Planning and evaluation of Business English course in compliance with internationalization in Taiwan: A case study of Tainan Women's College of Arts & Technology

In compliance with the economic internationalization movement and the development of Asia-Pacific Regional Operation Center (APROC) in Taiwan, international business has become more and more important. To sustain favorable trade balances every year and the promotion of APROC in Taiwan, more and more talent with knowledge and skills of Business English are needed. As a consequence, it is necessary to make Business English curriculum appropriate to meet the emerging needs.^ Two groups, experimental and control, received the revised or traditional Business English course to answer the question, "Does the Business English curriculum at Tainan Woman's College of Arts & Technology (TWCAT) meet the needs of students?" Ninety-five subjects were randomly selected from the commercial departments at TWCAT and then randomly assigned to the two groups. In addition, the Business English scores of the subjects' previous semester were collected and analyzed to justify the random selection and assignment. The finding was that their initial equivalence was proved.^ A questionnaire for students and another one for the business community were administered to facilitate data collection and analysis. The results of the questionnaires were used to modify the curriculum content of Business English.^ A final-term examination was given to the subjects at the end of the pilot study of Business English in early May of 1998. The resulting scores of the examination were used to determine if there was a significant difference in learning achievement between the students of the two groups.^ Using Independent Samples Test, significant results indicated that the experimental group had higher level of learning Business English than the control group. The finding supports the hypothesis of this study.^ Recommendations based on these results are that the revised curriculum be adapted and used by TWCAT because it better meets student needs. ^

The effect of mastery learning on a course in accounting information system (AIS): A comparison within public and private universities in Taiwan

The Accounting Information System (AIS) is an important course in the Department of Accounting (DoAc) of universities in Taiwan. This course is required for seniors not only because it meets the needs of the profession, but also because it provides continual study for the department's students.^ The scores of The National College and University Joint Entrance Examination (NUEE) show that students with high learning ability are admitted to public universities with high scores, while those with low learning ability are admitted only to private universities. The same situation has been found by the researcher while teaching an AIS course in DoAc of The Public Chun Shin University (CSU) and The Private Chinese Culture University (CCU).^ The purpose of this study was to determine whether low ability students enrolled in private universities in Taiwan in a mastery learning program could attain the same level as high ability students from public universities enrolled in a traditional program. An experimental design was used. The mastery learning method was used to teach three groups of seniors with low learning ability studying in the DoAc at CCU. The traditional method was used to teach the control group which consisted of senior students of DoAc of CSU with high learning ability. As a part of the mastery learning strategy, a formative test, quizzes, and homework were completed by the experimental group only, while the mid-term examination was completed by both groups as part of the course. The dependent variable was the summative test, the final examination. It was completed by both groups upon the course's completion.^ As predicted, there were significant differences between the two groups' results on the pretest. There were no significant differences between the two groups' results on the posttest. These findings support the hypothesis of the study and reveal the effectiveness of mastery learning strategies with low learning ability students. ^

Academic performance of college students in financial management and related prerequisite courses: A comparison of senior high school and commercial high school graduates attending Tamsui Oxford University College in Taiwan

In Taiwan, the college freshmen are recruited graduates of both senior high school and senior vocational school. The Ministry of Education (MOE) of the Republic of China prescribes the standards of curriculum and equipment for schools at all levels and categories. There exists a considerably different curriculum arrangement for senior high schools and vocational high schools in Taiwan at the present time. The present study used a causal-comparative research design to identify the influences of different post-secondary educational background on specialized course performance of college business majors. ^ The students involved in this study were limited to the students of four business-related departments at Tamsui Oxford University College in Taiwan. Students were assigned to comparison groups based on their post-secondary educational background as senior high school graduates and commercial high school graduates. The analysis of this study included a comparison of students' performance on lower level courses and a comparison of students' performance in financial management. The analysis also considered the relationship between the students' performance in financial management and its related prerequisite courses. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) survey was administered to categorize subjects' learning styles and to compare the learning styles between the two groups in this study. The applied statistical methods included t-test, correlation, multiple regression, and Chi-square. ^ The findings of this study indicated that there were significant differences between the commercial high school graduates and the senior high school graduates on academic performances in specialized courses but not in general courses. There were no significant differences in learning styles between the two groups. These findings lead to the conclusion that business majors' academic performance in specialized courses were influenced by their post-secondary educational background. ^

Assessing the effectiveness of two-year banking and insurance technology programs of junior colleges in Taiwan, R.O.C.: An application of the Context Input Process Product (CIPP) evaluation model

