Contextualising, Embedding and Mapping (CEM): A model and framework for rethinking the design and delivery of an in-sessional academic literacy programme support

The paper documents the background, research and preliminary findings relating to a key area emerging in Higher Education institutions in the UK: providing academic language and study skills to support international students running concurrently with their degree programmes. The paper presents research carried out by an academic literacy specialist and a Programme Director in the postgraduate area of Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University. The paper documents a critique of past practice and research leading to identification of key issues influencing the attendance and participation of overseas students on an in-sessional academic literacy programme. To address these issues, a model was developed model which identified Contextualisation, Embedding and Mapping (CEM) as the foundation for improving academic literacy programme provision. The findings show that application of the CEM model is already demonstrating added value in the key areas of student attendance, understanding of the relevance of the academic literacy programme and integration within degree programme learning objectives and outcomes. To address the issue of sustaining the benefits of the CEM model the work concludes with the development of a framework which establishes the integration of an academic literacy programme within postgraduate programmes both at the strategic level through teaching and learning policies and at operational level through programme and module development

The New Order: Improving the Internationality in the International Business Degree Programme. Case Savonia University of Applied Sciences

Internationalization of higher education institutions in Finland is valuable for the institution itself and the surrounding society. The objective of the research was to discover how internationality could be improved in the International Business degree programme of Savonia University of Applied Sciences and made more efficient in order to benefit from the advantages internationality offers. The reason for the topic selection was that according to several sources, international functions within the programme are shattered and a general guideline for internationality is missing. The project was assigned by Virpi Oksanen, the International Coordinator of the Business Administration degree programme. The study aimed to state what is internationality at Savonia UAS and to find means to improve it. Benchmarking other universities of applied sciences was used as a method to discover the successful factors behind the internationality of a higher education institution. The benchmarked institutions were Turku University of Applied Sciences, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences. The research was conducted through a qualitative research method which included interviewing members of Savonia UAS and the members of other institutions. Altogether there were eleven interviews. The results revealed the issues behind the international functions within the International Business programme of Savonia UAS and how the issues could be resolved by adapting practices and policies of the benchmark institutions. Through the findings, it became possible to suggest improvements regarding internationality and international functions within the International Business degree programme. The study succeeded in finding solutions to the ultimate research question, but it is the decision of Savonia University of Applied Sciences whether these changes are executed within the institution

Encouraging student to reflect on their employment experience

The purpose behind this case study is to share with a wider audience of placement officers, tutors and those who are involved in the management of placement students or employment of graduates, the approach taken to encourage reflective learning in undergraduate placement students at Aston Business School. Reflective learning forms an important foundation of the placement year at Aston Business School, where a professional placement is a mandatory element of the four year degree, for all Home/EU students (optional for International students) who are taking a Single Honours degree (i.e. a fully business programme). The placement year is not compulsory for those students taking a Combined Honours degree (i.e. a degree where two unrelated subjects are studied), although approximately 50% of those students taking an Aston Business School subject opt to take a placement year. Students spend their year out undertaking a ‘proper’ job within a company or public sector organisation. They are normally paid a reasonable salary for their work (in 2004/5 the average advertised salary was £13,700 per annum). The placement year is assessed, carrying credits which amount to a contribution of 10% towards the students’ final degree. The assessment methods used require the students to submit an academic essay relating theory to practice, a factual report about the company which can be of use to future students, and a log book, the latter being the reflective piece of work. Encouragement to reflect on the placement year has always been an important feature of Aston Business School’s approach to learning. More recently, however, feedback from employers indicated that, although our students have excellent employability skills, “they do not think about them” (Aston Business School Advisory Panel, 2001). We, therefore, began some activities which would encourage students to go beyond the mere acquisition of skills and knowledge. This work became the basis of a programme of introductions to reflective learning, mentoring and awareness of different learning styles written up in Higson and Jones (2002). The idea was to get students used to the idea of reflection on their experiences well before they entered the placement year

Effect of Classroom Emotional Climate on Students’ Engagement among Business Students in Saudi Arabia

Student engagement is a significant element in learning at institutions of higher education. This becomes apparent among business students as the courses offered are quite challenging and require students to possess prior knowledge and skills. Such demanding circumstances distract students’ focus in class which creates disengagement between the students and their learning environment. Consequently, the course learning objectives and outcomes cannot be achieved. This study aims to explore the level of engagement through classroom emotional climate on business students, focusing on the International Business course, which is a mandatory course in the business degree programme. This study uses a peer observation method in assessing the phenomenon in a classroom setting. It is found that student-teacher interactions are vital in creating a positive emotional climate in the class which eventually escalates the students’ engagement in class.  In creating such a climate, the creativity of the instructor is necessary to ensure learning objectives are achieved. Keywords: class engagement, emotional climate, learning in business, peer observatio

Incorporating theories into a course in international business communication

Conference Theme: Research into Practice in the Four-year curriculumIn developing a business communication course for a group of business majors on an elite international business degree programme at the University of Hong Kong, cross-cultural communication theories and relevant research findings were incorporated into the syllabus and these underpin all the in-class activities and assessments. Central to the aims of the 2012 four-year curriculum is to broaden the experience of university students in Hong Kong and enhance their communication skills in the global market through various experiential learning opportunities, broadening courses and exchange programmes. Our presentation will describe how we incorporated experiential learning into the teaching of business communication skills and explore how different elements of the course are informed by theories in the area of cross-cultural communication. We also discuss how we view our roles as co-developers and co-teachers in the process of updating and improving the course and the implications of our approach for course design and teacher development.published_or_final_versio

