially meditated through the guided and structured assessment criteria. Liu and Carless (2006) highlighted that peer feedback is an essential skill for students’ future professional careers, hence it must be duly considered as a learning goal within higher education curricula. Peer feedback enables its availability in larger quantity and rapid immediacy compared to instructors’ feedback (Cho & MacArthur, 2010; Topping, 2009). Due to this very reason, it could be beneficial for students to have more peer feedback as a formative reflection in their course design, in addition to instructor’s feedback. Further to this, to advocate a more self-regulated and empowered learning culture (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006), research scholars (Orsmond et al., 2000; Rust et al., 2003) advocate students to be given the opportunity to involve more actively in the assessment process and to adopt formative peer assessment. Topping et al. (2000) and Van Den Berg et al. (2006) stressed that in a student-learning context, the process entails learners to evaluate and consider the quality or value of their peers’ work, sharing feedback with each other. Through analysing, clarifying and correcting their peers’ work, students are required to identify areas of improvement and provide constructive suggestions that enhance their problem-solving skills (Dochy et al., 1999; Somervell, 1993). In addition, the process of the peer review entails them to reflect on a diversity of views to enable them to clarify their understanding and support their inputs with meaningful validations (Biggs & Tang, 2007) and assist them to be reflective of the criteria for good learning (Hounsell et al., 2008). Students’ negotiation and diplomacy skills are enhanced as they get engaged in meaningful interactions with their peers (Hansen &

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Liu, 2005; Lundstrom & Baker, 2009), which creates a more collaborative and participatory learning environment (Cheng & Warren, 1997; Fallows & Chandramohan, 2001). We could deduce that peer review potentially equips learners with a wide range of skills and “know-hows” that are of primary importance in any professional workplace (Huisman et al., 2019).

6.5 Methodology The study adopted an experimental design framework with repeated measures. There was a total of 11 seminar classes in total for a management course over a semester. Out of the 11 classes, three were randomly chosen where the experiment was conducted. The three classes comprise 37, 42 and 37 students, respectively, with a total of 22 groups. The classes are structured such that each class comprises groups consisting of 5–6 students comprising a total of 6–8 groups per class. They were assigned to perform a leadership competency peer review reflective exercise. Every week a case study inline to the lesson topic was facilitated. Each week, each group take turns to be an expert group. The expert group is to be well-versed on the relevant topic and the activity that is assigned that week in order to facilitate the class, guiding the class to achieve the learning objectives set out. This was done through the delivery of contents and the facilitation of in-class discussion inline to the lesson’s topic and activity assigned. The remaining groups in the class will be contributing as participating groups. Amongst these participating groups, two of the groups will be appointed as devil’s advocate. The role of these two groups is to ensure there is a presence of opposing and critical opinions and views. The remaining groups are to participate in posing reflective and relevant questions to engage the group that has been identified the expert group. They are to come prepared with the knowledge of the relevant topic for the lesson as well as the possible answer to the activity assigned so that they could engage the expert group critically. This enables them to provide second opinion and critical evaluation on the answers provided by the expert group. At the end of the activity, all participating groups are required to appraise the leadership competencies of the expert group by completing the leadership competency reflective peer review feedback form furnished in Appendix A. Students are also given the peer review leadership guide (refer to Appendix B) that details out guiding reflective questions for each of the leadership competency for students to have a clear and precise understanding on what they were told to evaluated on. This is to ensure the accuracy of the evaluation by the evaluating groups is addressed to a large extent. The students are given adequate time in class especially for them to consider their responses to the peer evaluation survey carefully. It took some pressure off them to finish the survey too quickly or without putting some thorough thoughts into it. Prior to the expert group’s execution of their task, the expert group, the participating groups and the two identified groups amongst them who is taking on their role of devil’s advocate were briefed on the requirements, respectively. Students were

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thoroughly briefed by using the guidelines from the documents circulated to all students on the overview of weekly activities (refer to Appendix C) and weekly guide for active learning activities (refer to Appendix D). Students were instructed to read the guidelines thoroughly and requested to bring them along every lesson so that they could use them as a reference guide. The participating groups will evaluate the assigned expert group for that week based on the following leadership competencies, namely: (1) Goal Setting; (2) Conflict Resolution; (3). Motivating Others; (4). Problem-Solving; (5). Team facilitation and (6) Empathy. The reliability of this peer leadership instrument comprising the six measuring elements showed to have a high level of internal consistency with a Cronbach alpha value of 0.9 and having a high level of external consistency (i.e. inter-rater agreement within a group) with a mean value of 0.85. Firstly, this intervention of the condition enables them to reflect and have a deeper understanding of how each of these leadership competencies and its explicit aspects is viewed from the different group’s perspectives. After this reflective exercise, a brief class discussion is facilitated to explore what are some of the varying perspectives based on leadership competencies that emerge. The intervention provides students with a questionnaire that comprises 11 questions to complete with a scale rating for the leadership competency of one to four, where 1 means “major area for improvement” and 4 means “highly effective”. Data from students who give informed consent will be analysed after the weekly lesson’s activity completion. During the course, each week, a case study activity of a different topic is adopted. As case study runs every week over the semester, the intervention and supporting class activity type identified, i.e. case study will be iteratively developed to support each other. The success of the project was determined by answering the following questions: Does the intervention of this weekly peer review reflective exercise promote displays of leadership abilities in students’ inclass participation and course peer evaluation? An analysis on the case study activity against peer review perspectives on leadership competencies will provide answers to this question by looking at condition effects on leadership growth. So, we decided to scale the intervention or activity design to other business courses and degree programmes if the answers to these questions were positive.

6.6 Results and Discussion Table 6.1 presents a total of 116 students comprising 22 groups across three classes collectively rated the expert groups on six leadership competencies with a total of 12 elements across six randomly identified lessons. Each of the leadership competency and its sub-elements were explored by examining its means and standard deviations. Table 6.2 presents the qualitative indicators of leadership competencies that the expert groups’ have showcased. The learning process through this peer evaluation allows students to observe, reflect and have the competencies assessed, having them to share their own observations inline to the six key leadership elements used as a

Explain, evaluate, analysis and apply the topics’ contents

Savoury Snack Industry

3.62

3.40

KR Associates International: Flying High

Total mean

3.34

3.23

3.49

3.53

Mean

Clarity

Goal setting

3.46

Case study

Activity type

Snapshot of the Ready-Made Garment Industry

Samsung

Panera Bread

Walmart

Learning objective

Title of activity

3.43

3.48

3.56

3.28

3.33

3.42

3.48

Execution ability

3.44

3.55

3.51

3.31

3.28

3.46

3.51

Overall mean

3.33

3.34

3.38

3.25

3.29

3.24

3.49

Managing conflict

3.51

3.48

3.5

3.44

3.32

3.59

3.73

Active listening & communicate openly

Conflict resolution

Table 6.1 Expert Group ratings on leadership competencies

3.42

3.41

3.44

3.35

3.31

3.42

3.61

Overall mean

3.42

3.43

3.47

3.34

3.26

3.43

3.58

Provide support

3.39

3.44

3.44

3.38

3.21

3.29

3.60

Engage with others

Motivating others

3.41

3.44

3.46

3.36

3.24

3.36

3.59

Overall mean

3.32

3.37

3.41

3.32

3.05

3.24

3.54

Creativity & flexibility

Problem-solving

3.37

3.32

3.46

3.24

3.26

3.39

3.52

Analytical

3.35

3.35

3.44

3.28

3.16

3.32

3.53

Overall mean

3.40

3.45

3.51

3.3

3.28

3.35

3.53

3.44

3.48

3.53

3.40

3.31

3.42

3.50

Productive

Team facilitation Decisive

3.43

3.47

3.52

3.35

3.3

3.39

3.52

Overall mean

Empathy

3.43

3.44

3.49

3.38

3.34

3.38

3.56

Sensitivity

3.44

3.46

3.52

3.40

3.28

3.34

3.61

Adaptable & responsive

3.44

3.45

3.51

3.39

3.31

3.31

3.59

Overall mean

6.6 Results and Discussion 207

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Table 6.2 Qualitative indicators of leadership competencies that the Expert Groups’ have showcased Goal setting

Lead with clarity and Problem-solving clear understanding of the goal

Demonstrated creativity and flexibility in terms of approach

Reiterate the key points and good summary

Show ability to solve problem analytically

Able to guide the team to achieve the specific learning objective

Using example to solve the problem

Good activity structure

Taking logical and systematic approach in addressing the task at hand

Good communication skills

Breakdown the question and make it easier understanding

Clear explanation on concepts

Providing analytical and credible answers

Succinct articulation of key points to facilitate understanding

Answering question well

Clear overview of goals

Facilitating the evaluation of the collective information gathered

Goal oriented

Good problem-solving

Conflict resolution Mediating and analysing the opposing views

Team facilitation Ensured the productive use of team time

Engaging other team members to seek differing inputs or opinions and showing acknowledgement of different opinions

Ensured every team member present equally

Integrating diverse opinions into one coherent solution

Group member facilitate each other

Showing acknowledgement of different opinions

Make decision after hearing all the members’ opinions

Good management and explanation on different opinions

Good at facilitating discussion

Good at listening

Decisive in leading team to specific choices

Managed conflict within the team

Appropriate time allocation and management (continued)

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Table 6.2 (continued) Encouraged interest-oriented discussions, critical thinking and creative solutions Motivating others

Encouragement and reinforcement to sustain team performance

Shared leadership Demonstrated flexibility in execution

Empathy

Lead with sensitivity by empathizing with group members on how they are feeling

Providing relevant and succinct feedback to team members’ input

Able to respond to the group’s feeling and thinking

Acknowledge or praise others’ contribution

Fair chance for everyone to speak

Asking relevant questions Encourages group discussions and motivates students to participate Engaged the crowd’s interest through the presentation Motivate class participation

peer leadership competency-based instrument. This exercise is powerful as students are given an opportunity to understand the competency element through a hands-on reflection that serves as a cognitive learning intervention that helps them to equip the “know-how” of the aspects involved in the leadership competency elements. Leveraging from Table 6.1, Fig. 6.1 is formulated that presents a more visually appealing representation on the analysis of leadership competencies in terms of its effect from the case study activity adopted. More explicitly, Fig. 6.1 shows that the means for the six primary leadership competencies with a total of 12 sub-elements that occupied a comparatively narrow range (3.32–3.51) of available 1-to-4 effectiveness spectrum. The competency sub-element ‘Active Listening & Communicate Openly’ under conflict resolution received the highest effectiveness rating tied at 3.51, whereas the competency sub-element ‘creativity & flexibility’ under problemsolving received the lowest effectiveness rating tied at 3.32. Pilot study interviews had foreshadowed these numerical results where large fractions of 30 pilot participants reported that they have learned and displayed the competency of listening actively to their group mates and able to communicate openly in terms of conflict resolution as well as the ability to adapt and be responsive to navigate as required to the varying situations.

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Mean (Leadership Competencies)

4.0 3.5

Active Listening & Communicate Openly (3.51± 0.1);

Empathy (3.44± 0.03); Goal Setting (3.44± 0.02); Productive* (3.44± 0.03); Adaptable & Responsive* (3.44± 0.03) Team Facilitation (3.43± 0.02); Execution Ability* (3.43± 0.02); Provide Support* (3.42± 0.01); Conflict Resolution (3.42± 0.01); Provide Support* (3.42± 0.01) Motivating Others (3.41± 0.01) 3.4

Clarity* (3.40± 0.02); Decisive* (3.40± 0.02) Engage with others* (3.39± 0.03) Analytical* (3.37± 0.05) Problem Solving (3.35± 0.07) Managing Conflict* (3.33±0.09) Creativity & Flexibility* (3.32±0.01)

3.3 1.0

(*are sub-elements of the peer leadership competencies)

Fig. 6.1 Peer Expert Groups’ leadership competency ratings (Mean ± StdDev) (Note * are subelements of the peer leadership competencies)

Although in the main study, students were presented a 4-point scale to report their agreement or disagreement on each of the leadership competency elements and subelements effectiveness for the expert groups, their mean ratings subtended only about a 10% fraction of that range (3.32–3.51). Each sub-element received an occasional extreme rating “major area for improvement” or “highly effective” by at least a few students, but their overall means clustered in the third quartile of the scale, and all 12 elements of leadership competencies were rated above its “neutral” mid-point. No one specific leadership competency could be claimed as “highly effective” although we could interrupt that all 12 leadership competencies are in the range of “mostly effective” is being nurtured through the case study activities. From the results, we can report with evidence that the case study activities adopted from lessons 2–6 in the management course allow students to be equipped relatively well on the 12 aspects of six primary leadership competencies. It was evident from

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211

achieving the highest mean of 3.51 that the case study activities clearly allow the students to practice listening actively and communicate openly. Perhaps, we could acknowledge that the learning design and scaffolding process involved in the case study activities enables this aspect of competency to be put into action. Next, in the higher mean range, scores of above >3.4 will be “providing support” under motivating others and “execution ability” under goal setting competencies, respectively. Similarly, we could also report that the lowest two competencies that arise from participating in these case study activities are “managing conflict” under conflict resolution which is tied to a mean of 3.33 and “creativity & flexibility” under problem-solving which is tied to a mean of 3.32. Hence, this could serve as a timely feedback to explore how the learning design could be holistically further calibrated to enhance and have students internalize these leadership competencies, respectively.

