Evaluation of a blended learning approach for cross-cultural entrepreneurial education (original) (raw)

THE FACTORS INDUCING UNDERGRADUATE ENTREPRENEUR SATISFACTION TOWARDS BLENDED LEARNING FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN SRI LANKA: A CASE STUDY AT UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO INSTITUTE FOR AGRO-TECHNOLOGY AND RURAL SCIENCES

Tropical Agricultural Research & Extension, 2024

Blended learning has become increasingly important in higher education, especially in the context of entrepreneurship education in Sri Lanka. Despite its relative novelty in the country's higher education context, this study explores into its impact on undergraduate entrepreneurs' satisfaction with blended learning at the University of Colombo Institute for Agro-Technology and Rural Sciences. This research seeks to identify the key determinants of satisfaction and improve the quality of blended learning experiences for undergraduate entrepreneurs at the institute, contributing to the ongoing advancement of entrepreneurship education in Sri Lanka. The study covers the entire population (204) of undergraduate entrepreneurs pursuing bachelor's degrees in Agro-Technology, ensuring a comprehensive perspective. To gather insights, a pre-tested questionnaire incorporating socioeconomic information along with dimensions such as the learner, instructor, course, technology, design, environmental, and opportunity were used, and respondents were instructed to select the most an appropriate answer on the Likert scale, which ranges from strongly agree to strongly disagree, to express their views. The study's results showed that in the blended learning context, dimensions such as the instructor, course, design, environmental, and opportunity were positively and significantly correlated with the satisfaction levels of undergraduate entrepreneurs. In contrast, the learner and technology dimensions did not demonstrate a significant correlation with satisfaction. Policymakers should be aware of these features and prioritise the improvement of Sri Lanka's higher education system, with a particular emphasis on entrepreneurial development.

Blended learning in entrepreneurship education in the Asia-Pacific: a grounded theory approach to entrepreneurship pedagogy

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2018

This theoretical article is devoted to the creation of Blended Learning Model [BLM] which aims at providing a learning environment for enriching entrepreneurial skills among women. Product Development process has been employed for developing BLM. Self-instructional strategies are also applied to design the learning situation in the BLM. Face to face and online mode of learning are effectively blended in the BLM which includes 70% learning through online and only 30% happens in face to face mode. There is a scientific course alignment that has been established in different aspects of the BLM such as the aims & objectives, commitments of learner, content and context, learning outcomes and human interactions, interactions with content, scenarios based learning for creating contextual learning environment, etc. Self-governed learning activities have been developed for the purpose of effective learning. Maximum teaching-learning activities were carried out through a computer-mediated on...

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Education Sciences, 2019

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Asian Journal of Social Sciences Humanities, 2013

This paper explores the intercultural learning experience of the participants who followed the 'eLearning development and implementation (eLDI) Asia 2011' blended online course, conducted by the university of Philippines open university in collaboration with the deutsche gesellschaft für internationale zusammenarbeit (giz) Germany. The course was conducted within 250 study hours (200 hours online and 50 hours of face to face) having six modules covering almost all aspects of the e-learning course development. During the online phase learners were supported by an array of expert online tutors from Asia, under the guidance of two umbrella tutors. They facilitated learning using different kinds of interactions, such as synchronous, asynchronous communication tools and web 2 social networks. There were collaborative activities, individual activities and educational games to further support the learners in comprehending and constructing knowledge. The participants of the program are educational specialists and training experts from seven different countries in Asia

Blended Learning: An Appropriate Strategy for the Future Development of an Established International Distance Learning Course

2004

This paper outlines the experiences of the MSc Construction Management [CMDL] programme team at the University of Bath, UK in devising an effective strategy for the future development of an established distance learning programme. The term 'blended learning' in our case represents the combining of IT-based (Web and CD-ROM) delivery and problem-based learning [PBL] strategies with an existing paperbased programme of study. The paper starts by outlining the pedagogical reasons for adopting a blended learning approach and then evaluates the driving forces external to the pure pedagogical aspects that have influenced the developmental ideas. Particular focus in the paper is also given to a discussion on how the courses two emerging markets (Southern Africa and China) are going to be accommodated by the blended learning approach. The paper presents a case study which should be of interest to others running distance learning courses. It acts as an illustration of how distance learning courses need to change and adapt in a rapidly evolving global education market.

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The International Journal of Management Education, 2012

This paper evaluates the design and implementation of a UK university's global blended learning MBA programme which combines e-learning with face-to-face teaching. The primary aim of the research was to investigate the learning experience and perceptions of the students, and to use the findings to evaluate the effectiveness of the course design and delivery system. Action research was used, with longitudinal data collected over a threeyear period (2008)(2009)(2010). Three survey rounds were conducted focussing on Oman, one of the UK University's main overseas learning collaborating centres. The three rounds yielded 116 valid responses in total. The first survey showed a fairly high level of student satisfaction with the programme but also indicated areas that needed further improvement. The impacts of subsequent changes in the programme were investigated in the second and third surveys. Feedback from these helped develop further changes in the learning content and delivery approach of the programme. The study contributes to a better understanding of global blended learning initiatives, and offers insights to managers on improving course management, enriching learning content, enhancing teaching quality, and improving students' satisfaction levels.

The pains and gains of blended learning – social constructivist perspectives

Education + Training, 2014

Purpose– Using the case of a cross-cultural setting, the purpose of this paper is to compare perceptions of students towards face-to-face learning and blended learning. A social constructivist perspective is used which implies that cultural data are in fact social constructs made on the basis of the participants’ own cultural thought patterns and the concepts and categories to which they are socialised within learning organisations. This paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– Perceptual evidence forms the primary qualitative and quantitative data for this study. The paper uses social constructivist approach with empirical data in developing the notion that cross-cultural management is a process whereby people, through social interactions, acquire participative competence for working in cross-cultural settings.Findings– Perceptual data emerging from this study point out that considering the learning objectives of a cross-cultural context are paramount when en...

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Research in Learning Technology, 2011

Adoption of blended learning is a complex process for higher education institutions and academic staff. Although the move towards blended learning is generally instigated at institutional level, factors determining its success and minimising resistance of faculty often emerge at delivery level. This paper explores adoption of blended learning practices in a Business School at a university in the United Kingdom. Based on the interviews with a purposive sample of 16 academic staff members delivering 36 business modules, this case study explores the concept of blended learning from the academic staff's perspective. A typology of three distinct approaches to blended learning-'Technology is all', 'Bolt-ons' and 'Purely pedagogic'emerged from the data extending understanding of blended learning practices. A team of three researchers conducted the study. Two of the researchers were academic staff members from the Business School and one researcher was an academic staff member from another faculty within the same university.