scholarly journals Responsible leadership in management education: A design-based research study

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saskia Raatz ◽  
Dieter Euler

In recent years, the quality of management education in general, and particularly of MBA and Executive MBA programs, has been called into question. There are serious doubts about universities’ ability to give students the competencies they need to deal with complex problems in modern society. One part of the discussion focuses on ethical issues and the process through which students develop values and attitudes. In line with the economic crisis, there has been increasing interest in the development of learners’ attitudes to responsibility. We report the results of a study that starts with an ambitious and yet ill-structured learning goal in a demanding educational practice area: How can pedagogical interventions in management education be designed to promote learners' attitudes to responsible leadership? As a starting point, there are neither consensual definitions of responsible leadership nor substantial theories available to design promising interventions. De-sign-based research (DBR) provides a structured process to deal with research problems, starting with innovative but imprecisely defined objectives and unknown ways to reach them. We introduce the DBR design and describe the research process and results from a project conducted at St.Gallen University’s Executive MBA program. In close collaboration with practitioners, interventions evolved through multiple cycles of development, testing and refinement with the pursuit of theory-building and practical innovation.

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Claudia Souza Vazquez ◽  
Roberto Lima Ruas

This paper explores MBA students' perceptions about their learning process and the outcomes of development of capabilities and competences. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted between 2004 and 2008 with 160 students enrolled in 6 different MBA programs in Brazil. The data were collected at group activities using a questionnaire to lead the participants to identify the contents and experiences from their MBA's that were associated with the development of capabilities and competences relevant to practice. Examining the current literature and its indications of a myriad of pedagogical approaches, we discuss the MBA educators' pedagogical planning for developing capacities and competences without considering which knowledge is valued as relevant by students. Our results identified three aspects as the most relevant in MBA students' learning experiences: (a) openness to exploit new ways of interpreting the world; (b) development of specific capabilities; and (c) development of relational competence. The main contribution of our study is to highlight the students' active engagement in the learning opportunities created by MBA educators and their outcomes. Based on the evidence, we argue that the pedagogical planning developed by educators should consider MBA students as the protagonist of their management education process.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Marie Ackerman

Until now, there has been little experimental work investigating the processing and formal properties of the singular they suite of pronouns. As scientific and popular attention to singular they increases, it will be critical for research to acknowledge theoretical and ethical issues regarding discussion of this phenomenon. This commentary uses the recent paper by Doherty & Conklin (2017) as a starting point to discuss issues surrounding work on the various forms of singular they. It concludes that there is sufficient theoretical and empirical evidence to claim they has a grammatically singular form (at least in colloquial English). It also recommends care be taken in academic discussions of the grammaticality and acceptability of terms which are associated with marginalised communities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Suchetana De ◽  
Maaria Tringham ◽  
Anu Hopia ◽  
Raija Tahvonen ◽  
Anna-Maija Pietilä ◽  
...  

<b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of this study was to gain insight into the understanding of genetics and perceptions on the ethical issues related to genotype disclosure of the participants in a nutrigenetic study. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A close-ended questionnaire was developed based on literature and discussions among the research group members. The questionnaire contained a ­total of 33 questions, which were divided into 4 categories – demographics, knowledge assessment, concerns related to participation, and opinions on disclosure of information. Majority of the participants (250 out of 281) of a nutrigenetic study, in which effect of disclosing <i>APOE</i> allele status on lifestyle changes was studied, completed the questionnaire online following the informed consent process. The responses from the knowledge assessment and the concern categories were transformed into knowledge and concern scales, respectively, and analysed by descriptive statistical methods. The statistical associations between the categorical variables were determined using χ<sup>2</sup> test of independence. The relationship between the continuous variables was assessed using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and internal consistency of questions by Cronbach’s alpha. <b><i>Results:</i></b> No correlation was observed between the level of education and knowledge scores. About 10% of the participants thought that the genetic predisposition would be stressful to them and their family members. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Careful distribution of information before a nutrigenetic study supports understanding and reduces concerns of genetic susceptibility. In Finland, strong basic education is likely to have strengthened the trust in research process.


Author(s):  
Paul Farber ◽  
Dini Metro-Roland

Moral education and technology seem to represent two fundamentally different kinds of concern and domains of inquiry. But these domains are fused in educational practice. Teaching as a fundamental human endeavor and form of activity has been a central component of human cultural evolution and regeneration from the earliest human social groupings. As a distinctive form of activity, teaching braids together ethical and instrumental norms and values. The modern, global institution of schooling has added layers of institutional support, constraint, and governance on the teaching it structures as well as increased scrutiny of the ethical and instrumental values in play; schooling is in effect a kind of moral technology for advancing certain norms and values in an efficient way. At present, technological developments with modern society make possible new forms of teaching and learning that likewise warrant scrutiny as they impact the ethical and instrumental ends of teaching and instructional practices today.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Björklund

Title: Didactical discussion on pre-school teachers’ prerequisites for working with mathematics in Finnish early childhood educationAbstract: Finnish teachers encounter an increased focus on learning aspects and a revised legislation strengthens teachers’ professional role for early learning, which also has impact on pre-school teachers’ work in early childhood education (children 0–5 years). The paradigm in early childhood education in recent years emphasizes development, learning and teaching. Mathematics is one content area that has been given a lot of attention in Nordic discussions on education for early years. However, the Finnish national curricula and guidelines for early childhood education give limited support for developing stimulating and goal-oriented educational practice in so called academic fields of knowledge, for example mathematics. This article aims at pointing at some of the prerequisites for working with mathematics in Finnish early childhood education in relation to new research on mathematical development and didactics suitable for early childhood education. Three authentic examples of traditional pre-school activities with toddlers are taken as a starting point for the didactical discussion.


