Feeding the 500:  Using blended learning activities to improve the first year learning experience at Manchester Business School (MBS)

John Hynes & Jody McGurkUniversity of Manchester Library1

University of Manchester Library• Supports student base of over

40,000.

• Made up of 7 different divisions.

• Teaching Learning & Students division responsible for supporting student development.

• My Learning Essentials blended support programme developed since major restructure in 2012.

Online resources

So where does Blackboard fit in?

student feedback academic feedback

is there sufficient need?is it appropriate for online delivery?

new resource created

most popular workshops

How are the online resources doing?

This academic year:

Over 43,000 hits

Around 18% coming from Blackboard

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/collaborate/support/priorities/

Manchester Business School540 First year undergraduate Students

59 Nationalities

Range of educational backgrounds

A foundation for studying Management at university

Academic and study skills

Introduction to management

disciplines

Managerial and professional

skills

First year curriculum

https://www.flickr.com/photos/14167917@N07/1441618013

Academic / Library Partnership to deliver on two core courses

Academic and Career Development

Case Studies in Management

The Essay

Develop academic writing skills

Understand the role of citations and referencing

in academic writing

Learn how to build an academic argument

Know how to research and access library

resources

Do men make better managers than women?

Acad

emic

and

Car

eer D

evel

opm

ent

The Pitch and Proposal

Collect, analyse and interpret business data

Work independently and collectively to ensure the

delivery of business-focused outputs.

Apply, critically, tools and techniques to analyse a

business situation

Develop and justify recommendations based on

appropriate research.

Assess the feasibility of opening a new hotel

Case

Stu

dies

in M

anag

emen

t

How to feed the 500?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/benchilada/5124073078/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rage.jpg

Finding the right blend…

Learning through research - MBS

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scoobymoo/22565509/

The blend

Week 4: QA Clinic (Librarian)

The lecture

"David Brent 111" by The Office (UK TV series). Via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:David_Brent_111.jpg#mediaviewer/File:David_Brent_111.jpg

Do men make better managers than women?

"David Moyes MUFC 2013" by Jon Candy from Cardiff, Wales - DSC05469Uploaded by Dudek1337. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:David_Moyes_MUFC_2013.jpg#mediaviewer/File:David_Moyes_MUFC_2013.jpg

"Genève Indoors 2014 - 20140114 - Roy Hodgson" by Clément Bucco-Lechat - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gen%C3%A8ve_Indoors_2014_-_20140114_-_Roy_Hodgson.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Gen%C3%A8ve_Indoors_2014_-_20140114_-_Roy_Hodgson.jpg

“Do men make better managers than

women?”What are the key words or phrases

in this question?

“Do men make better managers than

women?”What are the key words or phrases

in this question?

Men / Women:

• Male / Female• Masculine / Feminine

• Gender• Gender roles

Managers:

• Manager / Executive / Leader

• Management / Leadership• Management styles

(autocratic, democratic etc)

Key Phrases

• Emotional intelligence• “glass ceiling”

content owner feedback

academic feedback

is there sufficient to tailor need?

new resource created

new tailored resource

how many students will have access to it

Bespoke online resources

Workshops

7500 hits via VLE

Case

Stu

dies

in M

anag

emen

t En

try p

oint

to E

-ess

entia

ls vi

a VL

E

Survey results

302 responses

Preferred Learning Mode

Which of the following modes of learning do you prefer?

Base Size: All students 302

8%

19%

73%

OnlineLectureMixed

Which of the following modes of learning do you prefer?

Base Size: UK students (124) International students (178)

Online Lecture-based Mixture of both0

20

40

60

80

100

824

67

721

77

UK Students International Students

%

Why do students prefer a mixture of online and lecture modes of learning?

Base Size: All students 302

Why do students prefer a mixture of online and lecture modes of learning?

Base Size: All students who prefer mixture of online and lectures (221)

Spontaneous mention of… %

Having a variety of learning modes makes learning more interesting 10%

Online resources enable me to study in my own time / pace 10%

Lectures allow me to ask questions about things I don’t understand 10%

They provide different information 8%

People have different learning styles 8%

I like the opportunity to work independently 7%

A combination of online learning and lectures reinforces the information 7%

Lectures provide extra depth 5%

Feedback on the Lecture

Base Size: UK students (124) International students (178)

Delivered in an ef -fective manner and held my attention

Aims were clear Relevant to my programme

Useful and will benefit my studies

0102030405060708090

100

7889 92 90

7988 89 89

UK Students International Students

Total Agree (strongly agree and agree)

Feedback on the Online Resources

Base Size: UK students (124) International students (178)

Delivered in an ef -fective manner and held my attention

Aims were clear Relevant to my programme

Useful and will benefit my studies

0102030405060708090

100

7791 90 92

8593 90 93

UK Students International Students

Total Agree (strongly agree and agree)

Overall Learning Experience

Base Size: UK students (124) International students (178)

Good learning expe-rience

I have been encouraged to develop my skills

which will be useful for my future career

Relevant to my programme

Useful and will benefit my studies

0102030405060708090

100

77 7988 9389 89 93 94

UK Students International Students

Total Agree (strongly agree and agree)

.

What are the best aspects of this learning experience?

Spontaneous mention of… %

Showed me where to find information and resources

12

clear / easy to use 12

Helped me with my essay writing 7

Study at my own pace / in my own time 6

Interactive 6

Base Size: All students 302

How could this learning process be improved?

Spontaneous mention of… %

Group / peer learning / seminar 3

Audio to go alongside online resources 4

Too slow 3

More examples 2

Base Size: All students 302

“Our courses wouldn’t be half as good without the input from the library, and student engagement

with library resources wouldn’t be half as good if they weren’t

integrated into academic courses”.

John Pal: Senior Lecturer in Retailing

Manchester Business School