6.7 Conclusion Student participants reflected on their learning process effectiveness through this peer leadership competency instrument. Their reflections through this peer review survey are an opportunity to express their perspectives with an autonomy that makes them have a voice to be engaged and internalize not only individually but collectively on the competencies to be measured. If these simple interventions of weekly peer review reflective exercise can be used to facilitate the development of leadership competencies in measurable way, the similar interventions can be used to develop other non-content-based skills. The key to making the intervention cycle transferable is being able to identify the psychological blocks that are hindering the development and creating materials to force students to address those blocks. Different skills will have different blocks. This study will provide a tested template for the development and use of peer review feedback intervention that can be modified for the development of material(s) for interventions that address other “tough to teach” skills and abilities. At a surface level, this study will enhance the development of soft skills and employability skills at the university by (1) Providing a soft skills development platform through the carefully designed and customized learning activities to address the challenges in administering, monitoring and developing competencies through collective peer feedback, a continuous monitoring and reflective scaffolding support system; (2) Providing training materials addressing on how to use the support system and activities developed for the competency training in classroom settings (3) Introducing a platform to practice explicit employability or soft skill competencies without sacrificing more time on the content’s aspects; (4) Facilitates to monitor one’s own specific set of soft skills competency level and able to improve through monitoring of their performance with continuous reflection and guidance offered by the support system; (5) Providing evidence of the soft skills competency support system and the learning activities efficacies.

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Further to this, every individual student will be able to monitor their own progress of learning and areas for improvement from the immediate feedback offered realtime during the face-to-face session. As for the instructors, this learning intervention is used as a weekly competency development embedded within the class activities to monitor individual students’ soft skills development. At a deeper level, we have taken both a narrow and broad view of enhancing teaching and learning, explicitly in the challenging yet the very essential area of soft skills development at the university. In a narrow sense, we generated more meaningful course activities that focus both in contents application while facilitating a platform for soft skills development for a single course—Management Principles, Skills & Competencies—and tested them. These soft skills competency course activities, while possible to execute with an experienced instructor, may be challenging to execute by new instructors without appropriate scaffolding. With our proposed support system, activity guide, video examples and training workshop, we will provide that scaffolding to the other course instructors. As we receive feedback from both instructors and students, we intend to refine the training materials, soft skills support system and activity designs in an iterative cycle. Beginning next academic year, the benefits of this project will be felt by upwards of 400 students per semester for the foreseeable future, and if adopted by other courses, we expect thousands of students to benefit from the adoption of the soft skills competency development peer review instrument. In a broad sense, all the activities, features of the soft skills support system, training materials and efficacy measures that we have developed for this project can be translated to other courses beyond the business school. In any course where soft skills or employability skills are to be embedded as part of learning outcomes and to be offloaded as a separate class time, our work can be used to inform the design and delivery of new learning activities or merely to redesign existing learning activities to make them more meaningful. We will leverage on the mission of diffusing learning innovations throughout the university to expand the use of the ideas, activity designs and support tools we generate for this project to other courses and programmes. We will also work with the respective centres and schools to add our activity designs to their course conversion catalogue and bolster the designs with evidence from our activity analyses. Acknowledgements This research study was funded by the Division of Leadership, Management and Organisation, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) through the Division Research Grant. The author will like to thank the support extended.

Appendix A: Leadership Competency Reflective Peer Feedback Group Name/No: _________________________

Appendix A: Leadership Competency Reflective Peer Feedback

213

Date: ___________________________________ Use the following scale to indicate how effectively you feel the expert group performed in each of the areas listed. Place your rating for each area by circling the corresponding numbers. Please provide a brief comment explaining/supporting/clarifying the reason for each of your ratings. 4 = highly effective 3 = mostly effective 2 = somewhat effective 1 = major area for improvement A. Goal Setting (Knippen, 1989; Hess, 2007) 1.

2.

Lead with clarity and a clear understanding of the overall goals of the group activity. 4 3 2 1 Helped by guiding the class to achieve the specific learning objectives of the group activity. 4

3

2

1

B. Conflict Resolution (Knippen, 1989; DiStefano & Howell, 1990; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 1983; Hess, 2007) 3.

Managed conflict (e.g. differing perspectives) within the team.

4.

4 3 2 1 Worked to establish a climate of active listening and open communication by encouraging interest-oriented discussions and/or critical thinking and/or creative solutions. 4

3

2

1

C. Motivating Others (Knippen, 1989; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 1983) 5.

Provided encouragement and reinforcement to sustain team performance.

6.

4 3 2 1 Engaged meaningfully with others by providing well thought through feedback and insights. 4

3

2

1

D. Problem-Solving (Knippen, 1989; McEvoy, 1998; Whetten & Cameron, 1983) 7.

Demonstrated creativity and flexibility in terms of approach.

8.

4 3 2 1 Ability to solve problems analytically. 4

3

2

1

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E. Team facilitation (DiStefano & Howell, 1990; Hess, 2007; Whetten & Cameron, 1983) 9.

Was decisive in leading team to specific choices.

10.

4 3 2 1 Ensured the productive use of team time and timely completion of the group activity. 4

3

2

1

F. Empathy (Holt & Marques, 2012) 11.

12.

Lead with sensitivity by able to empathize what other group members are thinking or feeling. 4 3 2 1 Adapt and respond to the group’s feelings and thinking in addressing the task at hand. 4

3

2

1

In 2–4 lines please address the area(s), within the six elements of leadership competencies, did the expert group(s) showcase prominently? Justify. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ In 2–4 lines please address the area(s), within the six elements of leadership competencies, can the expert group(s) improve on? Justify. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Appendix B: Peer Review Leadership Competency—Guide Reflective Questions Points to take note: • Two participating groups will be the appointed as devil’s advocates with an intentional purpose of creating a climate where there are opposing and differing perspectives; • The expert group for that week will be assessed by the rest of the participating group at the end of the activity; expert groups are to be rotated weekly; • All participating groups are required to critically and objectively evaluate the expert group based on the rubric penned below. Under each criterion, there are questions enclosed which enables a better understanding on the explicit scope of evaluation made.

Appendix B: Peer Review Leadership Competency—Guide Reflective Questions

215

A. Goal Setting Q1. Lead with clarity and a clear understanding of the overall goals of the activity • Does the expert group reiterate the key points? • Does the expert group summarize the key points? • Does the expert group articulate the key points succinctly and simply to facilitate your understanding? Q2. Helped by guiding the class to achieve the specific learning objectives of the activity • Is the expert group able to lead the class to achieve an adequate understanding of the learning objectives set out in the activity?

B. Conflict Resolution Q3. Managed conflict (e.g. differing perspectives) within the team • Is the expert group able to mediate when there are opposing views? • Is the expert group able to integrate diverse opinions into one coherent solution? Q4. Worked to establish a climate of active listening and open communication by encouraging interest-oriented discussions and/or critical thinking and/or creative solutions • Does the expert group engage other participating groups to seek differing inputs or opinions? • Does the expert group show acknowledgement of different opinions?

C. Motivating Others Q5. Provided encouragement and reinforcement to sustain team performance • Does the expert group acknowledge or praise the participating groups for their contributions? • Is the expert group mindful and hence act in a sensitive manner according to the overall morale/sentiment? Q6. Engaged meaningfully with others by providing well thought through feedback and insights • Does the expert group ask relevant questions? • Does the expert group provide relevant and succinct feedback to inputs from other groups?

D. Problem-Solving Q7. Demonstrated creativity and flexibility in terms of approach • Does the expert group approach the task in more than one way in deriving a solution (examples of approaches: go around the table, debating, mind map, brainstorming together, etc.)? Q8. Ability to solve problems analytically • Does the expert group take logical and systematic approach in addressing the task at hand? • Does the expert group facilitate the evaluation of the collective information gathered? • Does the expert group breakdown the question and/or task at hand into smaller parts for easier understanding?

E. Team facilitation

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Q9. Decisive in leading team to specific choices • Is the expert group able to make decisions after hearing all of the members’ opinions? Q10. Ensured the productive use of team time and timely completion of the group activity • Does the expert group allocate time appropriate for the activities and is mindful of the timeline left?

F. Empathy Q11. Lead with sensitivity by able to empathize what other group members are thinking or feeling • Is the expert group able to empathize with the predicament or challenges that subtly emerge by effective maneuvering and engaging the other groups? Q12. Adapt and respond to the group’s feelings and thinking in addressing the task at hand • Does the expert group show sensitivity by creatively managing the group’s emotional dynamics effectively to achieve the deliverables? • Does the expert group able to manage his own emotions well in dealing with difficult situations, especially being challenged and when put through complex predicaments where he has to propel the team forward?

Appendix C: Overview of Weekly Activities Aim: To use active and experiential-based learning activities to provide a platform for students to hone their leadership and management skills. Structure: – – – – – –

The class will be divided into groups of 5–6 individuals Every week, one of the groups will be appointed as the expert group The rest of the groups shall be termed the participating groups Out of the participating groups, 2 will be termed as the devil’s advocate The devil’s objective is to provide opposing views and differing perspective There 1–2 active learning activities in most of the seminar sessions Responsibilities: Expert Group(s):

– To prepare the relevant materials in accordance with the case study assigned the following week – To lead the class to attain the learning objective set out in each activity – Engage the participating groups in a discussion on the case study – To show competency set out in the six elements of leadership Participating Groups:

Appendix C: Overview of Weekly Activities

217

– To prepare the relevant materials in accordance with the case study assigned the following week – To critically evaluate the opinions and answers of the expert group – To critically evaluate the expert group’s leadership competency using the rubric set out in Peer Review Leadership Competency—Guide – Complete the Leadership Competency Reflective Peer Review Feedback form online

Appendix D: Weekly Guide for the Active Learning Activities Expert Group 1. 2.

Approach the instructor to find out the required activity to be done the following week Prepare a PowerPoint Presentation addressing the following: • General overview of the case study • Answers to the relevant case study (Optional—but strongly encouraged) – Questions and clarifications that may emerge for class discussions – Relevant, related examples and experiences to be raised and discussed

3.

Prepare questions or discussions pertaining to the case study/relevant topic(s) to engage the audience (other groups). The scope of the questions/discussion can include • What are the alternative answers to the questions? • Opinions of the participating groups of your answers

4.

The expert group must be • • • • •

Knowledgeable in the relevant topic and the case study assigned for the week Deliver the materials in a clear and concise manner Organize and evaluate all opinions/answers from the participating groups Guide the class to achieve learning objectives set out in the activities Facilitate the in-class discussion and can critique all suggestion/opinion based its merit.

Participating Groups • Come prepared with enough knowledge for the critical evaluation of answers/opinion by the expert group(s) • Come prepared with answers to the assigned activities • Come prepared with question related to the case study and/or topic

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• Provide second opinion to the answers of the expert group(s) • Assess the expert group on their leadership competencies based on the rubric provided in Peer Review Leadership Competency—Guide • At the end of the lesson, fill in the Leadership Competency Reflective Peer Review Feedback Form available on the blackboard.

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Chapter 7

Learning Through Social Media: Facebook as a Collaborative and Experiential Pedagogical Tool

Abstract This chapter covers the topic on “learning through social media: Facebook as a collaborative and experiential pedagogical tool”. This exploratory and evidencebased study investigated how business students conceptualize and describe “critical thinking” and “applied knowledge transfer” in context across five seminar groups over two semesters. Many good students with A-level and Polytechnic aggregate GPA (grade point average) enrol in business courses with the local Universities in Singapore, with stringent and highly merit-based admissions. The high expectations of application of contents knowledge gained by students are evaluated by employers which ultimately determine the students’ ability to perform well in their corporate career and aspirations. Continuous review of pedagogical tools that could possibly leverage on social media platforms that potentially optimizes learning effectiveness from a different way of learning is essential. Facebook as collaborative and experimental asynchronous and synchronous pedagogical tool is examined in terms of two elements, namely “critical thinking” and “applied knowledge transfer” to bridge the efficacy of socially inclined learning gap. The chapter aims to discuss these significant and contemporary issues. Two-fold methodological approach was undertaken. In the first phase, forty-eight consenting students identified from 271 business students participating in a larger study provided face-to-face interview information on how Facebook as an experiential and collaborative learning tool have enthused different aspects of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer, examined from varying dimensions including learner group dynamics, collaborative discussion sessions, learning efficiency and effectiveness, comfort, flexibility, familiarity and applicability. In the second phase, the outcome performance of the two elements of “critical thinking” and “knowledge transfer” is measured through the course assessment criteria across the five seminar groups over the two semesters to examine the performance trend. Interviewees’ free-form descriptors of (1) “critical thinking” included phrases such as “analytical thinking through explorative discussion”, “thinking diversely”, “ability to relate and apply in a practical context” and “facilitate, apply own and others’ perspectives”. (2) Applied knowledge transfer included phrases such as “quality of learning/effective knowledge acquisition”, “learn from current knowledge and others”, “easier to understand” and “flexibility of learning. Their descriptors were classified into 22 qualitative indicator categories with eight specific themes for critical thinking and 14 specific themes for “applied knowledge © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Rajaram, Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0_7

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transfer”. There are limited research studies that debate on the scope of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer examined, analysing the impact with the adoption of Facebook as a pedagogical tool. This study reports qualitative “consultations” with learners from business programs and debates the implications examined from “critical thinking” and “applied knowledge transfer” perspectives. This was further measured through investigation performed over two semesters across five seminar groups. This also serves as starting point for further research on Facebook as an experiential and collaborative pedagogical tool. In this chapter, the context of social media as a platform of online learning platform is discussed. The need and openness of why there is need to consider social media pedagogical tools are examined through literature evidence. Further to that, the findings through its analysis having adopted on Facebook as a collaborative and experiential learning platform will be examined and discussed.

