Postgraduate business education and flexible learning strategies: An analysis of customer perspectives

How do postgraduate business students view online learning? What are their views on learning face to face versus through the WEB? These questions are but a sample of those that will be addressed in this paper session. Post graduate business students often carry out their study part time whilst remaining employed on a full time basis. This often requires unit delivery at times that suit their busy work schedules. Flexibility is a key part of providing high quality customer service. Online learning is but one vehicle that can be used to increase this flexibility. Postgraduate students, however, are often reluctant to engage in this type of learning, especially mature age learners who have not studied for several years. One reason for this reluctance is fear of using technology. Another reason is the fear that the loss of class interaction will reduce the educational experience. In this research, over 250 internal, external and potential students associated with the Graduate School of Business, Curtin University of Technology were surveyed. In addition to determining the nature and scope of their Internet competency, students were asked for their views on flexible learning and post graduate business study. These perspectives were associated with age, gender, full or part time study, and place of residence. Students were also asked to determine which mode of study would best suit their learning needs, for example, face to face, Internet, or a mixture of both. Reasons for their choices were obtained through open ended questioning. The results of this survey will be of interest to academic programs that delivery post graduate education, in particular, in a business environment.

The general increase in information technology in our daily lives and the globalisation of business has also meant that Australian Universities have had to become responsive to the use of technology in its planning of educational delivery (Volery and Lord 1999). In a study of Australian Universities it was reported that most are developing infrastructure to support the use of information technology as part of its educational delivery system (McNaught, Phillips et al. 2000).

Software development has reached a level of sophistication where it is now possible to deliver educational material all over the world with the capacity for synchronous and asynchronous collaboration between students and educational facilitators. It would be safe to say, therefore, that the new educational information technology does provide compelling advantages for the higher education sector. This is evidenced by the explosion of online educational delivery all over the world (Meyers 1998; Bacani and Rohlfs 2000). Many well resourced for profit corporations are also moving into the online educational marketplace (Marchese 1998). For example, Microsoft, Lotus and IBM offer management development courses which have enough prestige to make participants consider whether they should pursue similar education within a University context (Marchese 1998).

All of these pressures, therefore, are forcing universities to re-examine how knowledge and information are delivered. Information technology now must be seen as central to the educational process as it can be used to address equity and access issues as well as increase flexibility in learning (Gilbert 1996; Neumann 1998; Rudich 1998; Allen 1999). Knowledge and information have become commodities that can be bought and sold and can now be separated from the traditional pedagogical relationship that existed between teacher and student (Allen 1999). How information technology is going to be integrated into the socio-cultural dimensions of higher education, therefore, is now a larger question facing educators (Allen 1999).

First and foremost, a move to computer mediated learning in a graduate business school must be well planned as it is quite different from the traditional face to face classroom experience (Cyr 1997). Verbal and nonverbal cueing that normally takes place in a classroom is lost in WEB based discussion groups (Hurley-Lawrence 1996; Cyr 1997). This can have an impact on the depth of learning, particularly when the learning content has a socio-emotional component. Dewar (1999), however, states that the loss of verbal and nonverbal cues using text based medium can be replaced by other methods to express this component of human interaction. These arguments illustrate the importance of the social learning context that is central to the learning experience.

In addition to pressures to maintain the quality of CML experiences, graduate business students are also demanding more flexibility in their study plans. The challenge facing business schools then becomes one of mixing modes of delivery that encompass both face to face interaction, which preserves the integrity of the social learning context, and distance learning using the World Wide Web and the Internet, which provides for greater flexibility (Smith 1998; Berger 1999; Bacani and Rohlfs 2000; Gilbert 1996; Volery and Lord 1999). Mixing modes of delivery are particularly important in business education as some subject matter does not lend itself to online delivery, especially courses that are emotionally charged (Meyers 1998).

Awareness of customer needs is important in the move towards more mixed modes of educational delivery. The most common concern expressed by learners is the loss of face to face interaction in the classroom and the perceived implications for educational outcomes (Neumann 1998). This is supported in a review of the literature which reports that computer mediated communication is less rich than face to face teaching (Meisel and Marx 1999).

In contrast, however, Berger (1999) states that the intimacy of dialogue in a WEB environment is much greater because of the anonymity factor which causes learners to be more revealing and participatory. Levinson, 1988 cited in Dewar (1999) also notes that asynchronous communication may produce exchanges of richer intellectual quality than those resulting from immediate face to face dialogue. Rudich (1998) notes that the use of the WEB may also draw out individuals who would not normally participate in a face to face situation.

