learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Glenn Duckworth
Other studies have questioned the usefulness of such accelerated courses with regards to levels of
higher order thinking and analysis skills, finding that students performed worse in assessments
requiring these higher order skills (e.g. Petrowsky 1996).
Although much research points to positive outcomes, there may be a number of threats to the
effectiveness of intensive courses. A common belief is that “some material and problems require an
extended period of time to ‘digest’ or ‘simmer.’ There is evidence in the psychological literature that
setting a problem aside for a while (a process labeled “incubation”) does help the learner and problem
solver.” (Tatum 2010). Tatum goes on to tentatively state that “It would appear that for some courses
in some disciplines, an accelerated approach could be a disadvantage for the students because they
are not given sufficient time to ruminate over the course content or the homework problems.”
Another potential threat relates to stress and time pressures. A study by Petrowsky (1996) found that
students taking a two week long intensive course found it particularly stressful.
Davies (2006) when discussing studies by Conrad (1996) and Wlodkowski (2003) stated that certain
key attributes were necessary to achieve successful learning outcomes in an intensive course and
these determined whether the experience was ‘painful and tedious’ or a good learning experience.
These characteristics include high levels of classroom interaction, student input, class discussion and
active learning. Scott (2003) investigated the student experience with a comparison of traditionally
scheduled and intensive formats using a range of qualitative methods. She also found that intensive
courses could provide useful benefits as long as certain key characteristics were present. In terms of
teaching methods, she found that active learning, high levels of classroom interaction/discussion and
experiential/applied learning were valuable characteristics.
The pre-workshop activities which are discussed in this case study may go some way to address
some of the concerns. The provision of a longer time period in which students may engage in the
subject area may aid incubation. It was also anticipated that the resources may reduce stress and
increase confidence due to some exposure to the topics. And the provision of structured introductory
tasks and readings would help students to get to grips with some of the key concepts and ideas
before entering the classroom; thus freeing up more time for higher level discussions, debates and
active learning.
While the EMBA has always put an emphasis on such high level teaching methods, it was anticipated
that the pre-workshop components would enhance teaching and learning by priming students to the
subject matter; thus allowing students and lecturers to ‘hit the ground running’ and allowing such high
level teaching and learning to start from an early stage of the intensive block of classroom based
sessions.
2. The students
All of the students involved were taking the Executive MBA course at the University of the West of
England between January 2010 and March 2011. All had at least three years work experience with
management responsibilities. They were all mature students and most of them were in full time
employment.
Evaluations were conducted with three separate groups of students. For each of these groups
approximately twenty students were enrolled on the module.
3. Pre-workshop activities
Pre-workshop activities and resources were developed for a range of modules on the EMBA
programme. The modules discussed in this case study are called ‘Management in a Complex World’
(mainly Economics), ‘Managing Decisions’ (Finance/Accounting) and ‘Leadership and Change’.
The resources were generally delivered via the Blackboard virtual learning environment (VLE). They
were made available to students one month before their first scheduled classroom based session.
A short video was included for each module in which the module leader would introduce the subject
and the pre-workshop component. The activities themselves comprised a varied set of tasks which
accompanied key readings and aimed to structure the introductory reading, providing an insight into
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