BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS

RSMT 5001-0LA

FINAL GROUP RESEARCH PROJECT The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of Global

Business Management students towards Online Courses in an effort

to improve its services at Humber College.

SIM GROUP

JEEVAN DISSANAYAKE – N01140935

MUHAMMAD POOKHAN – N01120998

GAJENDRA SINGH – N01129810

DINNA DSOUZA – N01132230

BALJIT KAUR – N01126976

YAGAPEN VINAYEGEN - N01127075

Submitted to: Prof. Candice Warner-Barrow

April 22th, 2016

Executive Summary

The purpose of the research is to analyse the efficiency level of online course in the Global Business

Management (GBM) programme at the Humber College and determine if it is worth continuing in the

future. Since online course is newly introduced at the college and the GBM Group is the first batch to

experience it, we carried a research to evaluate how productive and efficient it is for the students. The

online course is implemented for two specific modules namely Fundamentals of Marketing and

Managerial Accounting & Finance and it is broadcasted through Blackboard via a collaborate platform.

Moreover, students can also follow the course through their smart phones and give them more flexible

time in their learning convenience. The collaborate platform is easy and simple to use, providing the

necessary tools to communicate with the professors and with peers. However, the main issue is the

content of the modules and how it is presented to the students. As mentioned earlier, online course

provides flexibility to the students, they can listen to the recordings at anytime which is more convenient

to part time working students. However, the subject has its drawbacks like health issues, unclear notes,

no individual attention is provided compared to traditional classes.

The objectives of the research are to examine the attitudes of online courses and its impacts in providing

its services to students, to analyse the rate of adaptability of the online courses for the students and

compare them with what a successful online course would have, to determine if the online courses could

be implemented for other programs and to understand the pros and cons of online courses. Furthermore,

we invested much of our time, energy, budget and other resources in both primary and secondary

research. Our primary research was gleaned by distributing questionnaires of open and close ended

questions format to a population of 75 students in the GBM programme. Information provided were

also sourced from observation and asking questions in quite an informal manner to students about their

personal experience and views to the online course. Besides, secondary research information was

derived from the internet, textbooks, newspapers articles and magazines. Both qualitative and

quantitative research technique were used throughout the study. Descriptive research is the type of

research methodology that would be used. Various types of charts have been used to analyse the results

of the survey. The results would then be compared against the variables that would make a successful

online course. Based on information and views gleaned from students, many find the online course

convenient in terms of time, especially those who work. In terms of learning materials

comprehensiveness, there are mixed views and feelings about the course. Many feel that modules such

as Accounting and Finance cannot be taught online as it involves some complex calculations and

requires practical exercises to be done in traditional class and monitored by the professor. On the other

hand, students are more eager to have modules of more theorised nature online.

Table of Contents

Contents Pages

Executive Summary

1.0 Project Background 1

2.0 Purpose of the Research

2.1 Research Problem

2.2 Research Objectives

2

2

2

3.0 Research Methods

3.1 Data Sources

3.2 Research Design

2

2

2

4.0 Results/Findings

4.1 Analysis

3

5.0 Limitations 8

6.0 Recommendations 8

7.0 Conclusions 9

8.0 References 10

Appendices

Appendix A: Effectiveness of online courses 11

Appendix B: Survey Questionnaire Format 14

Appendix C: Budget and Timeline Schedule 17

List of Figures

Figure 1: Enrolment of Global Business Management Students 3

Figure 2: Working while studying Global Business Management 3

Figure 3: International Students vs Local Students 3

Figure 4: First experience with an online course 4

Figure 5: Impact of online courses 4

Figure 6: Use of a matrix to rate the online courses 4

Figure 7: Recommendations to better the online courses 7

Figure 8: Implementation of online courses in the coming semester 8

Figure 9: Favourite aspect of online courses 9

Figure 10: Online courses relation with student’s learning style 10

Figure 11: Performance in the online courses 11

Figure 12: Online courses vs Classroom courses 12

List of Tables

Table 1: Timeline 17

Page | 1

1.0 Project Background

In 2016, online courses have been introduced in the Global Business Management (GBM)

Program in the second semester of a two year Post Graduate Certificate at Humber College.