Facilitating sanitation governance in small town DRC

This paper describes the initial results of formative research on Sanitation Governance carried out through the Sanitation Marketing (SanMark) programme in the Equateur province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC is a fragile state slowly emerging from a dictatorship and a war. The development of a local sanitation market is hampered by a high degree of distrust towards the state amongst citizens, and the expectation that international development organisations will provide free goods and services. The SanMark programme has sought to overcome these challenges by working with the Comité Locale de Pilotage (CLP), a local steering committee, composed of a broad coalition of representatives from local government, civil society and the private sector. The work of the CLP has contributed towards ensuring the legitimacy of the SanMark programme within the local community, the business community, and within the local state structures

Carrying Newcastle coals to Amsterdam: the launch and running of a business and management master’s degree at a new international campus

Effective international management has become an essential ingredient in the development of competitive advantage for large and small and for profit and not for profit organisations alike. The purpose of this paper is the share the experience of launching an existing master’s degree in International Management at a newly formed international campus. The paper looks at the design and implementation processes involved with the MSc Business with International Management degree largely targeted for Dutch conversion (to business) undergraduates seeking to enhance their personal profile and employment prospects. The main issues relating to the success of this project appear to be the speed and agility involved in the setting up, running and management of this project that has led to student satisfaction, fulfilment in teaching, and the strengthening of the relationship between Northumbria University at Newcastle and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences as part of a Memorandum of Understanding involving partnership and investment. In order to make this project succeed there was a need for clear objectives, evidence of both programme content and skills and competencies needs, a committed, competent and strongly led team with network connections and a strong support team. The whole process that is the sum of these elements was put in place to ensure continuous, successful development

Annual Report 2013

Hanken School of Economics is a leading, internationally accredited businessschool in Finland. Hanken was founded more than a hundred years ago andis thus one of the oldest business schools in the Nordic region. Today, Hankenis a business school with clearly defined areas of strength: Economics,Finance, Management and Organisation, and Marketing.Hanken is a research-intensive business school where all education isresearch-based. Hanken has an international approach, where internationalisationand multilingualism increasingly permeate all areas of activity. TheSchool offers the full range of academic degrees and executive education ontwo campuses. In order to maintain practical relevance in all activities, ourcorporate connections are at the core of our activities, especially through theactive alumni network, a forerunner from a national perspective.The quality in our research is achieved via strong engagement in the internationalresearch community. In its educational programmes, the schoolhas a long tradition of both internal and external internationalisation, with acomprehensive network of partner universities for student exchange, a nationallyhigh proportion of international degree students and growing internationalisationin our research and teaching staff. The mandatory semesterabroad lays the foundation for the students’ international competence.Like many leading international business schools, Hanken has deliberatelychosen to function as a stand-alone business school. This brings challenges,but at the same time it allows flexibility to rapidly adapt to increasing internationalcompetition in research and education, and to the challenges andpossibilities brought by a growing collaboration with the business world. Inthis respect, Hanken is unique in Finland.Hanken has been internationally accredited (EQUIS) since 2000. Hanken’sMBA programme was accredited by the International Association of MBAs(AMBA) in 2008. In 2008, the School also became the first university inFinland to sign the UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education(PRME, www. unprme.org)

Developing reflective practice with an international student body

The aim of this paper is to share the authors'experiences with a masters marketing module where reflective practice has been used with an internationally diverse student body. The study looked at a module on the MA Global Business degree, which runs in conjunction with international partners in France, Germany, Spain, and Russia. Students come to the UK to study the masters programme from all over the world - Europe, Asia, South America, North America. A brief literature review highlighted some key themes which were investigated - developing the capacity to reflect (e.g. Barnett,1995), practicing reflection (e.g. Kolb 1984, and Barnett 1995) and measuring reflection via verbal statements, written reflections and portfolios (Costa and Garmston, 1994)

Evaluating students’ perceptions of a scenario-situated business communication course

Research has identified that Business students, who are immersed in theoretical concepts, may not be equipped with the skills required to operate successfully in the global workplace in the English medium (Evans, 2013). Secondly, tasks in Business English textbooks tend not to bear much resemblance to those of a work environment (Bremner, 2010; Evans, 2013). This paper discusses an optional written business communication course open to international postgraduate Business School students. Although the course is worth ten credits, it can only be used for a separate award, not part of their degree programme. The course focuses on the use of appropriate register, Business English vocabulary and intertextuality, as these features have been identified as pivotal to successful written business communication (Evans, 2013). A short questionnaire was distributed to the students towards the end of course to elicit their perceptions of the usefulness of the course. Consisting of two closed questions and one open question, data was then coded using constructivist grounded theory (Mills, Birks and Hoare, 2014), from which themes emerged providing valuable and unexpected feedback. The primary finding was that the course appeared to have alerted students to the importance of the business writing genre, resulting in an overwhelming request for more instruction