The purpose of this descriptive study was to evaluate the banking and insurance technology curriculum at ten junior colleges in Taiwan. The study focused on curriculum, curriculum materials, instruction, support services, student achievement and job performance. Data was collected from a diverse sample of faculty, students, alumni, and employers. ^ Questionnaires on the evaluation of curriculum at technical junior colleges were developed for use in this specific case. Data were collected from the sample described above and analyzed utilizing ANOVA, T-Tests and crosstabulations. Findings are presented which indicate that there is room for improvement in terms of meeting individual students' needs. ^ Using Stufflebeam's CIPP model for curriculum evaluation it was determined that the curriculum was adequate in terms of the knowledge and skills imparted to students. However, students were dissatisfied with the rigidity of the curriculum and the lack of opportunity to satisfy the individual needs of students. Employers were satisfied with both the academic preparation of students and their on the job performance. ^ In sum, the curriculum of the two-year banking and insurance technology programs of junior college in Taiwan was shown to have served adequately preparing a work force to enter businesses. It is now time to look toward the future and adapt the curriculum and instruction for the future needs of the ever evolving high-tech society. ^

Group presence in virtual worlds: Supporting collaborative e-learning

Even though e-learning endeavors have significantly proliferated in recent years, current e-learning technologies provide poor support for group-oriented learning. The now popular virtual world's technologies offer a possible solution. Virtual worlds provide the users with a 3D - computer generated shared space in which they can meet and interact through their virtual representations. Virtual worlds are very successful in developing high levels of engagement, presence and group presence in the users. These elements are also desired in educational settings since they are expected to enhance performance. The goal of this research is to test the hypothesis that a virtual world learning environment provides better support for group-oriented collaborative e-learning than other learning environments, because it facilitates the emergence of group presence. To achieve this, a quasi-experimental study was conducted and data was gathered through the use of various survey instruments and a set of collaborative tasks assigned to the participants. Data was gathered on the dependent variables: Engagement, Group Presence, Individual Presence, Perceived Individual Presence, Perceived Group Presence and Performance. The data was analyzed using the statistical procedures of Factor Analysis, Path Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The study provides support for the hypothesis. The results also show that virtual world learning environments are better than other learning environments in supporting the development of all the dependent variables. It also shows that while only Individual Presence has a significant direct effect on Performance; it is highly correlated with both Engagement and Group Presence. This suggests that these are also important in regards to performance. Developers of e-learning endeavors and educators should incorporate virtual world technologies in their efforts in order to take advantage of the benefit they provide for e-learning group collaboration.

Employee engagement: An examination of antecedent and outcome variables

This nonexperimental, correlational study (N = 283) examined the relation among job fit, affective commitment, psychological climate, discretionary effort, intention to turnover, and employee engagement. An internet-based self-report survey battery of six scales were administered to a heterogeneous sampling of organizations from the fields of service, technology, healthcare, retail, banking, nonprofit, and hospitality. Hypotheses were tested through correlational and hierarchical regression analytic procedures. Job fit, affective commitment, and psychological climate were all significantly related to employee engagement and employee engagement was significantly related to both discretionary effort and intention to turnover. For the discretionary effort model, the hierarchical regression analysis results suggested that the employees who reported experiencing a positive psychological climate were more likely to report higher levels of discretionary effort. As for the intention to turnover model, the hierarchical regression analysis results indicated that affective commitment and employee engagement predicted lower levels of an employee’s intention to turnover. The regression beta weights ranged from to .43 to .78, supporting the theoretical, empirical, and practical relevance of understanding the impact of employee engagement on organizational outcomes. Implications for HRD theory, research, and practice are highlighted as possible strategic leverage points for creating conditions that facilitate the development of employee engagement as a means for improving organizational performance.

Exploring the goals, content, and methods of entrepreneurship professors: A multiple case study

Along with the accumulation of evidence supporting the role of entrepreneurship in economic development (Acs & Armington, 2006; Kuratko, 2005, Reynolds, 2007), governments have persisted in encouraging people to become entrepreneurs (Acs & Stough, 2008; Brannback & Carsrud, 2008). These efforts have tried to reproduce the conditions under which entrepreneurship emerges. One of these conditions is to develop entrepreneurial skills among students and scientists (Fan & Foo, 2004). Entrepreneurship education within higher education has experienced a remarkable expansion in the last 20 years (Green, 2008). To develop entrepreneurial skills among students, scholars have proposed different teaching approaches. However, no clear relationship has been demonstrated between entrepreneurship education, learning outcomes, and business creation (Hostager & Decker, 1999). Despite policy makers demands for more accountability from educational institutions (Klimoski, 2007) and entrepreneurship instructors demands for consistency about what should be taught and how (Maidment, 2009), the appropriate content for entrepreneurship programs remains under constant discussion (Solomon, 2007). Entrepreneurship education is still in its infancy, professors propose diverse teaching goals and radically different teaching methods. This represents an obstacle to development of foundational and consistent curricula across the board (Cone, 2008). Entrepreneurship education is in need of a better conceptualization of the learning outcomes pursued in order to develop consistent curriculum. Many schools do not have enough qualified faculty to meet the growing student demand and a consistent curriculum is needed for faculty development. Entrepreneurship instructors and their teaching practices are of interest because they have a role in producing the entrepreneurs needed to grow the economy. This study was designed to understand instructors’ perspectives and actions related to their teaching. The sample studied consisted of eight college and university entrepreneurship instructors. Cases met predetermined criteria of importance followed maximum variation strategies. Results suggest that teaching content were consistent across participants while different teaching goals were identified: some instructors inspire and develop general skills of students while others envision the creation of a real business as the major outcome of their course. A relationship between methods reported by instructors and their disciplinary background, teaching perspective, and entrepreneurial experience was found.

