The Impact of Face-to-Face Orientation on Online Retention: A Pilot Study

Student retention in online education is a concern for students, faculty and administration. Retention rates are 20% lower in online courses than in traditional face-to-face courses. As part of an integration and engagement strategy, a face-to-face orientation was added to an online undergraduate business information systems course to examine its impact on retention. The study methodology consisted of an early email contact, distribution of course documents, a follow-up phone call, and a pre-course face-to-face orientation. The retention rate of students who attended the orientation was over 91% with a p-value of 0.9143. The retention rate of students not attending the orientation was just under 18%. Findings suggest that face-to-face orientations impact retention positively

Course Revitalization As A Change Driver Throughout Undergraduate Business Curriculum

This paper describes the revitalization of Business Information Systems and Communication, a high enrollment, prerequisite course for all undergraduate business students in the Coles College of Business.  An overview of the course components is presented and original structure described. The rationale for change, technologies leveraged and measures of success are presented. The change drivers are identified and their impact on undergraduate curriculum delineated. Lessons learned and future implications are discussed

Primary Traits Of Oral Business Presentation: Translatable Use For Assessment In A Virtual Learning Environment

As more and more classes are taught on-line, new challenges for assessment of student learning have come about. In this paper on the use of digital video (DV) as an acceptable means to assess student oral business presentation skills, content analysis was used to test for the presence of primary traits inherent in effective formal business presentation. A specific set of traits was identified through a comprehensive literature review. Primary traits: eye contact or absence of reading, vocal variety, credibility or confidence, appearance of nervous mannerisms, and the purposeful use of the body represented the five independent variables in a one-level experiment. The five factors were accumulated into a survey instrument for use by study assessors experienced in evaluating formal business presentation skills. Study assessors looked at each speaker to determine if they could assess the five traits. Overall results indicated the five primary traits were noticeable 88.8% of the time, thereby rejecting the null hypothesis. This suggests that digital video may offer a technological solution for oral presentation skills assessment. This is an important finding for faculty in time and distance constrained environments. Future research is suggested to isolate quality characteristics in the digital film environment and to examine the impact that digital video has on student learning and skills

Digital Video Presentation and Student Performance: A Task Technology Fit Perspective

The article presents findings of a study regarding the adaptation of the Task Technology Fit (TTF) model in the teaching and learning process in the U.S. It emphasizes the three dimensions of fit, which include the Ease of Learning, Task Match and Ease of Use, which were applied in the context of digital video for oral presentations in the classroom environment. It stresses the importance of the digital technology in education, wherein the results of the study showed significant improvements in the oral presentation skills with the application of digital tools

MOOCs: Branding, Enrollment, and Multiple Measures of Success

KSU redefined the MOOC value proposition through collaboration of university leadership and faculty. The new proposition shifts measures of success beyond just course completion to include measures that benefit students, faculty, and the institution. Students benefitted through access to open educational resources, the acquisition of professional learning units at no cost, and the potential of college credit at a greatly reduced cost. Academic units benefited through a mechanism to attract students and future revenue while the university benefited through digital impressions, branding, institutionally leveraged scalable learning environments, streamlined credit evaluation processes and expanded digital education

Using digital video technology to reduce communication apprehension in business education

Several studies have shown that communication apprehension (CA) plays a significant role in reducing the effectiveness of oral communication in business settings. To compound this problem, environmental needs for large classes deny students the opportunity to present in the classroom and prevent universities from adequately addressing CA. In this study, digital video was used as a multimedia replacement for in-class oral presentations. A digital video treatment was designed and tested on a sample of second year management information systems (MIS) students at a large southeastern state university to determine its impact on CA. McCroskey\u27s [McCroskey, J. C. 1982. An Introduction to Rhetorical Communication, 4th ed. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ] Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) was used to measure CA in a retreatment/posttreatment design. Results showed that the treatment is associated with a reduction in CA. A feedback survey indicated that participants in the treatment group spent more time on average practicing oral communication skills and most felt the treatment prepared them to present again. Digital video can benefit students through reduced CA, increased practice time, and the ability to review their presentation delivery. In a large class environment digital video may be used as an alternative to in-class presentation in order to benefit students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to present

Project management issues in IT offshore outsourcing

Global partnerships are forming to take advantage of the cost savings associated with offshoring as well as other strategic benefits. Not all information technology offshoring projects, however, are successful. Cost overruns, increased complexity and defective code cause organizations to rethink their offshoring strategy and their methods for managing these projects. In this paper, project management issues associated with offshore information technology outsourcing projects are identified and specific recommendations for addressing these issues are presented

Integrating an Executive Panel on Communication in Senior Design

Communication skills are key to the workforce success of engineering graduates. The Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) Workforce Communication Program at Georgia Tech has successfully incorporated executive panel interaction into its capstone design course to align student skills with executive expectations. The objectives of the panel are to raise student awareness about the importance of communication to workforce success and to gain knowledge about communication skills directly from executives. Executives interact directly with students about workforce communication, career advancement, and the communication skills they consider most critical. The process of assembling and holding a panel is described for potential implementation in other engineering programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] Copyright of IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication is the property of IEE

Achieving Collaborative Advantage--An Evolving Paradigm

The year 2001 began a period of strategic initiative and planned change for the traditional MBA program at Kennesaw State University. The changing competitive environment and declining enrollment figures necessitated a visionary approach to re-inventing a static program and its required components. This paper describes an integrative, team-taught, collaborative effort to develop and deliver business foundation courses for the part-time Career Growth MBA program, as a tool to initiate growth and change

The Impact of Student Retention Strategies: An Empirical Study

A major concern for institutions and instructors is the high dropout rate of students in online courses. This study investigated the impact of student retention strategies on retention rates in an online information systems course. A treatment group exposed to retention strategies related to student engagement, learning communities, student services and learner centred environments was compared with a control group. Results suggested that retention strategies may not impact retention rates. This is important as faculty are routinely encouraged to implement similar strategies in online course design and delivery