Student attendance has long polarized the higher education sector with reports of no to little effect on student success to positive relationships between attendance frequency at face to face and synchronous online lectures and better student engagement and achievement. This study investigates the impact of embedded online activities during lecture time on student learning by utilizing students’ portable devices to divert undesirable study behaviors such as gaming and social media activity during class. The aim of the learning intervention is to improve attendance at undergraduate engineering lectures as well as providing better connection to the subject content. Study participants were third year Bachelor of Engineering students enrolled in a mandatory “Digital System Design” course as part of their degree at a major research university in New Zealand. To explore the student experience of embedded active learning tasks on engagement and academic achievement, both qualitative and
Abstract
The increasingly interconnected and complex business environment demands business executives to be equipped with highly developed cross-functional skills and the capacity to integrate responsible decision making in business. To develop students with these attributes, the business higher education sector is expected to employ teaching and learning techniques that produce graduates with the ability and capacity for managing businesses responsibly. However the traditional, linear thinking embedded in current business higher education material and delivery methods hinders such an approach. This article presents an innovative approach to teach responsible decision making through the design, development, and implementation of an online simulation. This teaching approach uses a total enterprise computer simulation which exposes students to interactive, multidisciplinary decision making across functional, societal, environmental, and economic issues. The article also discusses the