Background
a.
Personal Experience
Prior to shifting to being completely online due to COVID, we each experienced virtual learning
to some capacity. We had online courses, or hybrid courses, in which virtual learning was
integrated. As the effects of COVID began, virtual learning and working became even more
prominent. Ultimately leading to job positions and internships being completely online as well.
b. Observations
One initial factor that we realized immediately was that with virtual learning comes a lot of
responsibility and time management. It’s much easier to forget assignments, or put things off,
due to intangibles. Moreover, interaction with professors and classmates proves to be more
difficult, and more of an effort. It requires us to adapt to change, as well as establish more
technological skills. For example, most of us students are at home, with family members and in
different environments, which can prove to be more difficult due to the lack of an organized
“classroom environment” (Hammond, Lightfoot, Ray, Thomas, 2020). Although some have
argued in person learning is more effective, 95.6% of students from Tashkent State University of
Economics for example, said that online learning or distance learning has actually been quite a
positive experience, because it’s allowed students to learn anywhere at any time (Sultanova &
Nigmatova, 2020).
Introduction
Management 110, a core class in the California State University, Fresno, has recently adapted to
providing its teachings in an online environment. Although faculty are doing their best to provide
quality education, there are multiple issues that need to be addressed and resolved to improve the
quality of class and learning experiences.
a.
Statement of the problem
The two main problems currently requiring more attention include, improving the peer
evaluation system and the teaching of virtual skills and useful platforms.
b. Thesis
To absolve these issues, we must improve interaction and organization throughout the course and
to improve the peer evaluation system we recommend setting appropriate criteria and clear
concise expectations of the process, and a detailed rubric that is easy to follow that is.
Body Section One
a.
Introduce Problem #1: Teaching Virtual Skills and Useful Platforms
The lack of virtual skills and useful platforms can either make or break an organization. The lack
of peer interaction and motivation all contribute to an inadequate learning environment. By
implementing new platforms to address these issues, communication, interactive skills, selfmotivation, and time management will all become much more developed and result in a more
successful virtual learning platform.
b. Explain why this a problem and its effects
i.Who is affected by it
Students may be suffering the most in a virtual environment. There are a number of potential
drawbacks students are facing while participating in an online course.
•
•
Lack of peer interaction
o “Literature suggests that a strong and active social life on campus can be “used to
explain both high persistence and learning satisfaction” (Rovai, et al., 2005, p.4)
amongst learners, thus leading one to believe that the lower persistence rates of
online courses are caused by a lack of community and social connectedness in an
online learning environment.” (Gilbert, 2015).
o “The social and emotional aspects of learning is as important as the technical
information taught to students” (Donlevy, 2003)
Set of skills needed to improve peer interaction: communication and interactive skills
•
•
Lack of Motivation
o “Students must also be capable of evaluating the motivating factors that will
contribute to the continuance of momentum for the duration of the course”
(Gilbert, 2015)
o Students lacking motivation can easily lose sight of their goals
o “Students who lacked independence and self-motivation overall had lower
success rates than their counterparts” (Savenye, 2005).
Set of skills needed to improve student motivation: Time management and self discipline
c. Recommendation to Problem #1:
To improve the critical skills relating to function in a virtual environment, we must improve
communication and interaction throughout the course in order to motivate and create effective
time management habits within the student. By using virtual reality through apps and/or a VR
headset, each student could improve their interactive and communication skills while also
improving their ability to manage time better and self motivate themselves in their new
immersive environment.
i.Why we will implement
The implementation of virtual reality will allow students to interact directly with their subject.
Interacting with the subject matter is very important to retaining the material. “On an average,
the brain is capable of remembering 10% of what students read, 20% of what they hear and about
90% of what is being done or stimulated” (Prakash, 2019). Studies have shown that this direct
interaction that virtual reality provides has shown to be a great way to improve upon and practice
skills such as communication and collaboration as well. According to EdTech magazine, a
“project called Virtual reality Opportunities to Integrate Social Skills (VOISS) created a series of
virtual situations for students with high-functioning autism to learn how to work, talk and
collaborate with their peers in various school settings, giving students the freedom to evolve their
soft skills in a safe environment” (Zimmerman, 2019). This project can easily be applied to a
classroom setting and allow students to improve said skills; specifically communication and
interactive skills. Virtual reality can also allow students to improve their self-motivation and time
management skills by allowing them to focus on their work. According to Naveen Joshi, “
attention spans of children born in the age of digital technology are decreasing rapidly. The
brains of young children are constantly exposed to stimulation due to smartphones, social media,
and the internet” and adds “AR and VR technology can make lectures and books more
immersive and interactive, which can reduce distraction” (Zimmerman, 2019). A decrease in
distraction among students is bound to help them manage their workload and increase their
overall motivation for school. Students can focus directly on their material and shut out the
outside world that would normally leave many unable to complete the work at hand. The
implementation of virtual reality ultimately will allow students to better improve their timemanagement and self-discipline skills.
Body Section Two
a.
Introduce Problem #2: Improving the Peer Evaluation System
The peer evaluation system, flawed by giving free-riders full credit for not doing low to no work
on a project, is in need of improvement. Having an effective evaluation system is important for
influencing equal distribution of work and group duties. Students generally thought that an
effective outcome of peer evaluations is when it’s used to determine peers’ grades and reduce
uneven workload (Chen & Lou, 2010).
a.
