| Learning Journals as a Force for Personal Change: A Qualitative Example From Research Management |
| | Thorpe, Karran | U. of Lethbridge | thorpe@uleth.ca | 403-329-2012 |
| | Loo, Robert | U. of Lethbridge | loo@uleth.ca | (403)-329-2174 |
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Teaching and learning in professional education are challenging processes for both teacher and learner. Nevertheless, despite considerable expenditure of creative energy, critical thought, and commitment to the task, the outcomes of teaching are not always positive learning experiences for students. The researchers contemplated the question: "To what extent does the key to tapping into this teach-learning puzzle rest, not in the teacher, but in students themselves?"
The purpose of this presentation is to describe the outcomes of using reflective learning journals with management undergraduates in a small liberal arts university. Specifically, we will discuss the use of journals in a research methodology course where students conducted two empirical research projects, as group rather than individual projects, and completed a journal with each project. W e assessed the use of the journals as learning and teaching tools to improve students' learning effectiveness and instructors' teaching effectiveness. Using NU*DIST as a data management tool and the constant comparative method of analysis, three major themes were identified. These themes were labeled as "Personal Change and Growth," "Working in Groups, " and Developing Self-Knowledge." Implications will be offered for educators (e.g., communicate the journal objectives clearly), learners (e.g., develop confidence in management skills), and researchers (e.g. assess the different approaches to journaling for their relative effectiveness). |
| | Keywords: Learning Journals; Working in Groups; Developing Self-Knowledge |
| Educational Implications of Longitudinal Intervention on the Awareness of Self-directed Change on Managerial Abilities |
| | Rhee, Kenneth S. | Case Western Reserve U. | ksr@po.cwru.edu | 216-231-8406 |
| | In a traditional education program, students often receive feedback on their learning through grades. However, grades are not good indicators of measuring improvement on abilities or skills. Although prior research on outcome assessment on ability development have documented students’ improvement, it is not clear whether students themselves are aware of their own change. The current research focuses on students’ awareness of self-directed change at a professional management school. Based on prior research that showed increased self-awareness helped reduce the gap between self-reported instruments and actual behavior, a selected group of students were given repeated opportunities to reflect about their self-directed change process during the program. At the end of the program, both the selected and the comparison groups were put through the identical ability assessment process which included interviews, questionnaires, and other self-reported instruments. The results of the study showed that the study group demonstrated greater awareness of their own change than the comparison group despite a greater degree of behavioral demonstration shown by the comparison group. What was even more surprising was the extreme low level of awareness of change shown by the comparison group. Several different explanations for this discrepancy are offered as well as the implications for management education and educators are discussed. |
| | Keywords: Self-directed Change; Awareness; Management Education |
| A Multi-Dimensional, Cross-Cultural Examination of Managerial Self-Awareness and Effectiveness Using 360 Feedback |
| | Shipper, Frank | Salisbury State U. | fmshipper@ssu.edu | (410) 543-6333 |
| | Managerial self-awareness and effectiveness are examined in three different cultures using both linear and non-linear methods of analysis. In addition, the stability of a two-factor model of managerial skills was examined for both independence of factors and stability across the three cultures. Furthermore, the relationships among the power distance inherent in the culture, managerial self-awareness, and the dimensionality of the concept across the three cultures were examined. The results suggest that the two-factor concept is relatively stable across the three cultures. In contrast to prior studies, the two factors were found to be relatively independent within each culture. Reasons for this finding are explored. In addition, the results suggest that the importance of self-awareness varies by culture, the skills used to assess the degree of self-awareness, and the method used to analyze the impact of self-awareness on managerial effectiveness. Thus, the results suggest that the relationship between self-awareness and managerial effectiveness is more complex than previously assumed. In addition, the results suggest that interpreting self-awareness using 360 feedback may have to be done based on the cultures power distance, and that a single cross-cultural approach is inappropriate. |
| | Keywords: Self-Awareness; Managerial; Effectiveness |
| Is It the People We Know, the Things We Do, or the Places We Go? The Impact of Social Environments on Self-Directed Change and Learning |
| | Wheeler, Jane V. | Bowling Green State U. | jvwheeler8@aol.com | (216) 321-7414 |
| | This project examines the interactions between adult learners and the social environment as they engage in self-directed change and learning. The adult learners are graduates of a part-time MBA program at the Weatherhead School of Management. The social environment is the psychosocial life sphere within which the adult learners exist. Self-directed change and learning refers to the learning agenda that these people outlined for the4mselves when they first entered the program. Each learning agenda resulted in specific learning goals that targeted managerial competencies that must be developed if the goal is to be met. This study measures the participants' success towards reaching these goals in terms of the participants' demonstrated improvement on these competencies. Longitudinal assessment data via the critical incident interview and the learning skills profile were administered at time of entry into the program at graduation between 18 and 30 months later. The life sphere interview, measuring what life spheres, relationships, and activities supported each goal, was administered during the post-graduation assessment session. Correlations were run testing the hypotheses that as the number of life spheres, relationships, or activities increases, so will the demonstration of the targeted competencies. Findings suggest that the number of life spheres and relationships does impact positively the demonstration of these competencies and that the number of activities does not. |
| | Keywords: self-directed change; competency development; social environment |