The reasons for doing this research study was to analyse how the introduction of online courses

have impacted the style of learning for the students. Modules such as Fundamentals of

Marketing and Managerial Accounting & Finance were taught on the Blackboard Humber

website (learn.humber.ca) via a Collaborate Interface. Since this is a new concept that Humber

College has implemented, it was significant to know to examine the attitudes of students

towards online courses and determine whether they were able to adapt themselves to this new

system. Blackboard Mobile Learn, a mobile application for Blackboard users is also available

on ITunes and Google Store which makes it convenient for students to keep up with their

courses by giving access to them wherever and whenever they want. The researchers are actual

students of Global Business Management who have been using online courses in the two

modules mentioned before. It was important to know if this innovation has been helpful to the

students and therefore it can be implemented to other programs as well in the coming semesters.

Also this research has helped to understand the challenges faced by students in using the new

system. This would help to make necessary changes in the existing system before implementing

it in other programs so as to provide a better learning experience to the students.

Many new technologies have been introduced in the education industry all over the world.

These innovation have changed the way of learning in education. Nowadays, there are various

learning management systems that have enhanced the learning style. These provides students

the possibility to use interactive features such as threaded discussion forums, video

conferencing, etc. Nevertheless, it is important to take into consideration the drawbacks that

technology may bring. For example, students may find it difficult to adapt to new technology

and may find themselves isolated in their studies. Health related issues and practical skills

required to effectively use the learning management systems software are other drawbacks that

could be observed.

Page | 2

2.0 Purpose of the Research

2.1 Research Problem

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of Global Business Management students

towards Online Courses in an effort to improve its services at Humber College.

2.2 Research Objectives

The objectives of the research study are as follows:

a) To examine the attitudes of online courses and its impacts in providing its services to

students.

b) To analyse the rate of adaptability of the online courses for the students and compare them

with what a successful online course would have.

c) To determine if the online courses could be implemented for other programs.

d) To understand the pros and cons of online courses.

3.0 Research Methods

3.1 Data Sources

Primary Data

Questionnaires were used to survey 75 GBM students to obtain primary data based on a series

of questions related to their attitudes on online courses. Due to various limitations, only 55

students participated in the survey.

Secondary Data

Internet data, newspaper articles, magazines and the textbook were used to extract information

about the requirements of an ideal online courses, the pros and cons and the types of questions

that could be asked to students to make the research effective.

3.2 Research Design

The survey research method was applied research design. Convenience sampling technique

was used as the GBM students would be easy to reach since they are the only ones who are

actually having online courses this semester. Each respondent was given a questionnaire with

both open and close ended questions which would normally take about 5 to 10 minutes to fill.

Both qualitative and quantitative research technique will be used throughout the study.

Descriptive research is the type of research methodology that would be used. Various types of

charts have been used to analyse the results of the survey. The results would then be compared

against the variables that would make a successful online course.

For a description of what would make a successful online course, see Appendix A.

Page | 3

4.0 Results and Analysis

4.1 Results

The results for each of questions that were asked to the participants during the survey are shown

in the figures below.

Question 1: Enrolment of Global Business Management Students

Figure 1

Question 2: Working while studying Global Business Management at Humber College

Figure 2

Question 3: International Students vs Local Students

Figure 3

100%

0%

Currently Enrolled

Full Time

Part Time

67%

33%

Currently working while studying

Yes

No

0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No

42

13

International Student

Page | 4

Question 4: First experience with an online course

Figure 4

Question 5: Impact of online courses

Figure 5

Question 6: Use of a matrix to rate the online courses

Figure 6

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Yes

No

32

23

FIRST TIME TAKING AN ONLINE COURSE

0

10

20

to a greatextent

somewhat neutral very little not at all

1419

96 7

TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE ONLINE COURSES POSITIVELY AFFECTED YOUR DAILY ROUTINE

WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF ONLINE COURSES

84 3

10

4 57

4

2320

1518

1215

1721

14 13

20

10

23

15 1518

911

15 1513

15 14

9

1

7

2 2 35

2 3

0

5

10

15

20

25

Overall Rating

Not Well at all Mildly Well Fairly Well Quite Well Extremely Well

Page | 5

Question 7: Recommendations to better the online courses

Figure 7

Question 8: Implementation of online courses in the coming semester

Figure 8

Question 9: Favorite aspect of online courses

Figure 9

Detailed Explanation

27%

More time to complete

assignments15%

well organised

27%

pretesting4%

accounts should be in

class16%

no online course

11%

FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE

18%

73%

9%

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ONLINE COURSES SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE COMING

