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A Business Simulation Game (BSG) and its ability to enhance learning
... BSGs also aid them in solving problems that may arise in the workplace [14]. In another study in Malaysia, 145 students preferred BSGs to traditional assessments as it improves their ability to assess risks and to think about business strategically [15]. A study in Namibia that implemented online and offline BSGs before and during Covid-19. ...
The use of business simulation games is becoming more prominent as it provides benefits to traditional teaching methods. These benefits involve encouraging experiential learning that allows students to apply theoretical concepts from coursework. However, there is limited literature in large classes at historically disadvantaged institutions. This case study used lecturer reflections and students' performance data from the business simulation game. Purposive sampling was used and the data from 223 third-year, Information Systems students were analysed. To identify lessons learnt, this research examined the initial situation, the intervention process and the final situation of using business simulation games in this context. The intervention process revealed a large amount of lecturer administration time was required. However, findings in the final situation indicated that a business simulation game can successfully be implemented in a large undergraduate class. Students believed that the business simulation game led to the second-highest amount of learning in the course. Male students performed better based on higher average cumulative profit, average cumulative sales and average cash flow. It is important to consider internet access when using business simulation games as an assessment as it may be discriminatory to students who do not have internet access.
... Previous research has focused on the role of educational establishments, how they design the curriculum and how best to embed now-necessary skills such as design thinking, creativity, problem solving, data and digital management, emotional intelligence and the user experience (UX) into academic programs (Ghosh, 2017;Jameson, Carthy, McGuinness, & McSweeney, 2016;Knemeyer, 2015;Stigliani, 2017;Tsaurkubule, 2017). The integration of business-facing activities and industry engagement has been another focus of research, e.g., the evaluation of the use and usefulness of work-based learning (WBL), internships, simulations and games as well as real-world assessments (Galloway, Marks, & Chillas, 2014;Renganathan, Karim & Li, 2012;Turner, Kwong, Beard, & Mulholland, 2018;Vos & Brenan, 2010). Previous research alludes to the underlying debate of responsibility for enabling students who come through the education system to be more employable and involves the main stakeholders, employers, education providers, governments and the students themselves. ...
269 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Using the 'emotional competence framework' developed by Goleman (1998), this research aims to clarify the role that identified antecedents of emotional intelligence play on academics' work performance. Specifically, the research will examine the relationships between self-management, self-awareness, relationship management and social awareness and work performance in higher education. The research comes as a response to the existing literature, which predominantly examines university work performance and employability from a student perspective. This perspective is usually in the context of university-led initiatives and the ability of these initiatives to engender the employability skills students require for a job and the more generic discussion surrounding how prepared graduates feel for a disruptive employment market. Examining academics' perspectives gives some initial insight into the skill sets that academics feel they are developing in the university environment and the role that these skills play in academic performance and ultimately in their contribution to the knowledge economy. In an increasingly competitive market where workers have to compete against each other as well as the technological alternatives to human capital, namely, automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), academic and practitioner assessments of an individual's work-readiness has gathered momentum. A gap in the literature is apparent in the perspectives of individuals who are teaching those employability skills, specifically, whether these individuals feel that those skills that are less easily automatable are being appropriately developed in their skill set. Using a survey with 103 academics from a university in Malaysia, the research addresses an identified gap in the literature around emotional intelligence and the labor market. The research also informs the wider literature on work performance and advances research in the area of employability in the context of the 4th industrial revolution. ABSTRACT J24, I23, E71, F66
... These institutions both reflect a changing employment market, where concepts such as design thinking, creativity, information and communications technology (ICT), problem solving, data and digital management, and the user experience (UX) are becoming the norm (Ghosh, 2017;Jameson et al., 2016;Knemeyer, 2015;Sani, 2017;Stigliani, 2017). These concepts, which reflect the trends in the employment market, compliment some university curricula already focused on increased engagement with business through work-based learning (WBL), internships, simulations and real-world assessments (Galloway et al., 2014;King and Newman, 2009;Renganathan et al., 2012;Turner et al., 2018;Vos and Brennan, 2010). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is, first, to examine student perspectives of their university experience in terms of the soft employability skills they develop; second, how prepared those students feel for the future employment market and finally investigate whether there are differences in perceptions between Chinese and Malaysian students given their different educational experience.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, 361 predominantly Chinese undergraduate students at two universities, one in China and the other in Malaysia completed the 15-item Goldsmiths soft skills inventory using an online survey.
Findings
The results, analysed using factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, indicated that the university curriculum develops student soft skills, particularly in the Malaysian university and supports the relationship between soft skill and student preparedness for employment. The results also indicate that compared with the respondents from the Chinese university, the Malaysian university respondents were more likely to be positive to statements concerning their respective university’s ability to develop their soft skills.
Research limitations/implications
Such findings have implications for education providers and business in that it is important for universities to embed soft skills into the curriculum in order to develop graduate work readiness.
Originality/value
What this research contributes is not only consolidation of existing research in the contemporary context of a disruptive jobs market, it takes research forward through analysing student perceptions from two universities, one in Malaysia and the other in China, of the skills they develop at university and the importance of soft skills to them and their perceptions of future employment and employability. Such research will provide insight, in particular, into the role of education providers, the phenomena of underemployment among graduates in China, and be of practical significance to employers and their perception that graduates lack the necessary soft skills for the workplace (Anonymous, 2017a; Stapleton, 2017; British Council, 2015; Chan, 2015).
