Undergraduate perceptions of the knowledge, skills and competencies required of today’s practicing marketer

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Carter ◽  
Amy Chu-May Yeo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how students in a Malaysian context, as a result of their experience of a Higher Education Institution (HEI) undergraduate teaching and learning experience in the subject of Marketing, perceive the knowledge, skills and competencies required of a practicing marketer and, conversely, what curriculum developers need to do if there is a “shortfall”. Design/methodology/approach Based on a total sample of a UG student population from an Accountancy, Finance and Business Faculty, the primarily descriptive, positivist, cross-sectional study used inferential statistics to measure the relationship between the four components of marketing knowledge, skills and competencies (the marketing mix, performance, social and emotional competencies, and responsible decision making). Findings Quantitative results revealed that all student perceptions of the requirements to be a “fit for purpose” marketer were highly correlated with requirements from the literature, subject benchmarks and practice with few exemptions. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on one institution. Moreover, knowledge, skills and competency requirements by students’ level of study and practitioner experience may vary by type of HEI, organisation and geographic location. Practical implications Recommendations are made for curriculum development to address both employability and career development, particularly in terms of interdisciplinary co-operation and the teaching and learning of concepts. Originality/value Using the student perceptions of the requirements for being a practicing marketer, HEIs can adjust/add to their curriculum by comparing these to documented sources from academia and practice and by making any necessary adjustments by course of study.

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 366-380
Author(s):  
Christopher White ◽  
Tim Fry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to assess participant satisfaction of a teaching and learning experience. Additionally, the way innate psychological needs influence the satisfaction formation process will be examined. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional, quantitative approach was chosen and path analysis and t-tests were used to analyze the data. Findings – Satisfaction is formed by two related constructs, emotions and perception of quality, and together explained 53 percent of the variance in satisfaction. Higher levels of psychological need fulfillment were shown to positively influence emotions and quality perceptions and indirectly influence satisfaction judgements. Practical implications – These findings have relevance for education and training providers. First, they provide a comprehensive way for educationists to manage and measure satisfaction. Originality/value – Many teaching and learning evaluations are based on quality judgement and single measure of satisfaction. This study shows the important role positive and negative emotions play in determining satisfaction judgements. Additionally, and for the first time, the influence of different levels of psychological need fulfillment on satisfaction has been reported.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  

Background: The use of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) is on the rise among today’s college students. Instructors are beginning to consider the possible significance and implications of social media for education practice and provision; making it a target for further research. Aims: To know the patterns of usage and the perceived positive and negative effects of SNSs on students’ education. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Sharjah using the Quota sampling method to enroll first to third year students in the colleges of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy. Self-administered questionnaires were completed. Data was processed and analyzed using SPSS 22. Results: A total of 350 students (74% females and 26% males) participated in the study. YouTube ranked top as the SNS used most for educational purposes (52.7%), while Facebook was top choice for non-educational purposes (45.2%). Smartphones were most used to access SNSs (80.3%), which explains why 69.1% had SNSs always running on their devices. Videos (55.3%) and photos (24.3%) were the most preferred media for educational enhancement. Of our total sample, 92.2% thought that SNSs are helpful in studying mainly due to fast access to information (78.6%), easy communication (69.2%) and aiding colleague socialization (45%). Those who disagreed (8%) said that it wastes time (66.7%) and that the information is not always authentic (33.5%). Conclusion: Many students now depend greatly on SNSs to enhance their learning experience, as they believe that their positive effect on education overweights the negative. Thus, we suggest implementing SNSs in the educational process to a greater extent.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 586-609
Author(s):  
Rajasshrie Pillai ◽  
Brijesh Sivathanu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the online learning experience (LE) of massive open online courses (MOOCs) among the students in India using the lens of community of inquiry (CoI) model and two additional contextual factors. Design/methodology/approach The study conducted a survey using a structured questionnaire among the undergraduate and postgraduate students to examine the LE of MOOCs using the CoI framework and contextual variables – technical barrier (TB) and hedonic motivation (HD). The primary data were analyzed with the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique. Findings The results show that teaching presence (TP) influences cognitive presence (CP) and social presence (SP). SP influences CP. It is also found that TP, SP and CP influence the LE of MOOCs. It is found that TB negatively influences LE but is not significant and HD significantly influences LE positively for MOOCs. Research limitations/implications This study has a few limitations as it is a cross-sectional study in India, which surveyed undergraduate and postgraduate MOOCs learners, and caution needs to be taken while generalizing the outcomes. Further studies can be conducted across other countries considering demographic factors like age, gender, income groups, education and profession. Practical implications This research highlights the antecedents influencing the LE of MOOC learners using the CoI framework which will help the MOOC designers and marketers to apprehend the factors influencing LE. The results of this research will help them formulate suitable strategies in the design and delivery of MOOCs to improve the LE of learners. Originality/value This unique research investigates and empirically validates the CoI framework to understand LE of MOOC learners in India. This research extends the CoI framework by adding contextual factors – TB and HD in the context of a developing country.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Bongomin ◽  
Ronald Olum ◽  
Lydia Nakiyingi ◽  
Lalitha Rejani ◽  
Isaac Ssinabulya ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to impose a significant impact on medical education. We aimed to describe the clinical learning experience of undergraduate medical students undertaking internal medicine clerkship during the COVID-19 pandemic at Makerere University, Uganda.MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional study among medical students in clinical years of study pursuing the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery undergraduate degree program was conducted in November 2020. Only 3rd (junior clerks) and 5th (senior clerks) year medical students whose internal medicine clerkships were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic were studied.ResultsData of 188 (95%) eligible clinical year students; junior (101, 54.0%) and senior (86, 46.0%) were analysed. Median age was 24 (range: 22-42) years. Majority (70.1%) were male and Ugandan nationals (94.1%). Sixty-four (30.3%) students reported inadequate personal protective equipment, 152 (81.7%) felt at risk of contracting COVID-19, and 127 (67.9%) said it was difficult to observe COVID-19 standard operating procedures. Twenty-two students (11.9%) were discouraged from pursuing a career in internal medicine. Overall, most students reported good or excellent clinical experience pre-COVID-19 era compared to during the COVID-19 era (4.0 vs. 3.5, p<0.0001). Senior clerks significantly believed that the time allocated for the rotation was adequate (p<0.0001) and they were able to complete their study objectives (p<0.001), compared to the junior clerks. Senior clerks believed that learning was difficult when combined with junior clerks (p=0.013). About half of the students (51.4%, n=95) reported clinical teaching should remain as it was in the pre-COVID-19 era.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a significantly negative effect on the clinical learning experience of the students. There is need to review the current teaching and learning methods to suit teaching and learning during pandemics of highly infectious diseases to ensure safe and effective learning experience.HighlightsNearly half of the medical students reported a negative clinical learning experience during their internal medicine clerkship in the COVID-19 pandemic.Over two-thirds of the participants expressed that it was difficult to observe COVID-19 prevention standard operating procedures during their clinical rotations.Over 80% of the medical students felt at risk of contracting COVID-19 during their clinical rotation.About one-third of the medical students reported inadequacy in personal protective equipment like masks during their rotation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanka Beniwal ◽  
Chandrakala Singh

