Blended learning in higher education: a transition to experiential classrooms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the learning effectiveness and engagement of blended learning tools in a management course of negotiation skills. The study addresses the dilemma brought to light through literature regarding the learning effectiveness of roleplays as a teaching tool in negotiation training. The study compares the impact of traditional roleplays vis-à-vis roleplays fused with blended tools on learner's performance. The endeavour is to investigate the learning effectiveness of traditional tools (roleplay simulation and lecture) vs blended learning tools (flipped classroom, massive open online courses, independent study fused with roleplay simulation).Design/methodology/approachThe current study delves into a negotiation course to conduct experimental research comparing traditional and blended learning tools. The total number of students who participated in this study were 80.FindingsThe findings indicate the improved learning effectiveness of blended learning tools vis-à-vis traditional tools. Generation Z students were more engaged with the use of blended learning tools and enjoyed the experience. The study recommends blended learning tools for educators aiming to transition from traditional learning to interactive learning to create experiential classrooms.Research limitations/implicationsLimited sample size and single group experimentation are some limitations of the study. Some latent flaws in the implementation of roleplay simulations in negotiation training were revealed during the study. The study focuses solely on a negotiations course taught to management students.Practical implicationsThe study would help academic institutes to comply with the pressing need to impart experiential learning in the classroom. The research would act as a bridge between the industry expectations and academia deliverables.Social implicationsThe study would help academic institutes to comply with the pressing need to impart experiential learning through blended learning in the classroom. The research would act as a bridge between the industry expectations and academia deliverables.Originality/valueThe study addresses the dilemma in the literature, which, on the one hand, upholds the learning effectiveness of roleplays as a teaching tool, and on the other hand, suggests that roleplays have lost their applicability due to advancement in students' exposure to technology. The study in itself is unique, as it addresses the need for higher student engagement in the classroom.

Negotiating a Better Future: How Interpersonal Skills Facilitate Intergenerational Investment*

Using a randomized controlled trial, we study whether a negotiation skills training can improve girls’ educational outcomes in a low-resource environment. We find that a negotiation training given to eighth-grade Zambian girls significantly improved educational outcomes over the next three years, and these effects did not fade out. To better understand mechanisms, we estimate the effects of two alternative treatments. Negotiation had much stronger effects than an informational treatment, which had no effect. A treatment designed to have more traditional girls’ empowerment effects had directionally positive but insignificant educational effects. Relative to this treatment, negotiation increased enrollment in higher-quality schooling and had larger effects for high-ability girls. These findings are consistent with a model in which negotiation allows girls to resolve incomplete contracting problems with their parents, yielding increased educational investment for those who experience sufficiently high returns. We provide evidence for this channel through a lab-in-the-field game and follow-up survey with girls and their guardians.

Robotic body weight support enables safe stair negotiation in compliance with basic locomotor principles

Background After a neurological injury, mobility focused rehabilitation programs intensively train walking on treadmills or overground. However, after discharge, quite a few patients are not able to independently negotiate stairs, a real-world task with high physical and psychological demands and a high injury risk. To decrease fall risk and improve patients’ capacity to navigate typical environments, early stair negotiation training can help restore competence and confidence in safe stair negotiation. One way to enable early training in a safe and permissive environment is to unload the patient with a body weight support system. We here investigated if unloaded stair negotiation complies with basic locomotor principles, in terms of enabling performance of a physiological movement pattern with minimal compensation. Methods Seventeen able-bodied participants were unloaded with 0–50% bodyweight during self-paced ascent and descent of a 4-tread staircase. Spatio-temporal parameters, joint ranges of motion, ground reaction forces and myoelectric activity in the main lower limb muscles of participants were compared between unloading levels. Likelihood ratio tests of separated linear mixed models of the investigated outcomes assessed if unloading affects the parameters in general. Subsequent post-hoc testing revealed which levels of unloading differed from unsupported stair negotiation. Results Unloading affected walking velocity, joint ranges of motion, vertical ground reaction force parameters and myoelectric activity in all investigated muscles for stair ascent and descent while step width and single support duration were only affected during ascent. A reduction with increasing levels of body weight support was seen in walking velocity (0.07–0.12 m/s), ranges of motion of the knee and hip (2–10°), vertical ground reaction force peaks (10–70%) and myoelectric activity (17–70%). An increase with unloading was only seen during ascent for ankle range of motion and tibialis anterior activity at substantial unloading. Conclusions Body weight support facilitates stair negotiation by providing safety and support against gravity. Although unloading effects are present in most parameters, up to 30% body weight support these changes are small, and no dysfunctional patterns are introduced. Body weight support therefore fulfills all the necessary requirements for early stair negotiation training.