7.1 Introduction: Social Media as a Learning Platform in Higher Education Evidence in research revealed that usage of social media in higher education has progressively become widely adopted due to its ubiquity and extensive adoption amongst a large proportion of the population, especially amongst students and faculty (Rospigliosi, 2019). Research scholars (Anderson, 2009; Dede, 2008; Duffy, 2011; Greenhow, 2011; Manca & Ranieri, 2013; Siemens & Weller, 2011) pointed out that the social media pedagogical potential in teaching and learning has been theorized in numerous studies. We could acknowledge the impact social media has made, for example, leveraging on the positive impact of digital citizenship (Gleason & Von Gillern, 2018); supporting collaborative knowledge development (Anderson, 2009); blurring the boundaries between formal and informal learning (Greenhow & Lewin, 2016); providing peer support and igniting social and civic benefits (Greenhow, 2011); developing relational and student support (Mazzoni & Iannone, 2014); valueadding to hybridization of expertise and widening of learning settings (Manca & Ranieri, 2013). Social media are computer-mediated platforms which enable individuals, groups and organizations to create, share or exchange information through text, photos and videos in virtual communities and networks. The usage of social media is becoming so part of human life that today’s educators need to be creative of how to utilize them innovatively in their teaching and learning approaches. We could relate to Dr. Richard J. Light of Harvard University’s School of Education who advocate that “…group learning format appeals to younger, socially conscious learners and is built around the notion that many minds are better than one…”. Social media serves as a connecting “bridge”, especially for the new generation of learners to higher education institutions through social interactions in formal and informal learning contexts and its support learning networks (Junco, 2014; Siemens & Weller, 2011). Research also emphasizes that social media act as powerful

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change catalysts in accommodating learning needs that are inclined towards open and social contexts, disrupting the traditional boundaries of teaching settings (Krutka & Carpenter, 2016). Extensive research investigation has been carried out to understand the benefits of social media in higher education, and well-informed outcomes have been attained in varying domains (Fox & Bird, 2017; Greenhow & Askari, 2017; Rodríguez-Hoyos et al., 2015; Selwyn & Sterling, 2016). This could be further validated by the meta-synthesis of studies that revealed that social media facilitate creation of knowledge in e-learning that enables deep learning at higher education (Mnkandla & Minnaar, 2018). Nonetheless, although studies showed positive outlook towards social media use for professional development and personal sharing, evidence revealed that faculty is not too enthusiastic to adopt them in teaching practices, due to varying complex pedagogical issues, institutional constraints and cultural resistance (Manca & Ranieri, 2016a, 2016b; Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013; Willems et al., 2018). Social media enable affordances for the creation of online collaborative activities that exceeds those provided by traditional learning management systems (LMS), largely due to their usage of these for socialization and communication purposes, hence, highly extending the willingness to use them for learning as well (Duff, 2011). Social media teaching approaches adopt social constructivist learning theories of knowledge as they are accessible, decentralized and co-developed learning environments with a broad base of users (Manca, 2020). The connectivist approach addresses the cognitive and relational functionalities where the learners are enabled to be engaged in peer-to-peer dialogue, foster development of communication skills and share resources (Siemens & Weller, 2011). On the flip side, adopting social media platforms for teaching pushes the boundaries to blur the distinction between social, leisure spaces and learning that mixes all these activities together (Manca, 2020). To potentially resolve this, Manca and Ranieri (2013) pointed out that a shared responsibility and understanding between teachers and students may better enhance the learning experience. Perhaps, we could also turn these challenges into opportunities where the onus is now on students to draw out the boundaries they operate in, in terms of the operating process, the level of ambiguity and unstructured that they are comfortable with from their perceived learning effectiveness. It enables construction of self-created or generated contents that allows self-regulated learning processes to flourish. Social media scores high in pedagogical affordances which could be viewed as a trade-off between formal and informal learning (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012). The adoption of social media does come with its own set of challenges, for example, the development of identity as a learning framework versus institutional demands; data confidentiality and privacy and varying disparity in the participatory culture patterns (Halverson, 2011). The differences in structure of networks and the hierarchical structure of traditional education cause conflicts and tensions to emerge (Siemens & Weller, 2011). Tensions also arise due to the diversity between the closed boundaries of institutions and the openness of social media (Crook, 2012). The adoption of the correct mix of social media tools appropriately and the creative use of them to have it tailored to the learners’ needs will contribute in developing twenty-first-century skills. A few examples are as such: (1) Enables cross-group

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discussions and peer review feedback to be facilitated: The unique aspect is the ability of the social media to have two different groups within the class seated anywhere to collaborate virtually and perform an assigned task (e.g. case study, problem-based activity, etc.). This is essential where discussions could be extended beyond members within groups. It also enables peer review to be performed by another group. This collaboration may be a challenge and merely an impossible task in a traditional active learning approach; (2) Provides “real-time” formative feedback and have them archived: Social media tools enable instructors to provide immediate “real-time” feedback to students’ contributions. This allows students who have contributed as well as others in the class to learn from it. To add on, the authentic feature is the ability to have all these discussions to be retrieved by students at a later stage to reflect and review or even make further comments to the thread of discussions which have been facilitated; (3) Serve as a bridging platform for high level of engagement: Social media platforms help students to build confidence enabling them to express their thoughts. These students struggle in expressing their perspectives openly, speaking up in class due to the cultural interventions such as power distance and uncertainty avoidance and beyond. However, they may feel more comfortable “speaking” on social media, where it provides an outlet for students who are too intimidated to raise their hands in class and speak up. Surprisingly, once they feel confident and comfortable sharing their thoughts in such familiar and more socially comfortable platforms, they generally start to speak up more in class progressively once as they have psychologically created a comfort zone and non-judgmental ambience and/or learning climate. The usage of social media serves as a collaborative and experiential technology-enabled pedagogical tool to increase student engagement and enhance effective learning in terms of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer. The potential learning outcomes with the adoption of social media are as follows: (1) Deeper Learning with new creation of knowledge: Through peer learning, students can reflect on their answers more critically through feedback provided by their peers. Hence, this allows deeper learning to be facilitated through reflecting on diverse perspectives, perhaps possibly in exploring the creation of new knowledge; (2) Higher Engagement: It provides an alternative avenue for students to share their perspectives which compensates for social limitations of shyness and/or discomfort in articulating their thoughts verbally; this enables students to be much better engaged as they could express their thoughts through a means which they feel secured and have confident on. This may not be possible in a traditional setting as the only way to share their thoughts is to be vocal in the class; (3) Builds a wider social network for learning: It enables the students to widen their social network within the class as this allows the students to have an opportunity to work with a larger pool of culturally diverse and varying personalities beyond their groups assigned in a more socially inclined and accustomed platform; (4) Higher level of critical thinking: Through collaborative learning, it deepens the discussions with more diverse perspectives to be shared, reflected and facilitating critical thinking; (5) Improves communication: It improves communication between students and instructors by enabling a platform where the instructor can answer any questions, offer advice, suggestions, reaching

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students who may not normally have participated or actively be involved in class discussions. Affirmative feedback from learners who have experienced this technology enhanced learning approach clearly reiterates the benefits that they have experienced and reaped in their learning process with the usage of social media. There is a shift to a much higher level of engagement through an increased scope of critical thinking through facilitator to students, students to students’ interaction and participation in discussions that allows deep learning. Moreover, the effective usage has facilitated better knowledge transfer as it allows the students to analyse, reflect and apply the concepts taught which enhances their comprehension of information taught. The outcomes of students’ learning are clear from their performance of coursework assessments and final exams. Hybrid or blended learning, embedding a variety of media to deliver course contents is increasingly prevalent in university education (Irwin et al., 2012). Blended learning is often associated with the use of Web tools such as lecture recordings, discussion boards, blogs and a dedicated university learning management system (e.g. blackboard, Web CT). Institutional-based learning management systems are being used by Universities all over the world. These systems are often designed to provide a Web presence for course instruction and assist with organization and management of course material (Coates et al., 2005). They propose to offer an environment that helps to engage students and enrich the quality of the student experience through interactive learning activities. In general, they are designed to support the development, management and delivery of blended learning. Media use provides an important backdrop for the social, emotional and cognitive development of youth, accounting for a large portion of their time (Roberts et al., 2005). Social networking on the Internet has grown rapidly in prevalence and popularity in recent years. Social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Friendster, Live Journal, Myspace and Bebo, are Internet communities that facilitate users to post profile information, such as username and photograph, and to communicate with others in innovative ways such as sending public or private online messages or sharing photos online. These social sites reveal vital information about how adolescents and young adults are interacting with one another in the information age. Technological developments have affected the Internet world and Internet has become a platform in which the content is generated by numerous people and information amongst users is shared out. Social networking sites are a topic of interest to educators to engage and have conversations on the common and evolving usages and functions of these technologies (Byrne, 2009; Gunawardena et al., 2009; Selwyn, 2007).

7.1.1 Prevalent Time Spent on Social Networking Sites Media are a ubiquitous influence in youth development with 15-35 years old Singapore youth investing approximately 5.5 h daily with media (Fann Sim, 2013). Social networking sites have captured the interest of many adolescents and young adults.

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Recent reports on the prevalence of online activities indicate that most Singapore adolescents and young adults utilize social networking sites and the number of memberships increases with age. Although some of the ways that youth spend their time have changed in the information age, the central developmental tasks of adolescence and early adulthood have remained constant. Key characteristics of adolescent development include the formation of identity, the development of influence relationships and the power of the peer group. In Erikson’s (1963) theory, identity development occurs through series of conflicts that must be resolved at different stages throughout life. One means by which the identity challenges of emerging adulthood may be addressed in through self-disclosure, particularly with peers. Buhrmester and Prager’s (1995) model is self-disclosure suggests that adolescents can resolve issues through social inputs from others. Self-disclosure can serve the dual purpose of: (1) identity development, where external feedback from peers may help the individual to clarify his or her sense of self; and (2) intimacy development, where the relationship with the disclosure partner is strengthened. This theory is relevant to young adults as well as because the issues of adolescence continue into emerging adulthood (Pempek et al., 2009). Online interactions may influence developmental outcomes through peer feedback because Internet use is a pervasive presence in the lives of adolescents and young adults (Lenhart & Madden, 2007; Wiley & Sisson, 2006). For example, in a content analysis of adolescents’ personal web pages, youth was often found to express themselves by posting information about their interests and their identity (Stern, 2004). Stern argues that the inclusion of various channels for reader feedback (e.g. online guest books) suggests that youth desire responses to the content posted, perhaps for selfvalidation or the formation of relationships. Valkenburg et al. (2005) report that 50% of adolescents who had experimented with identity through instant messaging had three primary reasons for doing so: (1) to explore themselves through feedback from others; (2) to compensate for social limitations of shyness and (3) to facilitate social relationships. Like personal Websites and instant messaging, social networking sites provide an easy, accessible way to interact with peers and gather feedback. These opportunities may be particularly significant since peers are readily available online at almost any time and the tools provided make communication easy to accomplish. Facebook emerges as one of the popular social networking tools widely used for varying purposes amongst users. Blank and Lutz (2017) pointed out that age and socioeconomic status despite being the driving factors for engagement in many platforms, there is no single social media platform that reflects the preferences expressed by the general population. Although social media global trends and insights are available in the field of psychology (Zyoud et al., 2018), but it is underrepresented in the education literature, explicitly in such culturally unique settings which potentially provides varying insights and reflections. Despite numerous studies have reported that the usage of social media by young people is largely affirmative (Greenhow & Askari, 2017; Manca & Ranieri, 2016b), the implications arising from social media platforms adopted for teaching and learning purposes still remain largely unexplored (Manca, 2020). This study seeks to contribute or value-add by addressing students’ perspectives of Facebook

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as a learning utility addressing from the learning dimension of critical thinking and knowledge transfer, inclined from an Asian context.