2009 ◽  
Vol 08 (03) ◽  
pp. C01
Author(s):  
Yuri Castelfranchi ◽  
Nico Pitrelli

In the last decades, production of science and technology as well as science-society relationships started changing rapidly. Research is asked to be more effective, fast, accountable, trans-disciplinary, result-oriented, policy-driven and able to generate benefits for people and firms in the short and middle run. While a strong intensification of science-society relationships is occurring, an increasing number of actors and stakeholders are involved in research production. At the same time, pervasiveness of technology is rendering users an active part in technological development; economic and social interests on science and technology are growing on a global scale; new democratic and ethical issues emerge. Despite the European institutions’ efforts, all those trends and phenomena are occurring in an extremely fragmented way. In this scenario, a fairly balanced and consistent co-evolution between science and society can no longer be taken for granted. This is just the starting point of the following comment section that, through the  Luciano d’Andrea, Sally Wyatt, Erik Aarden, Jos Lejten and Peter Sekloča’s writings, aims to analyse the different aspects and questions around the socialisation of science and technology’s matter.


Author(s):  
Katarina Vanek

This research has been set in view of the increasing exposure of children and youth to the media and the challenges of the modern education system. The aim was to establish the existence and representation of extracurricular activities in school curricula aimed at media literacy of students in primary schools in the area of Virovitica-Podravina and Požega-Slavonia Counties in the Republic of Croatia. The data were collected by studying the documentation - analysis of 25 school curricula for the 2020/2021 school year, which are available on websites of the schools. The results are described by the descriptive method and point to the existence of extracurricular activities aimed at media literacy of students, but not in all schools. Such extracurricular activities are more represented in higher grades of primary school (5th -8th grade) and are mostly oriented toward journalism, while in lower grades (1st - 4th grade) the most frequent activities are related to Computer Science or a specific aim set within media literacy education. Finally, this research can be a starting point for other research projects for determining the causal links that led to such results and an incentive to improve educational practice in Croatian schools.


Author(s):  
Eeva Koponen ◽  
Tiia Puputti

Systematic information seeking is an essential part of academic work. Research and information seeking go hand in hand, and both need planning. In the academic world you can hardly avoid the research plan, but you probably won’t hear that much about the information seeking plan. The information seeking plan guides you through the research process from the first sparks of an idea to the last dot in the bibliography from the point of view of the often invisible process of systematic information seeking.Systematic Information Seeking Framework designed in the Jyväskylä University Library has its roots in Carol Kuhlthau's Guided Inquiry Design Process. Our model, designed for more contextual adjustability, is presented in our Library Tutorial (https://koppa.jyu.fi/avoimet/kirjasto/en/library-tutorial), an open self-study material.The process starts with “Defining the topic and finding search terms”. This stage requires extensive reading about the subject matter, understanding the basic differences between everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge and distinguishing information resources for different kinds of needs.Analysis of concepts and understanding of their contextuality are at the core of scientific knowledge. With the information seeking plan and a mind map one can work on the search terms, discover connections and construct search statements for different resources and the search strategies they require.The second section is about “Finding sources”, which students often understand as the starting point for systematic information seeking. Knowledge of the publication cultures in different disciplines guide the information seeker to the different types of sources needed.Finally, “Citing and managing references”. One of the most essential skills in all academic work is the appropriate use of scientific sources, citing and managing references correctly. As academic dishonesty hurts the whole community, academic fraud, e.g. plagiarism, is taken very seriously. Sufficient skills in seeking and managing information are the key to avoiding it.


Author(s):  
MSS EL Namaki

Accreditation of business programs and institutions is a powerful industry in the United States and Europe. The industry has massive followers and holds sway over the fate of many an institution. World wide data are not easily accessible but some figures are indicative of the scale and scope of the industry. It is estimated that there are over 4,000 MBA programs in the US, offered by 454 institutions (AACSB, 2014). A multiple of that exists worldwide. Each and every of those institutions needs accreditation or a confirmation of the conformity of the institutional framework, the conversion process and the ultimate outcome with specific standards. The problem, however, is that the standards and those who measure them, have run out of steam, an issue that attracted many including some US politicians(WSJ, July 8, 2015). The following article explores today’s accreditation practice flaws and the potential for a substitute. The article starts with a brief critique of current practice. This is followed by an analysis of the three conceptual foundations of a substitute: systems thinking, metrics and the balanced score card. This alternative blends those conceptual foundations and suggests a novel accreditation instrument: the Program Accreditation Score card or PAS. The article further explores the tenants of this novel instrument and explores its applied dimensions. The article relies on several works on the issue of the accreditation of management education efforts. It refers to existing approaches practiced by key accreditation market leaders and explores some contextual literature. The article could lead to the introduction of a structural change in the conceptual framework and the operational tools of the management education accreditation industry.


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