Aging is a series of processes that begin with life and continue throughout the lifecycle. It represents the closing period in the lifespan, a time when the individual looks back on life, lives on past accomplishments and begins to finish off his life course. It represents the accumulation of changes in person over time. The study aims to investigate the health status of senior citizens. The present study was carried out in Hisar and Sirsa district of Haryana state. A total of 400 elderly equally representing both males and females of age group 65-70 years were selected randomly for the study. Modified inventory developed by Khan and Lal (2011) was used to assess health status of senior citizens. The results of the study elucidated that health status of senior citizens depicted that 54.25 per cent of the total respondents had average health status followed by good (25.25%) and poor health status (20.50%). The most common health problems reported by the senior citizens were joint pains, back pains, blood pressure, and chest pain etc. Gender wise comparison of total sample further pointed out that females were poor in their health against males.


Author(s):  
B J Erasmus ◽  
A Grobler ◽  
M Van Niekerk

Talent retention and employee turnover are major concerns for higher education institutions (HEIs) because they are losing highly qualified staff to the private sector and to other HEIs that are able to offer better rewards and benefits. The turnover of talented staff is therefore a major concern for the institution under investigation. The retention and voluntary turnover decisions among a workforce of 4 651 employees was thus investigated. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted by means of the objective analysis of organisational data in combination with the structured questionnaire (organisational climate survey). Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to analyse the data across demographic groups, including age, employment category (academic as well as professional and support), etc. The results indicated that the institution’s turnover rate was acceptable (4.34%) and that dysfunctional turnover was marginal because employees with below-standard performance ratings had voluntarily resigned. Positive correlations and significant beta (b) values were reported between Organisational citizenship, Leadership, My manager and Compensation and the employees’ intent to stay in or to leave the organisation. These organisational climate factors were found to explain approximately 30 per cent of the variance in the employees’ intent to stay in or to leave the organisation. The article recommends that a talent retention tool be developed. In addition, it contributes to the literature on retention and turnover of high-performing employees, as it underscores the importance of measuring employee turnover


2019 ◽  
pp. 55-62
Author(s):  
Vuong Diem Khanh Doan ◽  
Ngoc Minh Chau Ho ◽  
Thi Van Ngo ◽  
Thi Bao Nga Phan ◽  
Thi Hong Phan Nguyen

