ERIC Number: EJ1178728
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-May
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2327-5324
EISSN: N/A
The Impact of Web-Assisted Instruction on Student Writing Outcomes in Business Communication
Austin, Traci L.; Sigmar, Lucia S.; Mehta, Gurinder B.; Shirk, Jennifer L.
Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, v20 May 2018
This study investigates the impact of McGraw-Hill's "Connect™ LearnSmartAchieve" ("LSA") on student writing outcomes at a regional AACSB-accredited business school. The authors analyzed a total of 172 student writing samples before and after the introduction of selected "LSA" modules in six junior-level business communication courses from 2015 to 2016. This study targets grammatical, mechanical, and sentence-level errors that employers and educators have identified as potentially damaging to a student's professional image. In 2015, a control group (pre-"LSA") of 85 online and face-to-face students was given standard teacher-led grammar/mechanics instruction in these problematic areas in multiple contexts throughout the semester. In 2016, instructors introduced 87 online and face-to-face students (post-"LSA") to the selected "LSA" modules to be completed within a six-week period early in the semester at the students' own pace and outside the classroom. When comparing the average number of errors in the pre- and post-"LSA" groups, the authors noted statistically significant differences; overall, the average number of most writing errors was lower in the post-"LSA" group. These findings indicate that web-assisted instruction, such as McGraw-Hill's "Connect™ LearnSmartAchieve," can provide students and instructors with a valuable resource for improving writing outcomes in business communication.
Descriptors: Writing Skills, Business Schools, Writing (Composition), Business Communication, Grammar, Error Patterns, Job Skills, Control Groups, Teaching Methods, Online Courses, Conventional Instruction, Pretests Posttests, Statistical Analysis, Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Program Effectiveness, Sentences, Web Based Instruction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A