SEMESTER?yes no NA

9

2018

6

2

0

5

10

15

20

25

Like most about online courses

Convenience Flexibility no travelling Nothing Technology

Page | 6

Question 10: Online courses relation with student’s learning style

Figure 10

Question 11: Performance in online courses

Figure 11

Question 12: Online courses vs Classroom courses

Figure 12

For the survey questionnaire format, see Appendix B.

10

18 18

9

0

not well at all mildly well fairly well quite well extremely well

how well do the teaching style of the online courses match your learning style?

Very Bad (1)

Bad (4)

Mediocre (18)

Good (27)

Excellent (5)

online courses18%

classroom courses

82%

What would you prefer out of the two options below?

online courses

classroom courses

Page | 7

4.2 Analysis

The analysis of the results for the survey are as follows.

All the 55 Respondents were Full Time students in Humber.

35 Respondents work Part Time while studying and 18 don’t work.

42 respondents are international students and 13 are domestic students.

32 respondents are taking the online courses for the first time and 13 respondents have

taken the online courses before as well.

Maximum respondents said that the online courses have somewhat affected their daily

routine in a positive way.

On a rating scale of 5 with 1 as the least and 5 as the most, maximum respondents rated

overall satisfaction, learning effectiveness, clarity of the course content, ease of navigation,

professors teaching style, quality and helpfulness of professor’s feedback as 2, and course

length and pace as 3.

40 respondents said that the online courses should not be implemented in the next semester

at all, only 10 said they do not mind having the online courses in the next semester.

Maximum respondents said that these online courses do not match their learning styles.

Respondents like the online courses because it is flexible, convenient, they need not

commute to Humber College.

27 respondents say that their performance is good in online courses and 1 respondent says

it is very bad.

Maximum of the respondents i.e. 45 of them answered that they do not prefer online courses

over classroom courses. Only 10 prefer online courses over classroom courses.

In order to better the online courses, maximum respondents said that the online courses

should be more organized and professors should explain the topics in detail as they would

do it in class.

Page | 8

5.0 Limitations

During the execution of the research, there were various limitations that occurred. They are

described below.

It was difficult to get responses from the other batch of Global Business Management as

the scheduled of their course were different.

Respondents were over loaded with lot of research questionnaire from other students, so

there are chances of this aspect affecting the results.

As a student, we were not experienced in this research field and hence, this was a limiting

factor for us while obtaining accurate information.

Time was a limitation as we have so many assignments, presentations together so we were

not able to invest a lot of time for this research as expected.

Time Constraints - Limited time to complete the research study

Cultural Differences - Respondents are from different countries with different cultural and

educational backgrounds. Hence, they have different views on online courses.

Non-truthful answers – Central tendency effect as students tend to answer most of the

questions on average.

6.0 Recommendations

The majority of the students (67%) are part time workers. They have responded that the online

courses have positively affected their daily routine and also they like online courses because it

is flexible, convenient and they need not commute to college. In that sense, it is recommended

to conduct online courses in coming semesters also.

But on the other hand, over 60% of students are taking the online courses first time. They have

rated the overall course satisfaction, learning effectiveness, clarity of the course content, ease

of navigation, professors teaching style, quality and helpfulness of professor’s feedback as low.

Also they have said that these online courses do not match their learning styles and need to be

more organized and professors should explain the topics in detail.

