The Perceived Value of Using a Team Charter in Business Education

Schools of business seek to prepare students for the workplace with employer-valued skills such as communication, teamwork, and application of knowledge. As such, a common practice for business and management educators is to involve students in collaborative team-based assignments and community projects. To facilitate the development of teamwork skills, faculty members may have students create a team charter, which involves student teams identifying goals, roles, and norms. However, empirical evidence of the value of team charters is limited. This study examined student perceptions of team charters to determine if they played a role in effective teamwork or if other variables accounted for team success. The study entailed an analysis of a mid-semester team evaluation survey and an end-of-semester team charter survey. Findings indicated that overall, the inclusion of the development and application of student charters in student group projects leads to several important benefits and learning outcomes. However, the perceived usefulness of charters varies among students by level of experience and year in school

A Model of Student Learning: A Cross-Disciplinary Examination of Student Reflections of Service-Learning Experiences

The purpose of this study was to measure and analyze student service and engaged learning outcomes employing the qualitative tradition of phenomenology. This study was based on the “Five R” service and engaged learning framework. The population for this project included 565 students enrolled in sixteen different course sections (eight distinct classes) taught by twelve faculty members across six academic departments in three colleges/schools on the campus of a regional teaching university in the Intermountain West. The results yielded support for each “R” in the framework (reciprocity, reflection, rewards of synergy, responsibility, and reality), thereby supporting the validity of the framework across disciplines

The Essential Structure of Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Inquiry

While many jokes and sales of specialty merchandise have been made that make light of consumers who frequently shop and buy (e.g., When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping, or I am a shopaholic ), for 18 million Americans suffering from compulsive buying, the process of shopping and buying has caused their lives to literally go out of control. The outcomes of this disease for individuals, families, and business are all negative. In a marketing era of social responsibility, if marketers either knowingly or unknowingly encourage increased consumption among compulsive buyers, potential negative outcomes stand to impact others well beyond the span of the personal psychological and financial situations of individual consumers. The purpose of this study was to explore in depth the structures of human consciousness of compulsive buyers by employing the qualitative research tradition of phenomenology. The study was framed by the social constructivist paradigm where my emphasis was on understanding how the essence of each individual consumer\u27s sense of reality was shaped by her/his particular circumstances and lived experiences. From a theoretical perspective, the study offers an integrated framework by bringing together diverse constructs/data themes from previous research in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and marketing. Personality antecedents and short- and long-term consequences of compulsive buying were presented in the framework. The study\u27s research question was, What are the essential structures of the lived experiences of compulsive buyers? A criterion-purposive sample, where all participants currently experience or have experienced the phenomenon of compulsive buying, was selected. Data collection and analysis were performed from prolonged engagement at Debtors Anonymous meetings over a 12-month period, plus in-depth interviews from six volunteer participants. Individual participant models of compulsive buying were constructed and juxtaposed against the original theoretical model. Data theme frequencies across participants were tabulated and discussed for comparisons against the theoretical model. Results indicated that while each participant\u27s lived experience of the disease shared most theoretical themes identified by previous research, participants also revealed additional data themes unique to her/him. Marketing implications and recommendations for improved marketing strategy were offered

A Model of Student Learning : A Cross-Disciplinary Examination of Student Reflections of Service-Learning Experiences

The purpose of this study was to measure and analyze student service and engaged learning outcomes employing the qualitative tradition of phenomenology. This study was based on the “Five R” service and engaged learning framework. The population for this project included 565 students enrolled in sixteen different course sections (eight distinct classes) taught by twelve faculty members across six academic departments in three colleges/schools on the campus of a regional teaching university in the Intermountain West. The results yielded support for each “R” in the framework (reciprocity, reflection, rewards of synergy, responsibility, and reality), thereby supporting the validity of the framework across disciplines