Database As A Tool For Hospitality Management

In his discussion - Database As A Tool For Hospitality Management - William O'Brien, Assistant Professor, School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University, O’Brien offers at the outset, “Database systems offer sweeping possibilities for better management of information in the hospitality industry. The author discusses what such systems are capable of accomplishing.” The author opens with a bit of background on database system development, which also lends an impression as to the complexion of the rest of the article; uh, it’s a shade technical. “In early 1981, Ashton-Tate introduced dBase 11. It was the first microcomputer database management processor to offer relational capabilities and a user-friendly query system combined with a fast, convenient report writer,” O’Brien informs. “When 16-bit microcomputers such as the IBM PC series were introduced late the following year, more powerful database products followed: dBase 111, Friday!, and Framework. The effect on the entire business community, and the hospitality industry in particular, has been remarkable”, he further offers with his informed outlook. Professor O’Brien offers a few anecdotal situations to illustrate how much a comprehensive data-base system means to a hospitality operation, especially when billing is involved. Although attitudes about computer systems, as well as the systems themselves have changed since this article was written, there is pertinent, fundamental information to be gleaned. In regards to the digression of the personal touch when a customer is engaged with a computer system, O’Brien says, “A modern data processing system should not force an employee to treat valued customers as numbers…” He also cautions, “Any computer system that decreases the availability of the personal touch is simply unacceptable.” In a system’s ability to process information, O’Brien suggests that in the past businesses were so enamored with just having an automated system that they failed to take full advantage of its capabilities. O’Brien says that a lot of savings, in time and money, went un-noticed and/or under-appreciated. Today, everyone has an integrated system, and the wise business manager is the business manager who takes full advantage of all his resources. O’Brien invokes the 80/20 rule, and offers, “…the last 20 percent of results costs 80 percent of the effort. But times have changed. Everyone is automating data management, so that last 20 percent that could be ignored a short time ago represents a significant competitive differential.” The evolution of data systems takes center stage for much of the article; pitfalls also emerge.

The impact of cross -training on team processes and performance

Recently, researchers have begun to investigate the benefits of cross-training teams. It has been hypothesized that cross-training should help improve team processes and team performance (Cannon-Bowers, Salas, Blickensderfer, & Bowers, 1998; Travillian, Volpe, Cannon-Bowers, & Salas, 1993). The current study extends previous research by examining different methods of cross-training (positional clarification and positional modeling) and the impact they have on team process and performance in both more complex and less complex environments. One hundred and thirty-five psychology undergraduates were placed in 45 three-person teams. Participants were randomly assigned to roles within teams. Teams were asked to “fly” a series of missions on a PC-based helicopter flight simulation. ^ Results suggest that cross-training improves team mental model accuracy and similarity. Accuracy of team mental models was found to be a predictor of coordination quality, but similarity of team mental models was not. Neither similarity nor accuracy of team mental models was found to be a predictor of backup behavior (quality and quantity). As expected, both team coordination (quality) and backup behaviors (quantity and quality) were significant predictors of overall team performance. Contrary to expectations, there was no interaction between cross-training and environmental complexity. Results from this study further cross-training research by establishing positional clarification and positional modeling as training strategies for improving team performance. ^

The relationship of managers' self -reported leadership practices and their spirituality

The role of spirituality in leadership in business and other organizations has gained growing recognition. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between spirituality and nine selected transformational leadership practices. Community leaders (N = 138) in business, education, and other professions who were graduates of a 10-week leadership program, Leadership Fort Lauderdale, from 1994 to 2004 completed the Spirituality Assessment Scale (SAS), the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), and four transformational leadership items of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). ^ The predictor variables were participants' scores on the LPI and MLQ. The criterion variable was their score on the SAS. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis: Is there a combination of nine selected transformational leadership practices that would account for a significant portion of the variance of each of two spirituality measures? The Definitive and Correlated dimensions and Total spirituality score of the SAS were used in the analysis. ^ Results showed that two of the LPI leadership practices were significantly related to spirituality. The variable Inspiring a Shared Vision accounted for 10% of the variance of the SAS Definitive dimension. The variable Encouraging the Heart accounted for 30% of the variance of the Correlated dimension. For the Total spirituality score, two models were revealed. In the first model, Encouraging the Heart accounted for 28% of the variance of the total spirituality score. In the second model, Encouraging the Heart and Inspiring a Shared Vision together accounted for 31% of the total spirituality score. None of the transformational leadership practices from the MLQ were significantly related to spirituality. ^ The data partially support the hypothesis: two of the nine leadership variables did in combination correlate with leaders' spirituality. The results also support at least a partial relationship between spirituality and certain transformational leadership practices among leaders in various spheres, such as education, business, and other professions. ^