7.2 Background of Facebook Facebook was created in February 2004 by Mark Zuckberg at Harvard University. The membership of Facebook was originally limited to Ivy League University students, but the membership was later extended to anyone worldwide with a valid e-mail address (Torgeson, 2006). It has over 130 million active members worldwide (Minocha, 2009). Facebook is a Website that allows users to interact and collaborate within a pre-defined virtual community. Often termed a social networking site, Facebook is an online communication tool allowing users to construct a public or private profile in order to connect and interact with people who are part of their extended social network (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Most undergraduate students at university or college use Facebook on a daily basis (Krischner & Karpinski, 2010; Ophus & Abbitt, 2009; Madge et al., 2009; Wise et al., 2011). Whilst there are some reports that students use Facebook instinctively to support both their academic and social goals (Mazman & Usluel, 2010; Tian et al., 2011). Most of the evidence suggests that students’ main motive of using Facebook is for social connectivity (Wise et al., 2011; Roblyer et al., 2010; Mazman & Usluel, 2010; Madge et al., 2009). Since its introduction in 2004, Facebook has rapidly become the most popular social networking site in the world (Mazman & Usluel, 2010) which reports of more than 750 million active users worldwide (according to facebook.com statistics retrieved in August 2011). Despite being known primarily for social networking activity, Facebook is quickly being recognized as a respectable e-learning platform (Bosch, 2009). Compared with traditional university course sites, students are more engaged with Facebook. In addition, some studies suggest that students are receptive to the possibilities of integrating Facebook into university courses, with the potential for learning benefits associated with increased communication amongst students, greater access to course materials and improved logistical management of courses (Ophus & Abbitt, 2009; Bosch, 2009).

7.3 Facebook as a Collaborative and Experimental Pedagogical Tool Facebook attracts and supports networks of people and facilitates connections between them (McLoughlin & Lee, 2007). Facebook is a representative of what Gee (2004) calls affinity spaces, where people acquire social and communicative skills and at the same time become engaged in the participatory culture of web 2.0. In those spaces, youth engages in informal learning and creative, expressive forms of

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behaviour. Facebook has also been used for formal learning with academics setting up open or private groups for classroom practices (Minocha, 2009). In this regard, (a) Facebook can be used to send course related information to students; (b) to provide a space where success and failures of students can be shared and discussions can take place; (c) to improve communication between students and lecturers and provide a forum where the lecturer can answer any academic questions, offering an open-ended way of consulting which may potentially produce interesting or unanticipated points of view that other approaches may not elicit, and consultation which reaches students who may not normally have participated in giving feedback (Minocha, 2009).

7.4 Facebook Versus Institutional Learning Management Systems Whilst learning management systems are well developed to manage processes such as assignments, course descriptions and basic course materials, they are not well suited to self-governed and problem-based learning activities (Dalsgaard, 2006). E-learning tools in learning management systems often lack an element of social connectivity and the personal profile spaces which today’s students are familiar with (Mazman & Usluel, 2010). The emergence of social networking software and popular networking sites such as Facebook has raised questions regarding the value of course integrated learning management systems. Social network has the potential to offer better support for self-governed, problem-based and collaborative learning processes (Dalsgaard, 2006).

7.5 Gaps to Be Addressed in This Research Study There is evidence of some good potential in using Facebook in teaching and learning although its primary purpose is designed for social connectivity. Currently there is little published empirical research on use of Facebook for enhancing “critical thinking” and “applied knowledge transfer” as effective learning indicators via collaborative and experiential learning mode internationally as well as in Singapore. Studies that exist stem largely from fields outside business education such as communication studies, sociology and anthropology (Greenhow et al., 2009; Bosch, 2009). Research in the field of education indicates that (a) Students use social media such as Facebook in their daily lives; (b) More use of such technologies in academic contexts would lead to increased preparation and engagement (DeGennaro, 2008; Lenhart et al., 2008; Rambe, 2009; Solomon & Schrum, 2007; Spires et al., 2008). Evidence concurrently indicates that university teachers have not utilized these technologies to the same extent as the students. This means that students live in separate

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realities from those of their teachers, who are typically not motivated or rewarded by institutional incentives to change their practice (McGee & Diaz, 2007). Some university teachers assume that students online social activities are devoid of substantive intellectual activity and distract students from academic activity. As a result, many Universities block the use of social networking sites (Bosch, 2009), especially Facebook in their institutions. Contrary to this assumption, many researchers (Kabilan et al., 2010, Madge et al., 2009, Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010; Hew, 2011) report that student activities in Facebook social networks sites involve education and learning, although we acknowledged that further research on the potential of adopting Facebook as a teaching and learning platform in enhancing critical thinking and knowledge transfer as effective learning indicators via collaborative learning is required as not much was explicitly and thoroughly examined in these specific areas.

7.6 Rationale of This Study The study was motivated to furnish descriptive information about the use of Facebook by tertiary level of business students, taking a management course in the pursuit of their university education. The primary goals are basically (a) to address critical questions for comprehending the level of intensity in terms of critical thinking; (b) to address critical questions for comprehending the amount of applied knowledge transfer in terms of effective learning; (c) to analyse of how students perform over two semesters with the adoption of Facebook as a learning tool on a specific assessment criterion on critical thinking. The learning outcomes are measured on an individual assignment with pre-and-post adoption of Facebook as a learning and instructional tool.

7.7 Method 7.7.1 Course Facebook Main Page and Group Pages Four topics in the course are identified to be taught through flipped-classroom approach where Facebook platform is incorporated as part of the learning process. The main Facebook page was developed by the course leader prior to the topic to be facilitated via Facebook. Students were informed of the common course Facebook page and the need to develop their own respective groups’ page. They were instructed that they could use it as a learning resource throughout the four identified topic sessions by visiting the page and clicking on the “like” button. This enables a connection to be made between the main course page and the students’ personal Facebook account. The course page would then appear in the “course activities” section of the students’ profile and enabled publication of updates and notifications

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to the students. Students can form group pages with the assigned group members. Student engagement with the course Facebook page was strongly encouraged, and their contributions are tied to the active learning participation assessment. Each of the group assigned was tasked to find out relevant real-life examples from newspaper articles, magazines and have posted with summarized themes, where other groups are encouraged to comment, critique and share their opinions and thoughts as well. Course instructors logged on to the main course Facebook page at least once per day to respond to selected questions and monitor discussions. Discussion was thoroughly monitored to ensure that content was appropriate to the course materials, upheld academic integrity and abide by university’s code of conduct and information technology policy. All topics learning materials were available to students via the university’s online teaching and blended learning environment “NTULearn” which uses the blackboard course management software. All students are still required to fulfil other online e-blending learning elements from the dedicated university’s learning management system course site as well as the learning activity management system (LAMs) that are developed and customized specifically for this course.

7.7.2 Participants The study was conducted over three semesters. Interviews served as a preliminary source to investigate early participants’ ideas of “critical thinking” and “applied knowledge transfer”. Critical thinking in this context is defined as “the ability to actively conceptualize, evaluate, apply and synthesis information collated from or created through experience, observation, reflection, reasoning and/or communication”. Applied knowledge transfer in this context is defined as “the learning acquired with applied knowledge through the process of instructional facilitation”. These two definitions in context will be applied for the research study adopted. A total of 48 participants representing the students taking the management course over the two semesters were identified. Approximately, equal number of sample students from each semester and the respective seminar groups under the course leader’s purview were specifically selected. The sample (n = 48) was from a total of 199 students taking the management course facilitated by the course leader/chair. The total 199 students are from five seminar classes, with two seminar classes in semester 1 (class 1 = 40; class 2 = 40) and three seminar classes (class 1 = 38; class 2 = 40; class 3 = 41) in semester 2. The total sample group included 48 students from semester 1 (class 1 = 12; class 2 = 12) and three seminar classes (class 1 = 10; class 2 = 8; class 3 = 6) in semester 2. To ensure the student sample provided reasonable representation, the following criteria were also imposed: • Business students taking a management course designed for year 2 undergraduate students

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• Have attended all four seminar sessions which incorporates the hybrid e-learning pedagogy of Facebook • Should have participated in all the Facebook experiential and collaborative learning that was facilitated • Pre-interviewed to ensure that students articulate their thoughts reasonably well with logical flow and clarity This collaborative and experiential approach is tied to the active learning participation marks under the course work requirements.

7.7.3 Procedure Two key outcomes are targeted (1) to examine the students’ perceptions of using Facebook as a learning utility to engage “critical thinking” and “knowledge transfer”; (2) to measure the outcome performance of specific theme on “critical thinking” criteria of the assessment rubrics individual assignment, based on the blended online learning pedagogy with the adoption of Facebook. Phase 1 Data was gathered through a one-page interview questionnaire with a total of seven open-ended questions. A post-seminar interview questionnaire was facilitated after the completion of the four topics that adopts Facebook as a facilitation tool. A copy of the interview questionnaire was provided to all students one day prior to the scheduled interview session, who have attended the four seminar sessions. The 48 students were each interviewed for approximately 2 h. Interview sessions were conducted by an external research consultant who is experienced in conducting such qualitative interviews and with extensive understanding of the students’ behaviour and attitudes towards social media and online learning. All interviews were audio-recorded and then individually transcribed over a period of approximately six months. To ensure the accuracy of interview transcriptions, all were re-vetted by a researcher in the team and a research assistant to ensure consistency. The interview questionnaire consisted of six items and focused on students’ perceptions of their learning, effectiveness in terms of critical thinking and knowledge transfer, students’ preference, benefits and usefulness of this experiential and collaborative learning, suggestions and thoughts for any improvements and ultimately their perspective of it as a learning support tool. The primary research question is RQ1:

How do business students conceptualize “critical thinking” and “knowledge transfer” through Facebook as a collaborative and experiential pedagogical tool in their pursuit of a management course in a business course program?

The following sub-questions also assisted in forming exploratory interviews: RQ1a:

How do these students perceive critical thinking and knowledge transfer in terms of quality of learning and scope of applied knowledge acquired?

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RQ1b: RQ1c: RQ1d: RQ1e: RQ1f :

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What are the relative differences and trend in quality of students’ learning across different seminar groups and semesters? Which qualitative indicators emerged readily from students themselves versus which others required prompting? What are the elements or aspects in the Facebook instructional facilitation fit the way the students like to learn? Which of the aspects in the Facebook pedagogical tool provided the most attractive e-learning environment? How are the varying Facebook collaborative and experiential elements increasing the awareness of the subjects?

The interviews were conducted to address these major explorative questions and issues in terms of the influencing attributes of these students’ critical thinking and knowledge transfer. Interviews were conducted on a semi-structured manner where the interview questions were asked in a sequential order. This allows students to share their experience with the interviewer and to identify aspects of the feedback as a collaborative and experiential pedagogical tool that facilitated their learning in various ways. Phase 2 To understand the perspectives of instructors facilitating the classes with the controlled variable of having Facebook as the learning intervention, focus groups were conducted. Two focus groups each comprising four instructors in one group and five in another were formed. The size of the focus group was intentionally capped to a smaller size to ensure more deeper engagement could be attained. Each focus group’s engagement took around 45 min. The time of engagement was kept brief yet productive. Two key questions as follows were asked: (a) From your observation and analysis, what are the positive impact that this learning intervention of Facebook has made on students’ learning?; (b) From your observation and analysis, what are the negative aspects that are come across as a disruption to the learning process and/or as an instructional tool? Phase 3 Next the outcome performance of the theme of “critical thinking” is measured through the course assessment criteria. The assessment rubrics for the assignment comprises a total of three criteria, of which one of the specific assessment criteria “ethical knowledge, understanding and judgment” is measured over the last two semesters compared to the earlier semester. The performance trend is evaluated to see if there is any impact with the adoption of this approach of learning through the social media platform of Facebook.

7.8 Analysis The principal researcher examined the major themes from all the interviews across the two semesters and different seminar groups identified. The main themes were

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classified into broad clusters for compilation. From these data sheets, responses to every interview question were examined to determine what participants reported, how they justified their thinking and what key themes emerged from that specific questions asked. This resulted in a template (Table 7.1): (a) highlighted the collated themes; and (b) findings for each of the interview questions and enabled an understanding of their common and individual understandings about how each one was understood and deconstructed by these business students. The interviews were first analysed using consensual qualitative research (CQR) (Hill et al., 2005). The primary researchers and one external auditor were involved in the CQR team. Subsequently, frequencies of similar responses were tallied within each broad cluster to distinguish between often mentioned attributes of “critical thinking” and “knowledge transfer” and notions which were rarer or idiosyncratic, thus shifting the study from strictly qualitative towards a mixed-methods research. As for the focus groups conducted for the instructors, CQR methodology was also adopted. The research team with one of the primary researchers was involved. The raw responses were clustered into meaningful themes that emerged as qualitative indicators.

7.9 Findings—Phase 1: Interviews with Students Table 7.1 presents 22 qualitative indicator categories summarized from 48 student explications of “critical thinking” and “knowledge transfer” across the five seminar groups over two semesters. Table entries are ordered in two ways; first by commonality across the two semesters and five seminar groups and second by whether each indicator emerged spontaneously from students’ own thinking or whether indicators required prompting to provoke deeper thinking and intellectual probing of students’ conceptualizing. Quality mode of e-learning platform is reported as the ability to facilitate optimal knowledge acquisition. Students highlighted that interactive clarification and sharing of ideas with group mates facilitates learning—reported elsewhere as the “developmental exchange” which characterizes team-based learning and other learner-centric pedagogies (Michaelsen et al., 2002). A good number reported that effective applied knowledge transfer happens with new insights, reiteration, refreshing and facilitation to remember information that enables effective knowledge transfer. The majority reported that effective applied knowledge acquisition is achieved when there is flexibility and independent learning which allows them to explore and examine creatively within boundaries. Sharing varying perspectives and ideas from group mates’ experts also contributes to quality learning with effective applied knowledge acquisition.

