Instructional Design, Active Learning, and Student Performance

Abstract

This research used a quasi-experimental design with two conditions to test the impact of active learning in the context of integrated instructional design. The control condition was a traditional approach to teaching an undergraduate strategy capstone class. The intervention condition was an undergraduate strategy capstone class that was designed based on Fink's integrated instructional design principles and that incorporated an active learning element to teach students financial analysis. As part of the instructional design, the intervention representing active learning content was a set of financial trading room assignments. Though there were no differences in standardized test scores measuring total business knowledge, results showed a difference in student performance associated with financial knowledge between students who experienced the active learning intervention condition and students in the traditional control condition. Even when controlling for gender, major, and grade point average, the integrative instructional design using the trading room had an impact on student learning outcomes associated with financial knowledge. Articles

The Need for Design Thinking in Business Schools

“…The passive absorption of knowledge by the student can hardly be called education" (Gordon & Howell, 1959: 109). Studies supporting the effectiveness of active learning have been found in a wide variety of educational disciplines, including business schools (Hake, 1998;Hoellwarth & Moelter, 2011;Michael, 2006;Prince, 2004;Stewart, Houghton, & Rogers, 2012).…”

Ladders for Learning: Is Scaffolding the Key to Teaching Problem-Solving in Technology-Mediated Learning Contexts?

“…Problem-based learning is often used as an overarching teaching approach that is especially prevalent in management education (Bigelow, 2004;Peterson, 2004;Sherwood, 2004;Smith, 2005). It is closely related to other learning concepts such as experiential learning (Arbaugh, DeArmond, & Rau, 2013) or active learning (Rollag & Billsberry, 2012;Serva & Fuller, 2004;Stewart, Houghton, & Rogers, 2012). Problem solving could relate to the immediate performance for solving problems as well as the transfer of training, which is also referred to as latent learning (Bjork, Dunlosky, & Kornell, 2013;Schmidt & Bjork, 1992;Soderstrom & Bjork, 2015).…”

Profit Maximization Versus Stakeholders’ View of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Experiential Exercise on Ethics and Social Responsibility for Business School Courses

“…Research findings (e.g., Baker & Comer, 2012;Hu, Kuh, & Li, 2008;Zapatero et al 2012) indicate that student engagement and learning are enhanced with the incorporation of experiential exercises in business school courses, among others. Researchers were successful in enhancing student motivation using experiential exercises in areas such as value chain analysis (Sheehan & Gamble, 2010), financial analysis using trading room (Stewart, Houghton, & Rogers, 2012), and ethics in business (Baker & Comer, 2012). Therefore, an experiential exercise on ethics and social responsibility would complement the traditional teaching approaches and enhance student engagement and learning in classrooms.…”