Recreational Foodservice management: A Delphi study of needed competencies

The purpose of this study was to identify the needed competencies of a Recreational Foodservice manager. A three round Delphi method of iteration was used. Delphi is a research method that utilizes iterating rounds to elicit the opinion of a panel of experts regarding a specific subject.^ A nominating committee of 22 industry leaders was consulted to establish a panel of 40 management experts, of which 35 (87.5%) completed all three rounds of the Delphi study.^ Round One of the study identified 17 specific job functions of a Recreational Foodservice manager. The researcher prepared an instrument detailing 60 competencies derived from an analysis of Round One results and distributed it as a Round Two instrument requesting the panel opinion regarding the relative importance of each listed competency on a five point Likert scale.^ The results of Round Two were tabulated and analyzed to ascertain areas of consensus. A Round Three instrument was prepared advising panelists of all areas of consensus, their dissenting opinions, if any, and a request for a revised opinion.^ A final report was prepared listing the 60 competencies and the panel opinion that eight were of highest priority, 29 of above average priority, and 23 of average priority. No item received two other available ratings, below average priority and lowest priority.^ The implications of these findings suggest necessary areas of curriculum development and industry management development to implement professionalism for Recreational Foodservice managers. ^

The Central Agency for Jewish Education: Fifty years of Jewish education in Dade County

The purpose of the study was to provide a historical record of the Bureau of Jewish Education/Central Agency for Jewish Education and its role in Jewish education in Miami since its inception in 1944 as well as to provide a sociological context within which to view the growth and development of the community. During the past 50 years of the Agency's existence, Dade County's Jewish population has undergone many changes including a huge population increase in the 1960s and 1970s and then a decrease in the 1980s and 1990s, and a shift from postwar business class of store owners to turn of the century professional class.^ The methodology used in this study was threefold. First, document analysis of formal and informal documents dating from 1944 to the present was conducted. Second, personal interviews were conducted with the Executive Directors of the B.J.E./C.A.J.E., long-time B.J.E./C.A.J.E. staff, present staff, Greater Miami Jewish Federation leaders, and lay leadership of C.A.J.E. Third, national trends in Jewish education were cited as a basis for the comparison and contrast of the achievements of C.A.J.E.^ The historiography concluded that the Agency had come full circle in its programs. Analysis of the services provided to religious and day schools, early childhood education, the High Schools, teacher services, adult education, and the library indicated that in some areas C.A.J.E. was an innovator, in other areas it followed national trends, and in others it was deficient. Recommendations included a reeducative process for the community with Jewish education made top priority, more visibility and publicity for the work of C.A.J.E. that would enhance its prestige and improve support, and holistic planning of programs for the future. ^

The impact of bandwidth in structured interviewing and criterion stability in predicting and assessing manager performance across transition and maintenance stages

The current study examined the role of three important components in the use of structured employment interviewing in performance prediction: construct bandwidth, observed communication skill, and the stability/dynamicity of performance criteria over time. A matched sample of 242 hospitality managers was derived from a field data set provided by a large hospitality management organization. Interview data and two years of performance appraisal data were provided. Bandwidth analysis demonstrated only minimal differences in prediction between matched predictor-criterion pairs compared with predictor to overall aggregate ratings (unmatched). The communication skill analysis revealed that this interviewer rated observation significantly predicted a number of the individual performance dimensions as well as overall performance over time. Of the five interview items, the strongest overall predictor of performance was interviewer rated communication skill. The stability/dynamicity analyses demonstrated the performance criteria to be generally stable over the two year period examined, which provides support for the long held notion that performance criteria is stabile over time. However, there were two exceptions. The interview dimension customer service orientation had shifting relationships over time with four of the criteria over the two year period. The performance criteria employee development also demonstrated some instability in its relationships with predictors. Thus, some evidence of dynamicity in performance criteria was revealed. Interestingly, both of the most noteworthy findings in the study involved items that were rated differently than the others in the study. The rated interview item communication skill and the rated performance criteria client satisfaction were ratings that involved a more direct level of observation. Additional analyses also revealed evidence of a general factor of performance. These two themes are more fully covered in the discussion.