Capturing Flow in the Business Classroom

This study focuses on the flow experience in business education. Flow experience, characterized by concentration, control, and enjoyment, can lead to better learning outcomes. Leading preconditions of flow include the balance of challenge and skill, feedback, and goal clarity. Other situational factors affect the flow experience through the mediating effects of these three factors. In this article, we extend an existing framework linking flow and learning. Using the model as a guide, we start our research effort of flow in business education by conducting a field survey of student learning experience in terms of flow and influential factors. Data were collected using business students taking an introductory Operations Management course. The analysis reveals that flow does exist in classroom learning. Its key dimensions are concentration, sense of control, and enjoyment. The more important leading factor is having clear feedback. Characteristics of both the instructor and students play a role in the flow experience of students during lecture. It is evident that flow theory offers a useful framework for business education research. Suggestions for future research are made.     

The ‘automatic’ use of context in children's reading

The present investigation examined developmental changes in the automatic use of context in single word recognition. A modified Stroop procedure was used in which children were asked to name the color of the ink of target words. The target was preceded either by a semantically related or by an unrelated word. Results suggested that, in contrast to attentional context effects (Pring and Snowling 1986), the older readers showed significantly more influence from the semantic context than the younger, less-proficient readers. The results are discussed with reference to the connections between a novice reading system and a child's rapidly growing semantic memory system.     

The effects of relationship quality and switching barriers on customer loyalty

Because the cost of attracting new customers is much higher than the cost of retaining old customers, keeping customers loyal is a crucial issue for service firms. This research explores how relationship quality and switching barriers influence customer loyalty. Relationship quality consists of two aspects: satisfaction and trust. Antecedents of satisfaction and trust are explored. To test the proposed research model, a survey research methodology was used. Paper survey was distributed to mobile phone users in Taiwan. A total of 311 valid questionnaires were returned. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Satisfaction, trust, and switching barriers have positive effects on loyalty. In terms of antecedents, it was found that playfulness and service quality impact satisfaction while service quality and intimacy affect trust. From a managerial perspective, this research suggests that practitioner should not only keep improving service quality, but also provide playfulness to ensure customer satisfaction. Service providers should also build relationship quality and switching barriers to reduce the possibility of defection and enhance customer loyalty.     

Working on a dream: educational returns from off-campus paid work

Helping students develop the employability skills and professional capabilities they will need to transition into graduate roles is one of the most important mandates for university study. With this context in mind, this paper analyses the nature and implications of Australian university students’ participation in paid work during study. The paper looks at the incidence with which students participate in paid work, and follows this with an analysis of the influence such participation has on academic engagement and outcomes. There are disjuncts, the data shows, between student activity and the support received from institutions. It is suggested that institutions need to embrace students’ off-campus paid work. The findings shed light on practices that institutions can use to support students’ participation and outcomes.     

Dynamics of emotion,problem solving,and identity: Portraits of three girl coders

ABSTRACT

Background and Context

Women are underrepresented in the field of computer science, a trend that in part can be traced to girls’ early experiences with the discipline.     

Development of the Australasian survey of student engagement (AUSSE)

Student learning and development are the core business of the academy, yet until recently Australian and New Zealand universities lacked data on students’ engagement in effective educational practices. This paper reports the foundations and development of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE)—the largest educationally focused cross-institutional collection from current students in Australasia. Results from the 2008 AUSSE are analyzed to elucidate the focus and significance of the collection. A review is undertaken of the AUSSE’s approach to stimulating each institution’s continuous improvement. The analysis is expanded, by way of conclusion, to consider the role of the collection as a general agent for encouraging the expansion of evidence-based quality management in higher education.     

你准备好当一名旅游记者了吗？

我是一位有抱负的旅游记者,同时也是一名大一新生。我已经决定将旅游新闻报道当做我的职业。我虽年仅19岁,却有过大量异国旅游经历。我发现旅游和记录这些旅行经历属于我生活中的最爱。我生活中最令人兴奋的事情,其一便是与拥有不同文化背景的人交流、倾听他们的故事,体验他们的生活方式。     

Differential relationships between RAN performance,behaviour ratings,and executive function measures: Searching for a double dissociation

Abstract. In this study, we investigated the relationships between rapid naming of letters, digits and colours, and reading ability and executive function. We gave fifty-six grade three and four children rapid automatised naming tasks using letters and digits as stimuli, executive function measures including the Stroop task, a working memory task and the Trailmaking B task. The latter three tasks were used as measures of executive function. We also administered tests of verbal ability, reading and a behaviour checklist. The rapid naming of letters and digits was significantly correlated with reading, but not with executive function or behaviour ratings. The rapid naming of colours (from the Stroop task) was significantly correlated with the executive function tasks and the behaviour ratings but not with reading. We discuss the implications of this double dissociation for further studies of RAN.     

‘Think about what our industry stands for….’: exploring the impact of external factors on line manager perceptions of graduate employability

ABSTRACT

Increasing emphasis is being placed upon employer expectations in research on graduate employability, in response to the widely claimed gap between employer expectations and graduates’ understanding of these expectations. For graduates, being uncertain of their employer’s expectations may threaten the ease of their transition into the workplace and their job satisfaction, even leading to issues around graduate retention for employers. External influences on the graduate labour market such as differences in industry/sector level expectations and economic/political factors, can pose further complications. This paper presents a cross-industry analysis of employer expectations of graduates, drawing from four selected case study vignettes aimed at uncovering insights into these variances. Findings offer implications for policy makers and higher education providers around the design and delivery of a curriculum that appropriately prepares students for the graduate labour market, whilst also catering for industry-level expectations particularly in light of the UK’s forthcoming departure from the EU.     

Research-teaching nexus: The new answer to the old question

The study tests 3 research hypotheses on the teaching-research nexus using the administrative data of the HSE University in Russia for 7 years. We confirmed the hypothesis that a lower classroom teaching load is associated with higher research output. Undergraduate courses have a relatively higher negative effect, especially on the probability of producing research output at all. A higher concentration of teaching in some semesters or quarters looks rather ineffective as a way to stimulate higher research productivity. Only a moderate share of English-taught classes (about 20% of the teaching load) is associated with higher research output and only for publications in good international journals. The empirical part of the study is based on zero-inflated Poisson and zero-inflated negative binomial models. This study comes to contribute to the development of literature discussing a mechanism and possible implications in teaching load composition as an essential part of the academic contract.