Background: Vietnam is entering the stage of aging population; as a result, the quality of life (QOL) of the elderly is really a matter of concern. There is a great deal of research on the quality of life of the elderly while Vietnam witnesses a lack of research on this topic, especially on how physical and social activities have impact on QOL of the elderly. Objectives: (1) To describe the situation of participation in physical, social activities and QOL of the elderly residing in Truong An Ward, Hue city. (2) To examine the association between physical, social activities and QOL among participants. Methodology: This study used cross-sectional study design. A total sample of 420 people aged 60 and above in Truong An Ward, Hue city were interviewd. The SF36 was used to measure the QOL of participants. Results: Percentage of the elderly taking part in physical activity were 66%. 49% reported having the habit of taking part in social activities. The majority of the elderly get their QOL level in three health fields, namely physical, mental and general health at above average. (56.0, 60.7 and 60.8 respectively). There were significant associations between physical activities, social activities and QOL among participants. Conclusion: The percentage of the elderly taking part in physical and social activities were still low. Besides, QOL of the elderly at the research location was not really high. It’s important to encourage the elderly taking part in physical and social activities to improve their quality of life. Key words: Physical activities, social activities, QOL, the elderly


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 995
Author(s):  
Israa M. Shatwan ◽  
Eiman A. Alhinai ◽  
Balqees Alawadhi ◽  
Shelini Surendran ◽  
Najlaa M. Aljefree ◽  
...  

The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is considered as a good example of a healthy dietary pattern that has protective effects on obesity. The aim of the present study was to assess the adherence of adults from three Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait) to the MedDiet and its association with obesity risk. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 961 men and women (75.7%) aged 20–55 years old. Waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) were measured waist/hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) were calculated. A validated 14-item Questionnaire was used to measure adherence to MedDiet. The mean of the adherence to MedDiet score was 5.9 ± 2.03 for the total sample. An inverse association was observed between the adherence to MedDiet and BMI after adjusting for potential confounders (p = 0.0003 in total participants, and p = 0.001 in women only). A protective effect was seen with a higher adherence to the MedDiet on HC, suggesting that a greater adherence to the MedDiet was associated with a decreased HC (p = 0.04 in total participants, and p = 0.01 in women only). In conclusion, low adherence to the MedDiet among participants from three gulf countries was associated with increased obesity indicators, BMI, and HC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Boff Costa ◽  
Michele Soares Gomes Gouvêa ◽  
Samira Chuffi ◽  
Gustavo Hirata Dellavia ◽  
Felipe Ornel ◽  
...  

AbstractThe prevalence of anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies has a high heterogeneity worldwide. South American data are still scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HEV in populations at risk in comparison to blood donors (BD). A cross-sectional study was carried out in adults of different risk populations including crack users (CK), residents in a low income area (LIA), cirrhotic (CIR) and liver transplant patients (LT) compared with BD. The WANTAI HEV ELISA test was used and real-time PCR (in-house for screening and ALTONA as confirmatory test) for HEV RNA screening. A total of 400 participants were included. Anti-HEV IgG was positive in 19.5% of the total sample, reaching the highest rate in the CIR group, 22.5%, followed by CK, LT, and LIA (20%, 18.7%, and 17.5%, respectively). The prevalence found in BD individuals was of 18.7% (p = NS). Anti-HEV IgM was positive in only 1.5% of the sample (6/400). No blood or stools samples were positive for HEV RNA. The seroprevalence reported is among the highest rates ever found in Brazil. Considering the intense diagnostic investigation, data show that HEV circulation is more common that might be expected in our country.


Author(s):  
Marga Decraene ◽  
Vera Verbestel ◽  
Greet Cardon ◽  
Violeta Iotova ◽  
Berthold Koletzko ◽  
...  

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) published 24 h movement behavior guidelines for preschoolers with recommendations for physical activity (PA), screen time (ST), and sleep. The present study investigated the proportion of preschoolers complying with these guidelines (on a total week, weekdays and weekend days), and the associations with adiposity. This cross-sectional study included 2468 preschoolers (mean age: 4.75 years; 41.9% boys) from six European countries. The associations were investigated in the total sample and in girls and boys separately. PA was objectively assessed by step counts/day. Parent-reported questionnaires provided ST and sleep duration data. Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the association between guideline compliance and adiposity indicators, i.e., body mass index (BMI) z-score and waist to height ratio (WHR). Only 10.1% of the preschoolers complied with the 24 h movement behavior guidelines, 69.2% with the sleep duration guideline, 39.8% with the ST guideline and 32.7% with the PA guideline. No association was found between guideline compliance with all three movement behaviors and adiposity. However, associations were found for isolated weekday screen time (BMI z-scores and WHR: p = 0.04) and weekend day sleep duration (BMI z-scores and WHR: p = 0.03) guideline compliance with both lower adiposity indicators. The latter association for sleep duration was also found in girls separately (BMI z-scores: p = 0.02; WHR: p = 0.03), but not in boys. Longitudinal studies, including intervention studies, are needed to increase preschoolers’ guideline compliance and to gain more insight into the manifestation of adiposity in children and its association with 24 h movement behaviors from a young age onwards.


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