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Table 7.1 Twenty-two qualitative indicators of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer (both emergent and prompted) for five seminar groups over 2 semesters reported during interviews with 48 students < Emergent Prompted >>

Semester 1

Semester 2

Totals

Seminar group 3 (n = 12)

Seminar group 4 (n = 12)

Seminar group 1 (n = 10)

Seminar group 3 (n = 8)

Seminar group 5 (n = 6)

1. Analytical thinking through explorative discussion

8

5

6

4

4

27

2. Ability to relate and apply in a practical context

0

4

3

2

3

12

3. Allows one to think in varying modes

5

0

1

1

0

7

Ability to 7 challenge the norm >

8

0

2

2

19

5. Facilitate, apply from 6 own and others’ perspectives

8

5

5

4

28

6. Allows one to express views and opinions

4

6

3

6

5

24

7. Thinking diversely

0

0

2

1

0

3

Sharing 4 information/ability to think thoroughly >

1

4

0

1

10

Themes specific to critical thinking

4.

8.

Themes specific to applied knowledge transfer 9. Quality of learning/effective knowledge acquisition

8

4

7

5

3

27

10. Reiterate, refresh, facilitate to remember information

5

2

7

0

2

16

11.

Easier to understand >

6

0

6

3

2

17

12. Learn from current knowledge and others

7

3

5

4

2

21

(continued)

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Table 7.1 (continued) < Emergent Prompted >>

Semester 1

Semester 2

Totals

Seminar group 3 (n = 12)

Seminar group 4 (n = 12)

Seminar group 1 (n = 10)

Seminar group 3 (n = 8)

Seminar group 5 (n = 6)

3

6

6

4

0

19

14. Independent learning

4

7

7

5

0

23

15.

8

4

0

3

3

18

16. Clarify and share ideas with group mates

1

0

4

4

0

9

17.

6

3

6

0

0

15

7

8

5

5

0

25

19. Greater control in 6 the learning process

5

3

0

2

16

20.

Effectiveness and relevance >

5

6

0

3

3

17

21.

Vibrant and 7 interesting learning environment >

0

0

0

1

8

13.

In-depth and diverse coverage of information >

Efficiency in knowledge acquisition >

Effective knowledge transfer in terms of application >

18. Enhancing understanding >

22. Flexibility of learning

6

7

0

2

2

17

Totals for each seminar group across the two themes of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer

113

87

80

59

39

378

n = sample size

7.9.1 Qualitative Indicators of Critical Thinking and Knowledge Transfer Forty-eight business students reported a total of 378 indicators of “critical thinking” and “applied knowledge transfer” across the five seminar groups. Further, of the 22 categories, 14 (flush left) emerged without prompting while 8 (flush right, italics)

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required some urging and prompting from the interviewer before students could clearly articulate them. Most indicators received multiple mentions that could be summarized into 22 qualitative categories (Table 7.1). Five of these 22 were common to nearly all seminar groups: Analytical thinking through explorative discussion; facilitate, apply from own and others’ perspectives; allows one to express view and opinions; quality of learning/effective knowledge acquisition and learn from current knowledge and others. Beyond the five indicators common to most techniques, Table 7.1 also highlights how the 48 students were differentially stimulated by the effect of the adoption Facebook (social media) as an instructional technique. Evidence shows that varying sub-themes emerged for the two primary clusters of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer. Evidently students see value in varying dimensions across all the five seminar groups. Students related to themes such as “reiterate”, “refresh” “allows” and “facilitate” that are achieved through the effective use of instructional techniques for their learning. Their ability to relate and apply in contexts is linked to the effectiveness in acquiring knowledge. Quality learning is reported as the ability to facilitate optimal knowledge acquisition. Students highlighted that interactive clarification and sharing of ideas with group mates facilitate learning—reported elsewhere as the “developmental exchange” which characterizes team-based learning and other learnercentric pedagogies (Michaelsen et al., 2002). The majority reported that effective knowledge transfer happens with new insights, reiteration, refreshing and facilitation to remember information that enables effective knowledge transfer. Majority of students mentioned that critical thinking is facilitated and achieved through (a) applying the knowledge learned from own and others’ perspectives; (b) thinking analytically through explorative discussion; (c) allowing one to express views and opinions; (d) having the ability to challenge the norm. Similarly, many students reported that applied knowledge transfer is achieved through (a) quality of learning and effective knowledge acquisition; (b) enhancing understanding; (c) independent learning and (d) learning from current knowledge and others.

7.9.2 Critical Thinking and Knowledge Transfer Effectiveness Indicators Common Across Five Seminar Groups 7.9.2.1

Indicators Specific to Individual Themes that Resonates Critical Thinking

Eight indicators characterized various aspects of critical thinking across the five seminar groups. The three highest indicators (n = 24; n = 27 and n = 28) were themes that arise from the (a) thinking through application from own and others’ perspectives: “You can apply the information that you learned and based on others

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inputs…useful learning strategy in a fun and engaging manner in improving my learning and acquisition of knowledge” [s3]; (b) analytical thinking through explorative discussions and expressing views: “It allows me to think deeper what has been taught through expressing my thoughts and exchange perspectives with my peers that makes me comprehend the contents to be analysed thoroughly” [s27]; and (c) opinions through reflections, deep thinking: “It allows the students to think more and develop more” [s15]. Learning through the structured and organized manner in the social media platform makes it more engaging for students at large with varying perspectives from their peers that helps them to understand, allow for deeper, more diverse thinking, exploration of changing and wider perspectives. Fully digesting and applying the information enables better appreciation of the issues. Applying theoretical knowledge promotes critical, effective thinking, relating and expressing learners’ own viewpoints and supports the issues with factual evidence. The next mid high indicators (n = 19 and n = 12) were themes (a) the ability to challenge the norm: “It allows me to think and analyse the contents much more deeply and provides opportunities to share and ask questions if in doubt and seek for clarifications as well” [s37]; It challenges us more and makes us develop what we have learned by reasoning. I can learn by developing from the current knowledge” [s29]; critical and analytical thinking is associated with exploring and analysing issues from different viewpoints thus amplifying learning. (b) the ability to relate and apply in a practical context: “I can relate and link-up to how it is in the practical context through the activities that we need to research on and post for peer review and what I have been taught in the theory lessons. This definitely assists me to learn effectively in the application part of the learning that allows critical thinking” [s06]. Their processes highlighted interrelating ideas, developing linkages, consolidating and critical thinking. Digesting and analysing newly acquired cognitive content enables knowledge construction in a logical and meaningful manner thus facilitating effective learning: “It allows me to apply what has been taught as it makes me understand the contents and allows them to be analysed thoroughly. So, the process of going through this allows me to apply the knowledge gained” [s21]. Ten indicators characterized the sharing of information/ability to think thoroughly: “It allows me to contribute through sharing my ideas with other assigned groups in the Facebook and learn from them as well. Sometimes, I do not agree with the perspectives proposed by others” [s37]. Seven indicators mentioned it allows the students to think in varying modes. Here, learning from others’ views and from different ways of solving problems enables knowledge acquisition more effectively than acquiring information from a single channel: “The varying perspectives and sharing from different individuals in the inter and intra e-groups allows me to learn much more and enables me to view from different dimensional of thoughts. This then enhances my understanding of the contents learned” [s18]. Furthermore, sharing through teaching each other allows weaker peers to learn from others while encouraging and motivating learners: “During e-group discussions, I can think and share my views from varying perspectives as well as appreciate others’ views, which allows me to learn more effectively. At times, I disagree with others and support my written argument with facts to counter the points raised” [s04]. The least

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three indicators categorized the theme thinking diversely: “The Facebook platform facilitates the discussion of varying diverse viewpoints on the topics that are being taught” [s23].

7.9.2.2

Indicators Specific to Individual Themes that Resonates Knowledge Transfer

The four themes that rates the highest indicators are (a) The highest rating indicator (n = 27) is reported as quality of learning and effective knowledge acquisition. Student mentioned that the organized and scaffolded learning process allows students to think and apply on existing and available information. It also allows for deeper and more diverse thinking and exploration of varying and wider perspectives: “It allows varying opinions and the way others think in a specific manner” [S31]; “It allows students to think and develop more” [S44]; (b) Enhancing understanding (n = 25): The learning process facilitated through this social media, Facebook platform facilitates an exciting, interesting and vibrant learning environment that allow disagreements on assumptions, challenging the status quo and perform negotiations through defending their views or counter propose varying point of views: “The process facilitated through this Facebook platform makes me digest and think and understand the contents easily. It also makes me digest the contents that allows me to question and clarifies queries promptly” [S20]; (c) Independent learning (n = 23): This is gained through acquiring knowledge individually without much external help that facilitates better learning as it enables learning to occur in uncomfortable and challenging situations: “This learning mode literally forces me to learn independently without much guidance or assistance from my peers or instructors, rather requires me to research, share and then learn from the collective inputs of others. This assists me to learn more effectively as it makes me to operate independently, helping me to learn in discomfort and even in difficult and unfamiliar context” [S27]; (d) Learn from current knowledge and others (n = 21). Current knowledge is intensified through discussions with group mates. Information is acquired and learned more easily as subject matter awareness increases though relating to current and past experiences. The understanding and acquisition of knowledge is enhanced as information becomes clearer: “Facebook inter and intra group e-discussions enables me to discuss my viewpoints on the topics that are being taught, at the very day, and as such, it increases my awareness of the subject matter concerned” [S48]. The eight indictors that address the mid-range rated scores of (n = 15–19) are (a) In-depth and diverse coverage of information (n = 19). Nineteen indicators characterized in-depth a diverse overage of information. Students reported that the learning tasks, especially when one specific same task is being instructed to be done by all groups and to be built up and achieve as one collective outcome, enables a diverse coverage of contents from varying dimensions with depth: “I am able to learn from rich, in-depth information and diverse perspectives in the learning assignments that all groups are tasked to work together and deliver one common outcome through a scaffolded process capturing all each of our contributions” [S11]; (b) Relevance and

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239

Effectiveness (n = 17): “The learning tasks that require us to research and upload contemporary videos and articles related to the topics make us see the practical, relatable relevance and its immediate positive effect in terms of my understanding of contents” [S44]. (c) Flexibility of Learning (n = 17). Seventeen indicators characterized flexibility of learning in using Facebook an instructional technique in a learning environment. Students reported that Facebook, adopted as a teaching strategy, allows for learning in a flexible manner, in terms of managing one’s own time and for being independent: “It enables me to share my views openly and freely at my own free time. I find this approach offers flexibility but takes up considerable amount of efforts in especially researching and defending the differing opinions with supporting reasoning” [S15]; (d) Easier to understand (n = 17): “By viewing the short videos, I am able to relate and understand the learners’ concepts much easily. I also could appreciate the real operations that occurs in the industry”. As the learning tasks do require them to upload relevant short videos and analyse, these video contents are useful and relevant to students; (e) Effective knowledge transfer in terms of application (n = 15). The viewing of the video enables students to share, brainstorm the acquired information and challenge the differing opinions that facilitate through thinking: “It allows to share perspectives and ponder about certain issues more deeply before making a decision” [S48]; (f) Reiterate, refresh, facilitate to remember information (n = 16). This Facebook learning approach creates avenues to express students’ views easily, improve through comments and feedback from peers’ and instructors, others’ views and experiences that enhances gaining broader perspectives and frameworks of understanding: ‘It allows me to share and re-iterate the information that I have acquired” [S25]; (g) Greater control in the learning process (n = 16): “the ability to do it real-time as well as anytime depending on the nature of the learning tasks that allows me to be in control of my learning that empowers me” [S02]; (h) Efficiency in knowledge acquisition (n = 18): “The ability of collaboration via intra-group learning tasks enables varying inputs each of us collectively contribute allows the knowledge gained through such tasks to breakdown the complex concepts to be easily understood when it is reviewed as a whole when we are asked to make sense of it” [S31]. The two themes that rates as the lowest indicators are (a) Clarify and share ideas with group mates (n = 9): “It provides opportunities to share and ask questions if in doubt and seek clarifications as well” [S01]; (b) Vibrant and interesting learning environment (n = 8). This platform enables student to blend in well due to their familiarity and social element that is already present in its design that makes it engaging and vibrant to operate in: “The learning environment facilitates through Facebook engages me due to the way it is facilitated that makes it interesting and creates excitement and while we participate” [S14].

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7.10 Findings—Phase 2: Focus Group with Instructors The responses from the instructors’ through the focus groups were collated, analysed, and key themes were summarized as qualitative indicators. Table 7.2 presents the qualitative indicators of instructors’ perspectives on students’ learning process with Facebook as a learning intervention.

7.11 Findings—Phase 3: Measurement of Learning Impact Table 7.3 presents the analysis of a specific assessment criteria “knowledge, understanding and judgement” which examines students’ critical thinking and contents analysis ability of all students across the 22 seminar groups over three semesters. The impact on the learning outcome measuring critical thinking criterion for an individual assignment was examined before and after the adoption of Facebook as an e-learning platform. From the results, we could deduce that there is a clear improvement of about 10.5– 12% in the “Above Expectations” category after the intervention of Facebook as a learning intervention. We could deduce from the empirical evidence that the learning process facilitated within Facebook platform has made a positive impact in terms of explicit criterion of “knowledge, understanding and judgement” where students are better off in exercising their critical thinking and able to analysis contents delivered. We could also acknowledge that outcomes through the longitudinal study performed over the two semesters validate the consistency of its recurring positive effects within a justifiable tolerance range. In addition to that, there is also a consistency in reduction of poor performance from 13% to 0–1% which is reflected in the “below expectations” criteria. The point to note is the positive effect that it has made in causing a reduction in students performing badly. The reasons could be pointed to the social element involved in this platform where the learning process provides much greater bandwidth and opportunity to observe and share their peers’ perspectives and thoughts. This enables them to reflect more deeply from the critical thinking dimension and the social element of sharing, exchanges with comfort and familiarity helped the students to engage more deeply, meaningfully to facilitate their understanding of contents taught. All in all, we could deduce that the intervention made a positive impact in their learning outcomes through a more pleasant learning process.