This study aims to assess the effectiveness of integrating service learning into the business curriculum of a higher education provider to enhance learners' competencies and reflective learning. Founded on the educational theories of constructivism and social learning, this research consolidates and takes research forward in the understanding of how transforming the business curriculum by integrating service learning through teacher-learner partnerships enhances a students' ability for reflective learning. Using a self-administered questionnaire-based survey with 256 respondents, the data were analysed using variance based PLS-SEM to reveal that service learning had a significant positive influence on reflective learning and on student competency development. The results indicate the positive impact that team-based service learning through teacher-learner partnerships had on the learners' experience. These findings offer some interesting insight for educators, researchers, and policy makers as a means to enhance the learning experience of students in tertiary education in Malaysia.
This study aims to assess the effectiveness of integrating service learning into the business curriculum of a higher education provider to enhance learners' competencies and reflective learning. Founded on the educational theories of constructivism and social learning, this research consolidates and takes research forward in the understanding of how transforming the business curriculum by integrating service learning through teacher-learner partnerships enhances a students' ability for reflective learning. Using a self-administered questionnaire-based survey with 256 respondents, the data were analysed using variance based PLS-SEM to reveal that service learning had a significant positive influence on reflective learning and on student competency development. The results indicate the positive impact that team-based service learning through teacher-learner partnerships had on the learners' experience. These findings offer some interesting insight for educators, researchers, and policy makers as a means to enhance the learning experience of students in tertiary education in Malaysia.
Purpose – The objective of this study was to examine the role of legal learning space in a Malaysian university and how this space impacts on law students’ preparation for the employment market. This study comes in response to the issue of inexperienced graduates, who lack appropriate employability skills for the world of work, commonly referred to as the ‘graduate skills gap’. Methodology – This study used an online survey (accessed via a QR code) on 256 law students at a university in Malaysia. The sample size comprised 213 currently enrolled students and 43 alumni, with the former cohort representing 95% of the total law student population at the university and the latter representing 17% of the total alumni population. Findings – The study found that students, regardless of their year of study, did not consider that legal learning space at the university replicated real life legal practice but thought that the space prepared them for employment. The students felt that some legal learning space was better than others in developing their employability skills. Despite this they enjoyed interacting in the space collectively and felt that it helped them improve their teamwork, communication and soft skills. It also revealed that the perceptions of legal learning space could be improved with better management of staff and student expectations. Significance – This study was one of few studies, which investigated the role of learning space in developing law students’ employability skills set. The findings helped to consolidate existing research in the area of graduate skills gap, the development of graduate employability skills, and in advancing research on identifying students’ perception of learning space and the specific skills students felt they had developed while engaged in this space. This study will be of particular interest to both employers and universities as they seek to manage each other’s expectations and pursue a more practice-based learning curriculum.
Purpose
It is well established that partnerships between universities and community organizations can serve to enhance student learning and employability (Anderson et al., 2011; Arantes do Amaral and Matsusaki, 2017; Jones and Sherr, 2014; Voss et al., 2015). Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to explore how one such partnership has resulted in the successful implementation of three pedagogical methodologies, which individually and collectively promote student-centered learning and employability skills through an experiential learning framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Using this methodological case study approach where the pedagogies of internships, service-learning opportunities, and project-based learning are critically evaluated, the research reveals only positive benefits for students, faculty, and the community organization(s). These benefits center on improved employability skills, the development of social skills and societal contribution for students.
Findings
Participating students also noted the development of their confidence and the importance of feedback from both peers and assigned staff. Members of faculty considered the opportunity for students to put theory into practice, enhanced employability skills and the collective nature of the methodologies as the main benefits with The center echoing the sentiments of other stakeholders. The center considered the workplace preparedness, the development of soft skills and confidence and the collective nature of the methodologies as the main benefits of the partnership.
Originality/value
The insight provided by the research contributes to existing literature through examining the relationship between an academic institution and its community, providing a practical framework and guidelines for the implementation of student-centered pedagogical methods.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth and critical review of the literature and theories on knowledge, knowledge management (KM) as well as the concepts and approaches relating to organizational learning and the knowledge-based economy. The paper also provides more details and definitions of various issues around gamification.
Design/methodology/approach
Several sources have been reviewed and consulted including various mainstream referred journals focusing on KM and gamification as well as books, online databases, governmental reports, and statistics, etc.
Findings
Game-based learning (GBL) in business must align with the learning goals and outcomes of training and development, and clearly demonstrate that learning can be evaluated and achieved. Serious game experiences drive personal change and transformation by generating an attitude of acceptance of the challenge, motivation to achieve, and constant innovation through participant commitments. Simulations push the participant into experiencing an immersive environment. Finally, gamification, as a collection of techniques, may be applied to the educational and workplace activities, or used as a wrapper for GBL, serious games, and simulations.
Research limitations/implications
We are on a unique and unusual path to revitalizing and reinvigorating the educational experience. This new path is not about throwing a LMS at faculty and hoping it sticks. This new path is about creating faculty who are mentors, coaches, and life-long learners who understand the research implications of applying game-based learning in the classroom, as well as the workforce.
Practical implications
Higher educational teaching as well as corporate LTD (Learning, Training, and Development) are being significantly disrupted. The innovation taking place in teaching requires more experiential learning, the kind of learning stimulated with serious games, simulations, immersive learning environments, and gamification. This issue will help to outline disruptive approaches that work.
Originality/value
This paper provides a review of the emerging trends and cases where gamification, simulations, serious games, immersive learning environments, virtual reality, and augmented reality are applied to the deployment of knowledge-based initiatives.