According to the above facts, students need experience, exposure and much information on

online courses before implementation. So it is recommended conducting some non-credit

online courses in the first year to get the exposure. Also it is recommended conducting more

theoretical subjects such as Organizational Behavior and Business Geography online rather

than applied subjects such as Finance, Marketing or Accounting.

Page | 9

7.0 Conclusions

The research was aimed to study the attitude of the Global Business Management students

towards the online course in an effort to improve its services at Humber College. The survey

helped in acknowledging the respondents’ perception, views, attitudes and level of satisfaction

considering various factors of online course at Humber College. Furthermore, the survey also

helped in finding the expectation of the respondents together with a solution or suggestion for

those needs that a successful course -specially a postgraduate -should have.

Overall most of the students are not satisfied with the effectiveness and clarity of the course.

Even though they are satisfied with their performance most likely due to the fact that small

assignments all together give the respondents a boot on their grades, students participating in

the survey prefer more classroom course over online course, thus instead of making online

courses mandatory it should be optional whether the student wants to take it online or normal

classroom lectures. It is understandable that the technological advancement should take place

in students’ life but not at the cost of self-interest.

Online courses are an important step on this era of globalization because classroom based

course bring limitations when it comes to explore or learn new ideas and share knowledge from

different parts of the world and online learning can solve that limitation. If online courses are

modified in such a way which that leads to a better understanding of the material presented and

the main goal is reached by the participants while fulfilling their expectations it will lead to

better prosper and engagement of the students.

Page | 10

7.0 References

Industry, e. (2011-2016). Learning Management Systems. Retrieved from

http://elearningindustry.com/subjects/elearning-software/learning-management-systems-

lms

ITunes. (2016). Blackboard Mobile Learn™. Retrieved from

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/blackboard-mobile-learn/id376413870?mt=8

Business Research Methods, 9th Edition By WilliamG. Zikmund, Barry J.Babin, Jon C.

Carr, Mitch Griffin

Page | 11

APPENDICES

Appendix A

Effectiveness of online courses

Technology is undoubtedly the most effective tools in our modern society and is rampant in all

nations, domains, industries. Compared to ancient society where people did not have the

adequate resources and expertise to gain knowledge, it is nowadays more prevalent to access

information anywhere and anytime.

Our topic pertains to the effectiveness of online courses and to what extent it is impacting on

the learning process. Firstly, we analysed the pros and the cons of online courses, the best

online course system and compare it to the Global Business Management class at the Humber

College.

Based on secondary data research and observation, there are multiple aspects that makes a good

online course. These are:

1. Student – Friendly pacing

Good and effective online class provides productive time to students in focussing on major

assignments and at the same time avoids the boredom and monotonous atmosphere of a

traditional class. Students who works part time find it more convenient since it does not

clash with their work schedules. Besides the major advantage of online courses is that it

can be viewed and listened over and over again as it is recorded.

2. Sense of community

The best online course are created with community in mind. It allows students to interact

with their instructors during the process and it helps introvert students a great deal to ask

questions that would initially embarrassed them to ask in traditional class. Moreover

communities can be created in various ways and some of them are the off-topic discussions

where students can talk about anything or can ask help to topics pertaining the class.

3. Smart use of Multimedia

One of the major advantage of online courses is that instructors can post videos which make

the topic more interesting and at the same time enhance the learning abilities of students.

Students are able to assimilate the learning objectives by more illustrative measures made

possible via online courses and technology, eliminating boredom and monotonous feeling.

Page | 12

4. Ease of Navigation

The creator of the online course must make sure that the platform is friendly if not familiar

to its users trying to navigate through the course. A good online course is usually revised

and reviewed by outside parties making sure that students work through the platform

without unnecessary confusion.

5. The element of surprise

It is clear that designers of the best courses think outside the box. They avoid giving the

students the same repetitive experiences week after week and wonder them with real

opportunities to advance their thinking and grow as a learner. There’s no prescribed way to

do this – it’s the effort of designers thinking about what works and carefully crafting content

that makes learning meaningful.

Source: Littlefield, J. (2016). What Makes a Good Online Course? Retrieved from

http://distancelearn.about.com/od/distancelearning101/tp/What-Makes-A-Good-

Online-Course.htm

Based on the above examples, we talked about some of the advantages of efficient online class.