7.12 Discussion The purpose of this investigation was to examine the impact of Facebook as a collaborative and experiential learning pedagogy, namely (a) to examine the perceptions of students on “critical thinking” and “applied knowledge transfer” aspects; (b) to

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Table 7.2 Qualitative indicators of instructors’ perspectives on students’ learning process with Facebook as a learning intervention Perceived positive impact Digital citizenship

• Facilitates exposure to contemporary social media digital platform like Facebook to learn collaboratively through a virtual setting • Exposes students to experience first-hand the challenges operating in such virtual platforms

Prompt students’ feedback

• The features within Facebook make it easy to provide prompt formative feedback that serves as a powerful aspect in students’ learning • Peer feedback, on top of the instructors’ feedback, adds collective perspectives to further value-add to students’ learning • The ability to learn from multi-perspectives and dimensions with ease and comfort is achieved through the social element embedded within

Synchronous and asynchronous

• Supports both real-time synchronous and asynchronous mode that makes it flexible to create engagement through varying learning tasks

Type of learners introverts versus extroverts

• Enables avenues to assist more of the introvert students to express themselves

Social learning

• The platform allows learning with context and climate, connectivity that enhances engagement and students’ interactivity

Deep deliberate thinking

• The platform facilitates more space and avenues for students to perform deep reflection and thinking before engagement. This is positive sign over the “adhoc” classroom context favours

Contemporary, current and relevant

• Enables the feeding of contemporary and up to date information, videos and articles. Students can share and learn from each other

Perceived negative impact Newer social media platforms

• The impact of emerging newer social media platforms has caused students to shift their preference and inclination to them, and hence, there are slightly a mixed varying perspective that lingers amongst students

Disruption to students’ focus and engagement • As it is a social platform, students at times tend to digress into their own personal space in sharing, exchanges and posting non-course related contents, especially during the real-time synchronous learning

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Table 7.3 Comparative analysis of the assessment criteria “knowledge, understanding and judgment” over three semesters before and after Facebook implementation Performance criteria/traits

Assessment scale Below expectations No. of students (%)

Met expectations No. of students (%)

Above expectations No. of students (%)

Before implementation of Semester Knowledge, 38 (13%) Facebook as a learning tool 2—Year understanding 1 and (No. of judgementa Students: 298, from eight seminar groups)

93 (31%)

167 (56%)

After implementation of Facebook as a learning platform

Semester 1—Year 2 (No. of Students: 236, from six seminar groups)

Knowledge, understanding and judgementa 0 (0)

75 (32%)

Semester 2—Year 2 (No. of Students: 311, from eight seminar groups)

Knowledge, understanding and judgementa 1 (1)

103 (33%)

161 (68%)

207 (66.5%)

a One specific assessment criteria “knowledge, understand and judgment” is extracted to perform the evaluation to measure critical thinking as a learning outcome performance

investigate the impact of Facebook as a course learning tool, measuring the specific assessment criteria that requires critical thinking analysis. The findings from this study affirmed that the adoption of Facebook may be a relevant, timely and appropriate addition to other e-learning tools. The Facebook platform enables an integration of technology that is well appreciated and adopted by the students which could be leveraged to serve as a supplementary platform to facilitate contents, in addition to the conventional learning management systems. This flexible and creative approach allows to “mix and match” the features from each of these platforms to optimize and facilitate the contents delivery in the most effective manner to achieve the learning outcomes. The findings from this study

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indicate that Facebook may be appropriate element to be incorporated as part of the e-learning tools for collaborative and experimental learning. High rates of Facebook use by university students have been observed (Ophus & Abbitt, 2009; Roblyer et al., 2010; Wise et al., 2011). This level of access shows that high acceptance by students and provides opportunity for educators to leverage on this e-learning platform to facilitate contents knowledge with critical thinking and much effective knowledge transfer using an application they are familiar with. With the holistic analysis, it also shows that students are receptive to using Facebook for educational purposes, although a minority have concerns in entering their private social domain. Students in this study anticipated two key learning benefits: (a) increased scope of critical thinking through facilitator to peer, peer-to-peer interaction and participation in discussions; (b) Better knowledge transfer as it allows them to analyse, reflect and apply the concepts taught which enhances their comprehension of information taught. McCarthy (2012) highlighted that students are supportive of using Facebook as an educational learning tool, as this is a platform that they are familiar with and constantly engage with. Wise et al. (2011) debated that Facebook has only a limited role in facilitating student engagement and institutional learning management systems can replicate many of the interactive functions of Facebook. But student engagement is not the same as facilitating better critical thinking and knowledge transfer. This could be argued against based on the present study and that of McCarthy (2012) and Irwin et al. (2012) that (a) easier accessibility and frequent usage means higher probability of students using the platform for learning whereas for the process of accessing institutional base learning management system is generally cumbersome and problematic; (b) the various features in the Facebook that facilitates easier photos, making comments, creating own groups, enabling “likes”, informal feeling, etc., enable better receptivity; (c) The incorporation of Facebook into the institutional base learning management system as part of e-learning tool and pre/post-seminar preparation allows deep learning in terms of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer. A minority of students did highlight that they prefer Facebook to be a private and social networking platform instead of using it as educational tool. To facilitate this, Facebook “group pages” could be created where only a selected number of students are able to access the sites and security settings could also be used to manage this. This is largely because of students’ perceptions of being more conservative of who could access their profile, and this may impede them to be open about their thoughts during discussions. Hence, there is a need to adjust the operational strategy where it aligns to the preference of students’ liking in the usage of these platforms, for example, addressing the user privacy issues in protecting students’ identity so that they could be more open and critical in sharing their thoughts which helps in a more fruitful, deeper reflection and discussion. Despite mixed responses regarding its critical thinking process and knowledge transfer, majority of students recommended and supported adopting Facebook as a learning tool for future courses. With students’ active participation, peer and facilitator collaboration and experiential engagement, this facilitates the first step in enabling critical thinking and better knowledge transfer. Merging this technology with current e-learning frameworks enables content to be

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more easily accessible and flexible which ultimately improves the level of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer. The comparative investigation carried out over three semesters, with the assessment outcomes on a specific assessment criterion of critical thinking clearly shows a reasonable improvement on learning outcomes.

7.13 Recommendation and Conclusion Facebook may be a recommended platform to facilitate learning to enhance critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer. Findings from this study include: (a) Students are receptive in integrating Facebook as a learning tool where they largely perceive benefits through interaction, brainstorming, flexibility in their assigned tasks; (b) The comparative investigation on the impact on one of the assessment criteria measured with and without incorporation of the Facebook as a learning tool in the e-hybrid learning framework shows clear improvement in terms of critical thinking and applied knowledge transfer. However, Facebook as a learning tool needs to be adopted mindfully by having a good understanding on how it supplements the current pedagogical learning design to achieve the intended learning outcomes. The social functionality in the Facebook has to be used wisely as an advantage to students’ learning process; however, at the same time, we need to be careful not to be entangled by its downsides of being not explicitly scattered to a learning climate as it is not designed for that purpose. Facebook enhances students’ learning outcomes if it is incorporated collectively with a correct mix of instructional techniques within the context of a well-defined learning design framework. Further investigation on the effective use of Facebook creatively based on the type of course and profile of students may provide deeper insights.

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Chapter 8

Concluding Thoughts: Twenty-First-Century Classroom and Humanistic Management Education

Abstract This chapter covers the holistic insights and the future directions of teaching and learning towards the twenty-first century and beyond. In this chapter, the “gaps” in terms of where universities, higher education institutions and educators should put their emphasis or focus on would be discussed and proposed suggestions advocated. The implications and ripple effects, both positive and negative aspects will be highlighted, with possible approaches to be dealt with be discussed. In this concluding chapter, we also discuss the necessity to acquire the relevant skills and competencies to be “well-equipped and competent teachers” in a manner that contributes in creating a sustainable and rigorous economic ecosystem to instil students’ essential values required to work productively in a borderless world. This chapter serves as a collective wisdom for scholars and teachers to reflect and rethink to identify activities, approaches and strategies they could adopt as teaching philosophies and guiding principles to develop a more collaborative and cohesive learning environment devoted to the implementation of a more focused management education. There will also be a brief discussion on how teachers in higher education institutions and universities globally could integrate the evolving digitalized and borderless dimension of the twenty-first-century business operations that permeates its activities and the need to teach students the humanistic, conceptual and technical skills to be “job-ready”, competent in the dynamic, demanding and competitive workforce.

8.1 Learning Culture and Culture of Learning A Paradigm Shift in Educators’ Thinking: Transformation in the Culture of Learning and Learning Culture for Teaching Today’s education strives to mould students to become future practitioners, leaders and managers in their respective fields, having them realize their role as change catalysts in building a productive and sustainable world. Educators should perform a periodic review of the syllabus and curriculum to incorporate the continuously changing and complex agendas that practitioners face in the industry and globally. In today’s rapidly changing environment and its evolving expectations, educators © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Rajaram, Evidence-Based Teaching for the 21st Century Classroom and Beyond, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6804-0_8

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in higher education need to carefully design the course curriculum to achieve the quality and rigor of subject-related training. Aside from making a major commitment to teaching, for one reason or another, there are the day-to-day questions that confront instructors as they plan and reflect on their teaching. Typical myriad of issues are: How do I help my poorest student? How do I challenge my brightest students? Do I tell students the answers or let them discover it? How do I conduct engaging games so that it does not degenerate into a play period? How do I construct a test that measures something more than rote memorization? Is programmed instruction better than lecture?—and the questions keep instructors wanting to explore deeper on how to achieve effectiveness in students’ learning across varying profiles and the rapid changing conditions influencing it. Some of the key elements of what the education should address are (1) designing and incorporating a hybrid learning design; (2) embrace creative learning by shifting the learning culture; (3) shift in the roles undertaken by instructors; (4) development of analytical thinking, multiple framing and reflective exploration of meaning and (5) practical reasoning, most business education programs concentrate on the first of these and only partially address the remaining or latter three.

8.1.1 Hybrid Learning Design There is no fixed type of instructional strategy that guarantees effective learning and optimal knowledge acquisition all the time. Instructors must be aware of the varying continuously changing issues that may influence their choice of instructional techniques, for example, the increasing heterogeneity of student abilities, attitudes, behaviours and backgrounds; the exponential growth of knowledge; the contracting job market; the increased complexity of instructional technology and instructors’ own re-evaluations of their role in the classroom. By acknowledging the relevance of learners’ characteristics, or aptitudes to instruction, the instructors better align the usage of instructional approaches. Students can interact with the instructional situation with differing characteristics. The final examination scores and teacher’s rating were higher for the Achievement-via-Independence students when they were taught in the unstructured class, while these scores were higher for the Achievement-viaconformance students when they were taught with the structured style. These results emphasize the difference between the aptitude treatment interaction approach and the less sensitive “one best way” approach. However, having a good understanding of the students’ profile, behavioural aspects and learning attitudes allow instructors to use the right mixture of instructional techniques to achieve optimal learning effectiveness. A good mixture of instructional strategies, namely interactive lectures (with flipped classroom concepts); experiential learning; active, participative, social and collaborative learning; social learning through social media and through independent study, are to be adopted. In general, the shift in adopting instructional pedagogies is largely targeted towards achieving inquiry-centred outcomes. This largely refers

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to learning that is organized around a problem that students become interested in, where they inevitably become personal. The outcome of adopting these well-blended instructional strategies is well proven in the quality performance outcome of the project reports, group presentations and final examinations.

8.1.2 Shift in the Learning Culture: Embrace Creative Learning Learning culture should not be understood as the context or environment within which learning takes place, rather the progressive outcome through the learning and social practices that are being embedded in the learning design. There are many influencing factors that eventually lead to the formulation of the required customized learning culture in an educational setting. Instructors play a vital role as they are at the frontline to execute and implement the planned curriculum with the intended learning outcomes. Four key elements of how this creative learning culture can be nurtured, namely (1) encourage mistakes (not intentionally but to develop the ability not to fear getting it wrong the first time around)—learning through failures; (2) Ability to think and solve issues differently—out of the norm; (3) Facilitating an environment to ask questions; (4) All opinions are to be respected—no one’s ideas are out casted or looked down upon. Instructors are to set up the appropriate learning environment that facilitates an open culture where students are encouraged to make mistakes and are not penalized. For example, the participation marks tied to their course assessments are inclined and focused towards the students’ attitude, ability of one to participate and/or contribute rather than emphasizing on the right answers. Key emphasis and explicit focus are required to ensure that the competency skills expected by the employers from various industries must be continuously reviewed in getting the graduates job-ready and to meet the needs of the job requirements for future.

