Enhancing Student Engagement in Business Sustainability Through Games

Purpose: This practice-focused study explores the value students place on the Sustainable Strategies Game which seeks to improve student engagement in business sustainability through enhanced game-based learning. This game provides an alternative collaborative learning environment to the traditional instructivist approach in order to enrich Education for Sustainability learning experiences and enhance student engagement. Design/Methodology/Approach: Students’ reflections on their game-based learning experiences and suggestions for game development were collected through a short qualitative survey. Results are explored through three frameworks, the Multifaceted Student Value Model, the Dimensions of Engagement Framework and the UK Higher Education Authority Framework for Engagement Through Partnership. Findings: Research findings suggest the Sustainable Strategies Game provides game-based learning within Education for Sustainability that delivers ‘edutainment’ within an active, collaborative and experiential learning environment that the students value. It is also able to challenge thinking and emotionally engage students with the fundamentals of business sustainability. Reflection-on-action and the students’ role as co-researchers in game development allow students to become active participants in their learning as well as knowledge producers and evaluators. These outcomes deliver the UK Higher Education Authority’s core facets of student engagement through partnership. Research limitations/implications: This practice-focused study presents the self-reported results of a one-time, small study which does not offer generalised, independently validated responses. However, the findings may be of interest to educators considering the adoption of game-based learning and those seeking new learning cultures for EfS. Practical Implications: Game-based learning and teaching approaches can achieve a learner-centred active, collaborative learning environment that enhances student engagement with business sustainability. Originality/Value: Experiences gained from this study should assist others in the implementation of game-based learning to engage students in business sustainability

Fighting Corruption at the Local Level: The Federal Government\u27s Reach Has Been Broadened

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)2 has produced a complex body of law. One area within the Act, conspiracy to violate the substantive provisions of RICO under Section 1962(d), has produced contrary views in the federal courts of appeals as to whether one must agree to personally commit the illegal, predicate acts, or whether one need only agree that another member of the conspiracy commit the acts. The United States Supreme Court has now settled the debate over this issue by holding that one need only agree that some member of the enterprise will commit the predicate ac

Can real-world sustainability audits provide a tool for effective responsible management education?

- Context of responsible management education - Audits and auditing - The context of responsible management education - Using the University of Worcester as a live case study for an audit - Practical use of the university for an audit - example of an environmental impact assessment activit

Using Sustainability Audits to Enhance Responsible Management Education and Develop Personally and Professionally Responsible Work-Ready Graduates

It is widely held that responsible management education within UK business schools is lagging behind the needs of graduates in the changing world of work, leaving a UK-wide skills shortage. New approaches to learning and teaching are therefore required to address this skills shortage and develop personally and professionally responsible work-ready graduates who possess the knowledge, skills and values required to deliver environmentally, socially, and economically responsible business futures that balance short term economic management with long-term responsible business practices. In response, the University of Worcester Business School has adopted real-world ISO14001 and Global Reporting Initiative sustainability audits as teaching tools to enhance responsible management education for second and third-year business management students. Engaging students in the critical and reflexive thinking and questioning required to undertake a sustainability audit of business procedures and practices can develop graduates who are personally and professionally responsible, work-ready, and have the necessary responsible management knowledge, skills, and values to identify and address any irresponsible business practices. This innovative approach to responsible management education will be of interest to educators seeking opportunities to enhance student engagement in responsible business practices and to graduate employers seeking work-ready graduates who can close gaps in sustainability skills and help to develop responsible business futures. Both of these are urgent needs in the changing world of work

Evaluation of Students’ Experience of Team-based Experiential Learning through the Collaborative SAP Project

Collaborative learning and teaching pedagogies, such as team-based learning, problembased learning, and practical projects, are generally held to provide student-centred approaches that promote higher levels of engagement, enhance students’ experience develop employability skills and ultimately obtain deeper levels of learning within Higher Education. Yet, the researchers’ practical experience suggests that students are reluctant to engage in team-based learning. Understanding this value-action gap presents an opportunity to improve experiential learning within the generally instructive business school environment, enhance the students’ experience and foster a range of transferable, softer business skills all of which may in turn generate better learning outcomes. This paper presents the initial research findings from an exploration of the students’ experience of team-based learning undertaken through a University of Worcester Student as Academic Partners Project which engages students as researchers within a staff-student collaborative research project

Parents\u27 perceptions of the California High School Exit Exam and some social implications

The purpose of this study was to explore the awareness and feelings of parents and their perceptions about the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) and the impact on their children. Also, it looked at the social implications from an ecological perspective

Does commuting to university influence students’ personal and professional development and the likelihood of graduate level employment?

The current UK university system is based on the traditional home-university model of transition that has customarily seen students moving away from home to study for their degree. However, within the current massified and marketised conditions of higher education the number of students choosing to commute to study whilst living at home is increasing annually. This may be driven by a number of pressures, including the costs of university life, part-time work, family responsibilities and/or personal confidence. Whilst commuting to study may be a financially rational decision that provides commuter students with a different way of attending to meet their distinctive learning needs, research suggests that commuter students may also experience emotional and social challenges that may influence their personal and professional development, which in turn may impact on their ability to access and contribute to graduate employment. This paper explores the potential benefits and challenges experienced by commuter students and suggests that their personal circumstances and the tensions between home and university life may influence the likelihood of, and their ability to, develop personally and professionally in the way that graduate employers expect and desire. Consequently, commuter students may secure fewer graduate roles than their peers opting for the traditional home-university model of transition and employers may miss good candidates who possess the different but equally valuable employment skills and experience that commuter students are able to offer. This paper may be of interest to universities, current undergraduates and potential employers seeking the personal and professional development of future graduate employees

Developing future managers’ understanding of complex business issues by making knowledge visible: tasking business students to draw pictures

Traditionally educators within higher education have relied on in-class questioning techniques to establish and/or check students’ understanding of complex business issues and development of softer employment skills. However, whilst some students answer the questions set, many avoid raising their hands in case they give the wrong answer. This has two outcomes: firstly, it prevents students reflecting to recognise their knowledge, understanding and development of softer employment skills, and secondly it prevents educators getting a real understanding of whether students understand the topic or are developing their learning. This unwillingness to respond is now recognised as more prevalent in online learning, particularly where sessions are recorded. To promote an alternative and more creative approach to checking knowledge, understanding and development of softer employment skills within management education, students are tasked with drawing a topic. Drawing can replace the tutor-centred check of understanding with a student-centred reflective learning task that makes knowledge visible. This can encourage students to think differently and reflect on their knowledge which in turn may encourage them to recognise their own learning and skills development. In addition, the drawing can demonstrate understanding/misunderstanding and extent of learning for educators. This paper explores the potential benefits of engaging business management students in developing an understanding of complex business issues and softer employment skills through drawing and uses the example of drawing sustainability to illustrate this. It will be of interest to educators within higher education and management training who need tools that promote different ways of thinking and enable them to understand students’ knowledge. It will also be of interest to those seeking to promote reflective learning and develop teaching techniques that enable students to understand their own learning and development of skills