A Comparison of Student Persistence and Performance in Online and Classroom Business Statistics Experiences

As universities extend their distance education offerings to reach more time‐ and place‐bound students, the degree to which online students are successful, as compared to their classroom counterparts, is of interest to accreditation review boards and others charged with assessment. Teaching faculty use information about the effectiveness of their instruction to evaluate and improve the learning experience. By comparing persistence and performance measures from the author's five semesters of online and traditional sections of a required undergraduate business statistics course, this paper provides evidence that while there are significant differences in persistence between the two cases, accomplishment of the learning objectives, as measured by the final grade in the course for those students who persist, is independent of the mode of instruction.     

Choosing Among Computational Software Tools to Enhance Learning in Introductory Business Statistics

AACSB has now mandated that analytics be integrated into the undergraduate business curriculum. Given that the subject of statistics provides the underpinnings of the developing discipline of business analytics, this article focuses on effective course delivery aimed at enhancing the learning of introductory business statistics in the modern world of big data. To this end, the choice and use of computational software tools are essential to the successful delivery of the course. A set of seven competing tools are compared and contrasted, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed, and a link is provided to show demonstrations of needed instructions and resulting output.     

口译的Blended Learning应用模式构建

混合式学习将传统课堂教学和网络数字化学习的优势相结合,有效提高学生的学习效果。技能训练是口译教学的核心内容,课堂内外需花大量时间。利用现代信息技术,并发挥课堂人际真实交流的便利,构建口译的混合式学习应用模式,促进学习者口译技能的掌握。     

Creating Impactful Student Learning in a Business Analytics Program through Leveraging Scholar‐Practitioner Engagement

Industry demand for talented analytics professionals has created a significant increase in degree programs (e.g., MS in Analytics) around the globe. Many of these programs incorporate experiential learning in the curriculum to foster a deeper understanding. This article focuses on the value and challenges in implementing experiential learning in an analytics‐focused degree program by incorporating and scaffolding multiple organizational analytics projects throughout the curriculum. In addition, this article focuses on the manner in which these organizational analytics projects can create value for scholars, beyond student learning. Scholar‐practitioner partnerships have the potential to advance not only the field of academic research but also the rigor of actual practice. We report our experiences and best practices in creating and leveraging scholar‐practitioner partnerships in the context of project‐based experiential learning in a Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program. We provide motivation for creating such partnerships for teaching analytics, document student and organizational success, offer illustrations of exemplary experiential learning projects, and discuss the challenges that need to be managed.     

Learning Experience and Learning Effectiveness in Undergraduate Statistics: Modeling Performance in Traditional and Flexible Learning Environments*

This project investigates the relationship between student performance, past mathematics experience, and perceptions of statistics education for two groups of university students studying statistics in different learning environments. One group received the traditional form of teaching with lectures, whereas the other group studied in a more flexible learning mode where lectures were replaced with a computer‐managed learning tool and optional small‐group workshops facilitated by written lecture notes. The results on student learning experience show that, for both groups, student enjoyment of the course is positively related to their learning attitudes and to their perceived value of statistics education, and is negatively related to anxiety with regard to their performance in the course. There is some evidence that the group studying in the technology‐supported flexible learning environment experienced more assessment anxiety and consequently less enjoyment of the subject. There is also evidence that assessment anxiety has a negative effect on student performance that is exacerbated by a lack of prior mathematics experience. Hence, the flexible learning approach in statistics education, with minimal face‐to‐face teaching, may be especially inappropriate for these students.     

以学习活动为中心的中学信息技术课程教学案例研究

以学习活动为中心的教学设计模式是教学设计的新发展,在中小学的各门课程教学中得到了普遍应用。信息技术课是一门操作性、实用性很强的课程,开展活动教学尤为重要。该文首先提出开展学习活动的普适的教学设计方案,然后针对一堂中学信息技术课的活动教学进行具体教学设计,最后给出该教学案例实施后的反馈与分析。     

利用开放教育资源推进终身学习

2001年,麻省理工学院(MIT)启动了“开放课件“(OCW)计划.这是一项耗时多年、规模浩大的工程.该项目依托互联网,旨在免费提供麻省理工学院全部的电子课程材料.休利特基金会(the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation)慷慨解囊资助了目前几乎所有的开放课件计划和项目,已成为开放教育资源运动中的决定性因素.另一个具有决定性的因素就是联合国教科文组织(UNESCO),是它敏锐意识到了开放教育资源的重大意义,尤其是对发展中国家而言,所以成功推动了开放教育资源运动的发展.2006年,由休利特基金会资助的欧洲开放教育资源三大计划掀起了开放教育资源运动的新浪潮.互联网上免费提供专为自主学习设计的优质学习材料,而非大学教师的传统教学材料,体现了开放教育资源的额外附加值.本文阐述了欧洲三大计划及其特征,这些计划都是以开放和灵活的方式推进终身学习,也是达成里斯本战略目标中关于提高劳动力教育水平的必要条件.三大计划的另一个有待探讨的问题是,开放教育资源这一革命性的运动改变了潜在的商业和市场模式,但是开放教育资源的可持续性发展问题却成了人们的关注点.同时,这三个项目的一些具体特征也受到了特别的关注:英国的计划课程规模相对较大,过程中的基础和重点放在技术、非正规协作学习、社区的研究和评价方面;荷兰的计划致力于正规和非正规学习的衔接、国家有关政府额外拨款资助的政策,及相应的效果测量;欧洲远程教育大学协会的计划则针对提升欧洲高等教育普及率、促进多种语言和文化多样性的发展,以及各个国家教育体系在互相承认方面应采取的共同措施.总之,我们正在目睹一个教育范式的转变,这需要我们在谨慎思考的同时,大胆采取相应的行动.     