8.1.3 Shift in the Roles Undertaken by Instructors The success of classroom learning is very much dependent on (a) how students relate to each other; (b) what the classroom environment is; (c) how effectively students cooperate and communicate with each other and (d) what roles the teacher and learners play. To facilitate learning, instructors play many roles in the course of teaching. Their ability to effectively perform their instructional duties will depend on a large extent on the rapport they establish with their students and on their own level of knowledge or skills. With the rapid evolution of changing dynamics around the education industry, it becomes clear that the new millennium classrooms are very different from the ones

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of the past. Instructors are shifting their roles to be facilitators of student learning and creators of productive classroom environments where students are nurtured on their skills required for their future workplace. The shift of the twenty-first-century classroom is focused on students experiencing a vibrant learning environment, while they enter the twenty-first-century workplace. Today’s instructors are faced with challenges opened by globalization. Instructors should leverage on the diversity, introduce students to a world of challenges and inculcate in them a sense of drive and competency to influence the business decisions in the future. Instructors should realize that just transmitting of knowledge to students is no longer their only primary responsibility. Students should be made to sense their learning space in the larger world and be urged to become active participants. Today’s role of an instructor is shifted towards facilitation where the interactivity through questioning or inquiry approach is adopted. An interactive instructor would be fully aware of the group dynamics of a classroom to facilitate effective learning. Students’ opinions and thoughts are treated with respect which encourages them to contribute more. Critical and independent thinking are encouraged so that students are inspired to resolve issues on their own which shifts the learning to be more student-centric rather than teacher-centric.

8.1.4 Shift in the Culture of Learning: From Too Overly Grade Focused to a Holistic Self-Development Achiever Despite providing the framework which encompasses the proposed instructional strategies for instructors to adopt, effective learning only occurs when students are made to see the value in how this will benefit them achieving their learning outcomes. The outcomes vary; however, in formal university or tertiary institutional settings, students’ motivations and their actions are usually more oriented towards achieving good grades. Hence, instructors and course administrators must strategically adopt the instructional approaches to shift the learning culture that make students perceive and realize that learning through such methods enable them to score good results in their course assessments and/or examinations. However, instructors themselves must be convinced on how the intended learning outcomes could be achieved through the most appropriate instructional approaches inline to their course expectations. The key emphasis is on how the shift in learning can be achieved in making students acquire knowledge in the most optimal manner with effective understanding and application which would concurrently prepare them for their course assessments and final examinations.

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8.2 (Re)-Designing and Transformation of Learning Design Educators should perform a periodic review of the syllabus and curriculum to incorporate the continuously changing and complex agendas that leaders and managers face in the world. This can be performed by (1) comprehending and reflecting on critiques in providing holistic education; (2) engaging key practitioners in industry to brainstorm gaps in the respective professional areas; (3) offering diversity and combination of choices in interdisciplinary fields; (4) incorporating real-life cases which pinpoint the failures of practitioners in the respective professional fields—analysing the trend and the gaps identified from the behavioural and leadership viewpoints. From the holistic perspective of providing education, educators need to enhance on the reflective capacity of the will to change (and to lead), have self-awareness, empathy is often lacking as the focus tends to be largely on the techniques, tools and analysis. As there is a shift of emphasis moves on the vocational and “hands-on” practical skills training, it is crucial to ensure that there is a well-blended curriculum that trains participants to be job-ready, i.e. meeting employers’ expectations. To achieve this, the following key aspects have to be addressed.

8.2.1 Comprehending and Reflecting on Critiques in Providing Holistic Education A high emphasis needs to be focused on the skills and knowledge expected by industries and the job market through understanding their needs and the relevancy of the training content. To ensure the training provided in universities, polytechnics, institutes of technical education (ITE), vocational training and any other institutions are relevant and current, the bridge between what is expected by potential employers and what is being taught in the higher education institutions must be closely mapped. Two examples on how this was achieved are as follows: i.

As part of a periodic review for a postgraduate offshore programme for an overseas university, its course assessment was realigned to be more practical, focusing on the skills and abilities required. This was achieved by getting the relevant subject matter research scholars, practitioners involved and working specifically on the needs and the relevant skills that employers were concerned with. In this course programme, negotiation is a core course taken by Masters in Business Administration (MBA) students. The course assessment requires participants to be involved in the negotiation situation with directors/managers (from varying industries) of firms in a “real-time” setting. To make this real as possible, the examinable themes are related to actual scenarios from reallife negotiations. The entire 20 to 30-min negotiation is recorded for feedback and requires inputs by a panel of judges, including industry practitioners and external assessors who are academics and international experts in the field.

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Educators must be actively involved in consulting and applied research in areas where organizations have issues or there are gaps that require expert advice to address. They must ensure that the evolving learning design, embedded with technology, is able to transfer the relevant skills and knowledge. For example, in the management principles, skills & competencies course in Nanyang Business School at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, there is a deliberated effort in developing the skills and competencies that future leaders and managers need upon graduation in their initial roles as first-line managers. There is a high emphasis on critical thinking, deep learning and applied learning through “real-life” case studies and assignments. Students must understand both the strategies and behavioural aspects of identified organizations and recommend improvised or even novel solutions.

8.2.2 Offering a Diversity of Choices in Interdisciplinary Fields An essential requirement is to offer and train students in a way they can address the needs and expectations of their employers. As to what “skills and knowledge” are needed in the face of constant change, it is crucial to review the scope of the courses offered and, thereafter, provide subject combinations that will meet the expectations of employers. The introduction of combined specialization at universities is a case in point. For example, a student pursuing an engineering degree can specialize in business or a business student could choose to major in entrepreneurship or in law, or a combination of accounting and law. These specializations allow students to equip and enrich themselves with the wider skills and knowledge that enables them to be more job-ready and confident in their respective roles in the future, also giving them the opportunity to diversify their career pathways, respectively.

8.2.3 Engaging Key Practitioners in Industry to Brainstorm Gaps in the Respective Professional Areas Educators need to continually think of creative approaches to bridge the theoretical concepts to the practical aspects. One of the most effective ways is to engage the practitioners in the industry to be involved in the review of the course curriculum. This allows to serve as a quality check in terms of the relevancy, update-ness and emphasis that needs to be focused on or even shifted, if there is a need. It also helps educators to understand the expectations of what the employers are requiring in preparing the participants when they are graduating from the universities. This enables to achieve a good synergy in designing and developing a rigorous and tight course curriculum which are largely industry’s needs and expectations focused which certainly helps to increase the value of the training facilitated.

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8.2.4 Learning from Real-Life Failures and Challenges Educators need to continuously bridge the gap between theory and what is really happening in industry. For example, guest speakers from different industries can be invited to share not only their positive experiences, but the limitations and challenges they face as well. How they overcame these “real-life” challenges and complex evolving issues with specific skill sets can also be a topic for discussion. This in an important part of both pre-university level (i.e. polytechnics, ITEs) and university-level education. The rationale behind this is for the students to relate the theoretical framework to reality and to be aware of the practical constraints and realities in the real business world. The tacit knowledge, skills and competencies required on how to tackle problems or rather the learning lessons from the unsuccessful project tasks would provide valuable insights for these learners. Another possible approach is to perform fieldwork in general (e.g. conducting informal coffee sessions, interviews, and so on) by assigned group of students and then coming back to share the insights from practitioners—varying organizations and industries. The sharing of these insights enables others to know the limitations and challenges that are present in the actual work environment. It is also possible to have cases developed to specifically target on how the tacit knowledge of understanding these “real-life” challenges and constraints could be related to the students. Further to the above, three essential aspects (1) Mindset shift and habitual behavioural issues; (2) Value creation in the subjects through the “eyes” of the students; (3) Professional skills training need to be thoroughly evaluated and addressed if there needs to be an effective shift in the learning culture and culture of learning.

8.2.5 Mindset Shift and Habitual Behavioural Issues One of the key challenges for both instructors and learners is embracing the continuous change in adapting new demands and expectations. Instructors may have their own comfort style and belief in how teaching should be done and their perceived notions on how learning occurs. This may be largely influenced by the educational setting that they went through which helped them excel in their own area of specialization coupled with the learning cultural values which they have been moulded by. Hence, instructors must now come out of this zone of “idealism” or “one-way success approach” to comprehend the varying differences and complexity that prevails in the rapid evolving and diverse educational setting. The first step in successfully achieving this comes from the ability to shift the mindset of embracing the issue of changing variables which influences the effectiveness of how students learn in today’s easily available information with ready technology.

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8.2.6 Value Creation in the Subjects Through the “Eyes” of the Students For students to be committed and with their efforts inputted on their courses, one key issue is to ensure they appreciate and understand the value of their course of action. This value can be attained in varying forms by linking the importance of how it relates to their future; the skills and knowledge acquired in terms of relevance and practical applicability; the benefits gained. The value and the importance should be related to the students through making them see the link between the context of their topics and the practical implications of these when they enter the industry. For example, students are told about the importance of managing a team effectively and how this contributes to the productivity and achievement of competitiveness in the market place. The knowledge and the skills that they acquire are not only to pass their examinations. The consequences of not able to fully understand and apply their knowledge should be re-iterated through supporting reasons. This makes them realize why these skills and strategies are important for their survival in the business world. Stories and past testimonials by industrialists who are successful should be showed to make these students relate how essential the continuous learning is as life skills.

8.2.7 Professional Skills Training Education should address, a global and societal oriented perspective, emphasizing the so-called soft skills of leading and managing and developing reflective and interpersonal skills with an enhanced sense of purpose, ethics, values and corporate responsibility in society. To achieve these skills and instil a well-blended holistic and practiceoriented education, a more interactive, experiential, dialogue and action-learning is required. One of the highly debated topics within the contemporary literature on higher education management could be linked to the graduate attributes and soft/transferable skills, that is vital in today’s labour market to enhance individual employability (Crossman & Clarke, 2010; Clarke, 2017). Soft skills are classified and defined in varying ways, notably as life skills (WHO, 1993), transversal skills for a successful life, well-functioning society (OECD, 2003, 2012), lifelong learning (EU, 2006) and twenty-first-century skills (Moore & Morton, 2017). These skills are categorized as the “emotional side” of an individual in contrast to intelligent quotient element related to hard skills (Delamare-Le Deist & Winterton, 2005; Shalini, 2013). Soft skills entail an intertwined combination of cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, intellectual, interpersonal and practical skills that enables to deal effectively with challenges of one’s professional and everyday life (Haselberger et. al., 2012). Soft skills comprise a wide range of social and interpersonal capabilities and competences, transferable across different industries (Deloitte Access Economics, 2017). The soft skills include critical

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and innovative thinking, creativity, ability to cope with uncertainty, accountability, teamwork, communication, problem-solving, ethics, self-confidence and mindset of lifelong learning (Harvey, 2000; Andrews & Higson, 2008; Kalfa & Taksa, 2015; Clarke, 2017; Moore & Morton, 2017). Employers have criticized higher education for not adequately preparing and equipping students with the relevant skills for the rapid evolving labour market (Hurrell, 2016). This emerges as a recurring message despite higher education institutions have been responding to this criticism and have progressively risen to address this issue. In a contrary, perhaps the question could be the should the soft skills gap being identified by the employers be attributed to just higher education institutions or the onus should be on graduates themselves or employers where there could be more done on recruitment and graduate development processes (Hurrell, 2016; Griffiths et al., 2018)? Succi and Canovi (2020) advocated that all stakeholders involved need to work collaboratively to achieve the holistic development of graduates instead of solely blaming higher educational institutions for graduates’ lack of transferable skills. Scholars (Bauman, 2003; Sin & Neave, 2016; Clarke, 2017) acknowledge that due to the rapid evolving changes such as globalization, increased job insecurity due to automation and technological disruption, massification of higher education and the shift to a knowledge economy have led to the emphasis on soft skills for graduate employability compared to the past where a mere academic qualification suffices to attain a sure route to success and employability (de Weert, 2007). As such, scholars (Tomlinson, 2012; Clarke, 2017) emphasized that for graduates to attain a positional advantage, they need to be competent in multi-disciplinary combination of skills, notably technical/hard and soft skills, adopt an agile, flexible and adaptable mindset to respond to the rapidly changing labour market and future work place climate. Some of the key characteristics are aimed to be achieved through these professional soft skills training: (1) The emphasis in reflective practices and incorporating self-awareness and the will to manage, or what some call “heart and soul”; (2) the ability and skills for integrative analysis, systems thinking and comprehending the rapid changing issues from a globalized context; (3) Capability in applying these learned attributes through careful analysis, implementing the broad responsibility, purposes and values (e.g. ethical, integrity, equity, human rights) associated with business; (4) Ability to solve issues with creativity with maintaining morale of teams yet achieving organization’s goals in terms of productivity and sustainability.