In terms of educational outcomes, Volery and Lord (1999) note that several studies have not found significant differences in learning when face to face teaching and instruction using electronic media are compared. What appears to be important in ensuring good educational outcome using computer mediated learning is student involvement and self efficacy with the technology.

Other problems associated with the use of WEB based learning include poor access to equipment, inadequate or ambiguous software, inadequate technical support; fragmented planning and poorly structured support services (Gilbert 1996; Rudich 1998; Hara and Kling 1999). All of these influence educational opportunities, especially if they lead to frustration and anxiety in learners.

In light of the issues that have been discussed in relation to CML, the Graduate School of Business (GSB) at Curtin University of Technology carried out some 'market' research. Given moves towards more flexible educational delivery options by the GSB, a survey was administered to all internal (n = 312) and external (n = 98) students enrolled in units during one of the School's trimesters. The survey was also administered to a sample of individuals who had inquired about the School's courses but had not followed up with an enrolment (n = 200). Flexible educational delivery means offering students access to units in a face to face mode, a pure Internet mode, or a combination of face to face and Internet (mixed mode).

The survey sought information about the student's technical literacy, demographics, mixed mode delivery preferences, and concerns about computer mediated learning. The purpose of the survey was to provide the GSB with further information to plan its flexible educational delivery system and to understand the customer base that would be using the system.

Results

The first part of the survey attempted to derive information about the technical literacy of the students. Further, access to equipment and the equipment itself were also of interest. Table 2 provides a summary of the key findings from the survey.

The second part of the survey attempted to derive information on the students preferred strategies for learning, in particular, their preferences for face to face teaching versus computer mediated learning. Table 3 provides a summary of these findings from all respondents.

The next part of the study asked students to comment on issues related to face to face teaching and their own future study. Table 4 summarises these comments.

The next part of the study asked students to comment on issues related to Internet based teaching and learning and their own future study. Table 5 summarises these comments.

The final part of the study asked students to comment on issues related to teaching and learning in a mixed mode environment and their own future study. Table 6 summarises these comments.

Discussion

The student body at GSB tends to be older, ranging in age from 25-40. These students are likely to be studying part time indicating other commitments in their lives. Hence, flexibility would be important to this student market.

The majority of students have access to email and the Internet. However, only 50 per cent are definite about having the correct modem in place (56K) to maximise the CML learning experience. Clearly, students who enrol in programs will need to ensure they have the appropriate systems in place. Identification of this issue prompted specifying the hardware and software requirements on the GSB flexible learning website.

Most students appear to access the Internet from home although 20 per cent do so from their offices. From a systems perspective it suggests that early morning, evenings and weekends will be the busiest times for the system server. Having the capacity to manage this volume is an important technical and support service requirement.

As far as computer literacy is concerned, 75 per cent of students do not find using the Internet difficult. This is reflected in the findings that 78 percent of respondents use the Internet for purposes other than study. This suggests relatively high literacy among students and reduces the need to put programs into place to educate students on how to use the Internet. There is a small percentage of students who experience some difficulty using the Internet and they may need to be directed to resources at the University.

Overall, there is strong support for more CML in the Business School. Ninety per cent of students feel that the Internet is a very helpful/essential tool for their studies. Two thirds of respondents feel that a combination of face to face teaching integrated with the Internet is the most ideal solution to their future study plans. There is mixed consensus about the ability to participate in face to face sessions of 2-4 days duration.

The respondents also echoed many of the concerns that have been raised in the literature. For example, they continued to emphasise the importance of learning within a socio-emotional context with their peers and lecturers, an important issue raised in the literature (Allen 1999; Cyr 1997; Hurley-Lawrence 1996; Neumann 1998). The respondents are also clear in their desire for more flexibility in their study plans because of competing work and lifestyle commitments. This is consistent with trends reported in the literature (Gilbert 1996; Neumann 1998; Rudich 1998; Allen 1999). The respondents saw great value in being able to study at times and places that were more convenient. This is interesting in that over 90 per cent of respondents live within the Perth metropolitan area and are not geographically disadvantaged with respect to being able to attend traditional face to face lectures.

Of particular interest was a tendency for distance education students to prefer the traditional paper based educational delivery mode. If they did support the Internet as a mode of study, they generally were not supportive of any face to face component.

Of the students who inquired about GSB programs but did not enrol, an interesting trend is noted. While there was only a small response rate (12.5 percent of students in this category), 85 per cent of these respondents were specifically interested in modes of study that relied heavily on the Internet for delivery. This suggests that there is an untapped market in the community of individuals who are interested in further study but need more flexible delivery options.

Conclusions

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