A Study of the Effectiveness of Web-Based Homework in Teaching Undergraduate Business Statistics

Web-based homework (WBH) Technology can simplify the creation and grading of assignments as well as provide a feasible platform for assessment testing, but its effect on student learning in business statistics is unknown. This is particularly true of the latest software development of Web-based tutoring agents that dynamically evaluate individual students' skill level and purport to respond with appropriate, targeted teaching to improve learning efficiency. In this article, we compare traditional, textbook-based homework assignments with three systems of WBH for undergraduate business statistics courses: ALEKS, PH Grade Assist, and custom-made online quizzes in Blackboard. These systems represent a range of media from artificial intelligence–based tutoring to instructor-controlled objective testing. Using a common assessment test, we compare the performance of students taught with these different systems. Our study finds, as we anticipated, that student performance depends significantly upon teacher experience and student academic competence. Once these factors are controlled for, however, the technique used to deliver homework makes little difference in student success. In contrast to other published research, we do not find any advantage to automated tutoring and identify some limitations of this approach based on both instructor and student feedback.     

高校商务英语虚拟学习环境的构建

探讨了构建商务英语虚拟学习环境的内容及其主要功能,并提出教师要胜任虚拟学习环境中的教学,必须不断提升自己的理论素养和积累实践经验,提高自己的知识水平和教学水平。     

Examining the Relationship between Math Self‐Efficacy and Statistics Motivation in the Introductory Business Statistics Course: Self‐Compassion as a Mediator

Because business statistics students often experience a lack of statistical motivation, business educators need to understand the factors that influence students’ motivation levels in undergraduate‐level business statistics courses. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of math self‐efficacy and self‐compassion on students’ motivation levels and the gender differences among the main variables. The regression results showed that math self‐efficacy was a positive predictor of statistics motivation. Self‐compassion was also found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between math self‐efficacy and statistics motivation. Gender differences were also found in business students’ math self‐efficacy, self‐compassion, and statistics motivation.     

Why McNemar's Procedure Needs to be Included in the Business Statistics Curriculum

In business research situations it is often of interest to examine the differences in the responses in repeated measurements of the same subjects or from among matched or paired subjects. A simple and useful procedure for comparing differences between proportions in two related samples was devised by McNemar (1947) nearly 60 years ago. Although the technique has enjoyed widespread usage in both behavioral and medical research, it has unfortunately not received proper attention in marketing, advertising, consumer research, public relations, operations management, or organizational behavior endeavors—disciplines wherein it is particularly desirable to evaluate the significance of changes in attitudes, opinions, or beliefs regarding some campaign or strategy. Perhaps the major reason for this obscurity is simply a general lack of awareness as to its value and practical power. The McNemar test is generally not currently being taught to business statistics students. It is the purpose of this article to demonstrate the usefulness and applicability of the McNemar procedure to these aforementioned disciplines so that it may be more appropriately employed as an important confirmatory data analysis tool within the basic business statistics curriculum.     

The Impact of Emotions on Student Achievement in Synchronous Hybrid Business and Public Administration Programs: A Longitudinal Test of Control‐Value Theory*

Synchronous hybrid delivery (simultaneously teaching on‐campus and online students using Web conferencing) is becoming more common in higher education. However, little is known about students’ emotions in these environments. Although often overlooked, emotions are fundamental antecedents of success. This study longitudinally examined the role of students’ emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom), perceptions of control, value, and success in synchronous hybrid learning environments. In particular, the investigation assessed students’ self‐reported enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom as predictors of their program achievement and successful technology use. Students were recruited from synchronous hybrid MBA and MPA programs. Control‐value theory of emotions was used as the theoretical framework. Paired samples t‐tests revealed that the achievement domain, compared to the technology domain, yielded higher mean scores for control, value, enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom. In addition, mixed ANOVAs indicated an interaction effect in which group means for program boredom were significantly higher for on‐campus students than for online students. Intercorrelations in each domain showed that perceived success was positively related to enjoyment and negatively related to anxiety and boredom. Technology‐related anxiety was also found to fully mediate the positive effect of control on perceived success in using technology.     

商务英语视听说课程自主学习体系的构建与利用——以福建信息职业技术学院为例

基于我院系商务英语视听说课程依托语料库的自主视听学习和实训室的口语情景自主学习教学实践,阐述了商务英语视听说课程自主学习体系硬件和软件的构建与利用。     

Active Learning through Modeling: Introduction to Software Development in the Business Curriculum*

Modern software practices call for the active involvement of business people in the software process. Therefore, programming has become an indispensable part of the information systems component of the core curriculum at business schools. In this paper, we present a model‐based approach to teaching introduction to programming to general business students. The theoretical underpinnings of the new approach are metaphor, abstraction, modeling, Bloom's classification of cognitive skills, and active learning. We employ models to introduce the basic programming constructs and their semantics. To this end, we use statecharts to model object's state and the environment model of evaluation as a virtual machine interpreting the programs written in JavaScript. The adoption of this approach helps learners build a sound mental model of the notion of computation process. Scholastic performance, student evaluations, our experiential observations, and a multiple regression statistical test prove that the proposed ideas improve the course significantly.