8.2.8 Strategies for Learners to Cope and Succeed in Challenging and Complex Situations The journey of a student’s life could involve varying numerous ups and downs. But it is vital to effectively deal and overcome the challenges involved during these tough phases. The ability of doing so enables one to ride through the adversity and to be back again stronger. Majority of times, the outlook and the ability to be aware of how to deal

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with such situations are vital as it is basically a spiral process of what consequentially happens after the first action. Hence, we advocate three primary, simple yet powerful strategies that could be adopted to achieve that, namely, being equipped with the character traits of being focused, emotionally resilient and compassionate. A focused mind helps students to stay grounded, ensuring there is adequate clarity, hence enabling to attain the goals they aspire to achieve. This is so especially when unnecessary emotional interventions come into play. The ability to declutter and remain clear towards what is to be addressed is the key mantra. To facilitate this, a short 30 min meditation in a quiet environment helps to rejuvenate and give one a refreshing experience to propel ahead. The strategy is to be able to re-prioritize continuously so that adequate energy and efforts could be put into the goal that needs to be achieved. Being focused also means to remain crystal clear of the task(s) at hand and placing the correct amount of efforts and energy towards it. The process to achieve this requires strict discipline, for example, in terms of time management, prioritizing the tasks at hand, decluttering unnecessary and unwanted issues that may interfere in executing these tasks. The ability to mediate and utilize our emotions effectively is vital to deal with stressful phases, especially when students are required to collaborate in groups and achieve tasks that are assessed. This requires students to regulate their emotions rationally and not internalizing irrelevant aspects, rather to have the ability to segregate them as deemed appropriate. To help achieve resilience in the emotional aspects, one must practice calmness and the ability to perform reflective activity through one’s thoughts, behaviours and actions. The key challenge is to deal with the emotions that is embedded within the situations. To do that, the first is to identify and acknowledge the emotions that students are feeling, which enables them to remove the power away from that emotion which is causing it. Next, they should try breathing, relaxation and self-soothing techniques. Thereafter, they are to remove the negative thoughts and replace them with positive imagery. They could source for a trusted person to talk and share, which certainly helps to relax and rejuvenate. Another vital competency that a student needs to embrace is to practice compassion where it enables the person to show and exercise positive behaviour, thoughts and actions like kindness and love towards another fellow human being. This is especially crucial when the students are to work around challenging situations and different personalities, nonetheless to be focused on the tasks at hand. The very start of this learning journey breaks many complex entangled negative emotions that may exist amongst people. Being empathetic enables one to feel and resonate with others’ situations which could be the first step to extend compassion and act in a more reasonable and accommodative manner. Most times, the unseen and unspoken complexities embedded within a situation is appreciated through such acts which eases and even avoids further stressful situations that may possibly emerge. The first step to cultivate compassion is to practice empathy. When we start putting ourselves in others’ challenging situations and predicament, we start to resonate to why some individuals behave and react the way they do. Next strategy is to adopt the “commonality practice” that requires to comprehend what every human aspires to experience

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and the root of what humans crave for fundamentally. If we understand that, we could easily turn the attention to others’ interests and needs when we engage them. The three key primary aspects of being focused, emotionally resilient and being compassionate are essential fundamental traits to successfully cope with challenging and complex situations. There is a saying that goes “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Every student is given the power to navigate their learning journey, but the question is how to deal with it by making it work is the more important principle.

8.3 A Change in the Learning Culture To achieve a well-blended, holistic and practice-oriented business education, more interactive, experiential, dialogue and action-learning pedagogical approaches are encouraged. This shift in the approach of instruction will enable more holistic and practice-oriented management skills to be ingrained to students. Moreover, this enables developing participants’ key essential skills and abilities to serve human needs by helping to create a world that is more equitable, just and ecologically sustainable. By shifting the learning to participants, this deepens their ability to develop selfawareness and relate the practicality in applying the concepts acquired. By facilitating a caring, supportive and encouraging learning environment, students are encouraged to learn from making mistakes, sharing their failures openly, taking risks and gaining valuable insights with open debates, dialogues and exploring differing perspectives. Educators must continuously review the competency skills expected by employers from various industries in getting graduates job-ready and meeting the needs of future job requirements.

8.4 Humanistic Management Education in a Borderless Digital World Throughout the past few decades, unpredictable, consistent and continual evolving changes have been embracing the world, resulting in uncertainty that has evocatively affected both the common lives and economic activities of individuals, groups and more so for organizations. A strong impetus for change is attributable to technological developments and particularly to communication technologies. The latter have contributed significantly in making organizations, and nations globally much closer; boundaries have progressively lost their original role of separating the interior from the exterior. More specifically, the progressive vagueness in the boundary has certainty contributed a borderless world. This new global physiognomy calls for considerable transformations in the way companies are managed and how they organize their international relationships, and last but with no lesser significance,

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how business schools are rethinking, hence organizing themselves to successfully prepare today’s students to become tomorrow’s effective globally competent business leaders. A specific implication of this “storm” affecting the business world implies that managers must be able to strategize more effectively and the firms to be more flexible and adaptable. Managers need to be aware that success is dependent on human beings more than ever before, and thus to emphasize the creation and dissemination of knowledge. In other words, managers need to adopt a humanistic perspective based on the awareness that organizations are, first and foremost, a “community of individuals” and “these individuals come with varying perspectives”. Contemporaneously, it is essential to consider the phenomenon of growing digitalization that, on the one hand, determines the increasing borderlessness of the world and, on the other, constitutes the main character of the current generation of students; scholars use the term “digital native” to describe this group. With these phenomena in mind, one critical question to consider is how management education can embed, on the one side, the new educational requirements to operate effectively in a borderless world, and on the other side, the technological transformations in education without creating threats to the values of human beings and the necessity to adopt a humanistic management perspective. This is not an easy problem to solve, and, in fact, it often remains unsolved, and for this reason, it is one of the greatest and most pressing challenges for business schools and especially for instructors. Related to this, instructors face a significant challenge in overcoming their teaching designs to craft a process that more accurately provides students with knowledge that can help them become managers who are well-equipped to address the needs of current and future firms and lead them to success. This means that instructors will need to take a new fresh perspective, approach and, more specifically, be actively engaged in including new instructional topics in business schools (e.g. sustainability, diversity, ethical management), while they also undertake to adapt their teaching methodologies and instructional strategies to prepare students to be able to work in an increasingly open, culturally diverse and competitive world. It is imperative for educators to continually aspire to search and acquire the relevant, necessary concepts and skills to be humanistic teachers, in a way that contributes to create a sustainable and ethical economic system to instil in students the values and skills needed to work effectively in a borderless world, potentially with the help of digital devices. Leaders in higher education institutions should advocate and explore how teachers in universities all over the world can integrate the growing digital and borderless dimension of the twenty-first-century model that permeates every business activity and the necessity of teaching students the value and need for adopting a humanistic lens for managing firms.

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8.5 Multicultural and Multi-disciplinary Focus: Twenty-First Century and Beyond Universities globally have to rethink and be prepared to redesign their instructional delivery approaches and learning designs from a multicultural and multi-disciplinary dimension to address the evolving global interventions, so that the students are prepared with the relevant graduate attributes and contemporary skills. Success in the real-world entails examining challenges from varying perspectives leveraging on a wide range of information in devising promising solutions. A proficient workforce and competent leaders are required in this knowledge economy to deal with the varying challenges and needs facing corporate organizations, governments and societies worldwide. Challenges that we face currently are new, and there will be unquestionably more arising in the future that needs to be resolved creatively. The vital question of whether higher education institutions can equip graduates with the competencies from a singular disciplinary source to address all the present and emerging challenges. A multi-disciplinary approach advocates students to view challenges from a much wider context where it encourages and trains them to draw on a wide array of sources and subject matter. The focus on solving complex and challenging problems is eventually based not only on extensive knowledge towards a narrowly focused area but the capacity to relate and think critically to relate, make connections, form varying perspectives and obtain new knowledge towards creating value-adding holistic perspectives. Multicultural education is a process and educational reform movement (Banks, 1997). It aspires to understand and create equal educational opportunities for students from varying ethnic, racial and social-class clusters. Multicultural education aims to assist students to acquire the knowledge to make reflective discretions and embrace social, civic and personal action to promote democracy. It also helps students to instil a sense of civic and personal efficacy, belief in making required changes in the situational contexts for them to apply the knowledge learned and in the institutions they live in (Banks with Clegg, 1990). For students to effectively participate and be involved in the social and civic issues in a democratic pluralistic society, it is vital for them to learn from the varying perspectives of the diverse groups that shaped the historical and contemporary events. Banks (1995a) have identified five dimensions of multicultural education, namely (a) an empowering school culture and social structure—this is achieved when students from diverse ethnic, racial and gender groups experienced equal status through equality. A transformation of beliefs, values, attitudes, styles and strategies adopted by instructors is required, to have this implemented successfully; (b) content integration—this refers to how the instructors utilize appropriate examples and content from diverse cultures and groups to explain the primary concepts and issues within the subject areas or disciplines; (c) an equity pedagogy; (d) the knowledge construction process—explains and illustrates how instructors could assist learners to comprehend, examine and regulate the predispositions, frames of reference and perspectives within a discipline would influence the ways in which knowledge is created within it (Banks, 1996). This process enables

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students to reflect and learn on how to build knowledge in this dimension and (e) prejudice reduction—explains the approaches, activities that includes within the lessons adopted by the instructors to develop students’ attitudes, mindset and outlook to be positive and forward-looking towards ethnic, racial and cultural groups. Phinney and Rotheram (1987) report through his research that students come with varying unsolicited and negative attitudes and misconceptions about the different ethnic and racial groups. Research emphasizes that instructional resources, lessons that encompass the varying ethnic and racial groups that help students to nurture more affirmative intergroup mindsets and attitudes if certain conditions exist in the teaching situation (Banks, 1995b). These conditions include using multiethnic materials in a consistent and sequential way and having positive images of these ethnic groups included in the materials. • • • • • • • • • •

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Each of these five dimensions of multicultural education described above should be explicitly attended to if the multicultural education is to be effectively implemented. Contents from diverse groups are to be used to teach concepts and skills so that students could be able to comprehend how knowledge in various disciplines is constructed that help students to develop positive behaviours and attitudes. Instructors must be sensitive and adjust their instructional strategies so that students from varying social-class, cultural and racial groups will experience equal educational opportunities. A transformation in the culture and environment may be required for students from the diverse ethnic and cultural groups to experience equal status in the culture and life of the school.

8.6 Conclusion and Future Directions It is vital for universities and higher education institutions to invest in high and rigorous professional learning opportunities to support and equip instructors to be able to design meaningful, highly engaging and practical application-based learning experiences. There should be continuous dialogues and mentorship provided to instructors where they could model, design and develop twenty-first-century teaching and learning practices.

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Due to different internal and external changes in the business world, firms must rethink the requirements of young professionals that they want to recruit. Acting in complex and dynamic markets requires experienced managers knowing exactly what they need, what their next step is and how their global strategy looks like. Moreover, the technological progress and new economic developments put a lot of pressure on companies and their management. Managers must hit the needs of the firm’s stakeholders and must guide the firm successfully under (un)stable market conditions. Therefore, young professionals should also have global leadership skills to manage international acting firms successfully besides the traditional technical, social or methodological competences (Henson, 2016; Wang, 2014). Morrison (2000) defines global leadership as the possession of four competencies organized around the characteristics of attitudes, leadership, interaction and cultural understanding enabling the effective management of operations that span a world of diverse cultures, capabilities and customers. Thus, competencies are understood as personal traits, behaviours, skills, attitudes, knowledge and beliefs. Global leadership entails the interrelationships that exist amongst the endogenous and the exogenous process of influencing and being effective in the context of global business operations and management characterized by heterogeneity and complexity. Nevertheless, global leadership has become a hot topic in the practical business world, but also in academia. Therefore, existing curriculum programs must be enriched with lectures of global leadership using innovative methods to educate future global business leaders (Henson, 2016; Methews, 2016; Thakkar, 2018). In the twenty-first century, higher education institutions must be highly receptive and adaptable to the rapidly changing technological landscape, hence requiring students to enter an increasingly global economy. Innovative approaches and new technological tools have been changing the way professors teach and students learn. These developments offer a wide range of possibilities for academic institutions, such as redesign of learning spaces, teaching global virtual students teams located in different universities around the world or the usage of MOOCs for the global classroom (Adams Becker et al., 2018; Ifenthaler et al., 2014; Wade et al., 2013; Wang, 2014). Empirical studies have concentrated on various tools in higher education, and many methods have been tested (Adams Becker et al., 2018; Ifenthaler & Schumacher, 2016). However, little attention has been paid to integrate the key essentials into a practical format that can be used by educators effectively when teaching global leadership. Nevertheless, not every new approach fits to the students’ needs, to the lecturing content or to the curriculum (Honal et al., 2017; Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Wang, 2014). There is a need to identify effective teaching techniques and best-practice-approaches that have already been confirmed to be successful in increasing students’ motivation and learning outcomes and educating global leaders successfully (Henson, 2016; Honal et al., 2018; Parker & Pearson, 2013; Rajaram, 2015). Another trend is that college classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse, so that the educators commonly adopt multicultural approaches to facilitate management subjects. Despite the intended benefits of exposing students from diverse backgrounds to different perspectives, lecturers are often confronted to challenges and complaints about unprofessional behaviours and free riding amongst members of the group (Honal et al., 2017; Rajaram, 2015). Therefore, clear advice and

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actionable recommendations for the educators are needed. Hence, we trust our book serves a timely resource where it provides evidence-based approaches and strategies for educators to adopt and benefit from this rapidly evolving learning environment.

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