Explain why this a problem and its effects
Peer review is evident, because it is a learning process for the students to get critique and get
feedback from other classmates. However, it allows students to engage in providing constructive
criticism. Cornell University states peer evaluation helps with self-learning and students are able
to help each other (Cornell University, 2020). The problem underlies with some students who do
not fully engage in the peer evaluation system. As a result, students are affected because they are
unable to receive the same type of feedback as they should be. Some students find discomfort in
having another student see their work (Armstrong and Bound, 1983).
b. Who is affected by it
Many students are affected by this situation due to having poor peer evaluation members that
aren’t as devoted to fixing and trying to improve their work.
c. Recommendation to Problem #2:
Providing clear and effective ways to improve the work on the individual and offer suggestions
will prevent mis interpretations. Coincidentally, when students' grades are tied directly to how
they are scored in their evaluation, students tend to put more effort. The only cost on improving
the structure of the peer evaluation system is having set criteria and clear expectations of the
process, and a detailed rubric that is easy to follow that is concise (Schankman, 2015). To make
the rubric more concise would be to include a context, organization, material, and then rate the
performance of each task from one through a scale out of five.
c. How we will implement
Using sources like Google Forms or Qualtronics makes the peer evaluation process more
efficient. It allows all of the students to connect with each other and it’s easier to keep track of
what needs to be done.
Conclusion
Our recommendations are both cost effective and with the correct implementation MGT 110 will
see an improvement in virtual skills and will significantly improve the peer review process.
Reference Page
Chaney E. G. (2001). Web-based instruction in a Rural High School: A Collaborative Inquiry into Its
Effectiveness and Desirability. NASSP Bulletin, 85(628), 20-35.
Duarte, D. L., & Snyder, N. T. (2006). Mastering virtual teams: Strategies, tools, and techniques that
succeed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gilbert, Brittany, "Online Learning Revealing the Benefits and Challenges" (2015). Education Masters.
Paper 303.
https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1304&context=education_ETD_masters
G. Peer evaluation - Teaching improvement guide. (n.d.). Google Sites.
https://sites.google.com/a/uwlax.edu/teaching-improvement-guide/improvementstrategies/assessing-learning/i-peer-evaluation
Hammond, T., Lightfoot, R., Ray, S., & Thomas, S. (2020, June 22).Creating and Implementing an
Online Course Etiquette Appreciative Agreement: Recommendations and Insights
for
Updating Course Material and Social Expectations to Aid in the Transition to Online
Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Retrieved from
https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/188237
Prakash, V. (2019, January 09). 8 Ways To Enhance The Learning Process In Online Education.
Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/learning-process-in-online-education-8-waysenhance
Peer assessment in problem-based learning: A qualitative study. (2006, October 28).
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10459-005-5046-6#citeas
Peer review of teaching. (n.d.). Welcome | Center for Teaching Innovation.
https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/assessment-evaluation/peer-review-teaching
Savenye, W.C. (2005). Improving Online Courses: What is Interaction and Why Use It?
(Undetermined). Distance Learning, 2(6), 22-28.
Sultanova, D. & Nigmatova, D. (2020, July). The Needs of Implementing Distance Learning In Higher
Education. Retrieved from: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-needs-of-implementing-distancelearning-in-higher-education-the-case-of-uzbekistan-as-an-example
Thomson, L. D. (2010). Beyond the Classroom Walls: Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives on How
Online Learning Can Meet the Needs of Gifted Students. Journal of Advanced Academics, 21(4),
662-712.
Yining Chen & Hao Lou (2004) Students' Perceptions of Peer Evaluation: An Expectancy Perspective,
Journal of Education for Business, 79:5, 275-282, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.79.5.275-282
Zimmerman, E. (2019, June 05). AR/VR in K–12: Schools Use Immersive Technology for Assistive
Learning. Retrieved from https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2019/08/arvr-k-12-schoolsuse-immersive-technology-assistive-learning-perfcon
MGT 110 Virtual
Final Case Rubric
Use of Benchmarking
(20)
Weak (72 or less)
Useful benchmarking but
examples are not present.
Very little detail, logic
Detail, Logic, & Feasibility of demonstrates a
misunderstanding of the
Recommendations
issues, and recommendations
(25)
are not realistic or able to be
implemented.
Presentation Quality &
Technology
(15)
Timing
(5)
Application of Course
Materials
(25)
References / Support
(10)
Moderate (73-81%)
Some benchmarking used, but
application or connection not
made clear.
Some level of detail,
recommendations are
generally supported with clear,
sound reasoning, and
recommendations can
potentially be implemented.
Poor presentation. Speaker
reads or speaks in monotone.
Speaker speaks too fast or
cannot be understood. Poor
quality audio. Visual aids have
errors or are distracting and
low quality.
Satisfactory presentation
containing no major errors.
However, minor issues may be
present (e.g., distracting
speech, not well rehearsed,
audio or video could be
improved).
Presentation not within the
required 6-7 minutes in length.
Presentation was within the
required 6-7 minutes in length
but was “dragged out” or
“rushed” to fit the time.
Research from the course was
connected and applied to the
case to support
recommendations.
Research from the course was
lacking or not well connected
to the case material.
Lacks a minimum of five
quality references cited within
the project.
5-8 quality references are cited
and used within the project.
Strong (82-100%)
Multiple benchmarks used to
clearly illustrate responses.
Statements supported with
adequate detail,
recommendations are always
supported with clear, sound
reasoning, and
recommendations can be
implemented.
High quality presentation
(audio & video). Speakers are
well-rehearsed, polished, and
professional.
Presentation was within the
required 6-7 minutes in length
and had an appropriate pace
Research from course (and
external resources) was
connected and applied to the
case to support
recommendations.
9+ quality references are
utilized and cited in APA style.
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