Let us now compare those factors which makes a good online course to the GBM online course.

It is to be noted that Humber College has just recently introduced the online courses and the

GBM class is the first batch to experience it. It has two online courses namely Managerial

Accounting & Finance and Fundamentals of Marketing. The blackboard collaborate platform

is used to access online classes.

Conveniences:

Convenient to students working as a part timer

Sessions can be listened afterwards.

All students are already familiar with the Blackboard platform.

Can be accessed through mobile applications

High sense of community

Access to grade records and instructors’ comments

Page | 13

Inconveniences:

Based on observation some courses like accounting and finance cannot be taught online

as it demands heavy financial calculations work and monitoring.

Too many assignments to deal with every week – clashes pacing

Lack of practical solutions from instructors.

Dependant on internet connection

The following is a description of how a student can be successful in an online course according

to the Humber Website – Open Learning Centre.

1. Participate:

Stay in contact with your teacher and your classmates through the discussion board and

other activities. Participation often contributes to your final grade.

2. Know your deadlines:

Most online courses at Humber are NOT self-paced. Look for a critical path or a table

of deadlines when you first login to your course site.

If you feel you can’t meet a deadline, let your teacher know as soon as possible – don’t

wait until the last minute as it is often harder to accommodate your request then.

3. Be patient:

You have access to the course site 24x7, but remember your teacher and classmates are

not sitting at the other end waiting for your email or discussion posting. Give them time

to reply. Usually, you can expect a response within 48 hours or sooner.

4. Be organized:

Manage your time appropriately. As a guideline, you should give yourself about 2-3

hours per week to work through the course content and another 3-4 hours per week to

complete assignments and participate in discussions and online activities.

5. Read

It is very easy to skim information on the web, but it is important that you read through

the material in your course site to ensure a positive learning experience.

Source: College, H. (2016). Open Learning Centre. Retrieved from

http://www.humber.ca/onlinelearning/faq.php

Page | 14

Appendix B

Survey Questionnaire Format

Dear Participant,

The SIM Group, students of Global Business Management at Humber College has designed

this questionnaire for the purpose of a study aimed at examining the attitudes towards online

courses of Global Business Management students who are currently doing two modules namely

Managerial Accounting & Finance and Fundamentals of Marketing in their 2nd semester. The

study is also being carried out to find out how the online courses can improve its services for

the students.

The survey should take a maximum of 10 minutes to complete. The survey is completely

voluntary. If you do not want to participate in the survey you are free to do so and you can opt

out of this survey at any time. It will be assumed that you have demonstrated informed consent

if you respond to any of the survey questions. We thank you for spontaneous cooperation and

collaboration in the survey.

STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY

Your responses will be anonymous and be held strictly confidential and will never be

linked to you. All responses will be used for the sole purpose of this study only and we

guarantee you that there shall be no dissemination of the responses.

Instructions

Do NOT write your name on this questionnaire.

To answer each question, you simply need to tick (√) in the box for the closed-ended

questions and write your opinions in the space provided for the open-ended questions.

If you have any query about the survey, please contact Jeevan Dissanayake at 647-713-0501

or at jeevan527@gmail.com .

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of Global

Business Management students towards Online Courses in an effort to

improve its services at Humber College.

Page | 15

1. In which one of the following are you currently enrolled in Global Business Management?

Full time student

Part time student

2. Are you currently working while studying at Humber College?

Yes

No

3. Are you an international student?

Yes

No

4. Is this your first time taking an online course?

Yes

No

5. To what extent has online courses positively affect your daily routine with the introduction

of online courses?

To a Great Extent

Somewhat

Neutral

Very Little

Not at All

6. How would you rate the online courses based on the following areas?

Very Poor Poor Fair Good Very Good

Overall satisfaction

Learning effectiveness

Course Length & Pace

Clarity of the Course Content

Timely Response of Graded Assignments

Ease of navigation of the collaborate platform

Professor’s Teaching Styles

Quality & Helpfulness of Professor’s Feedback

Page | 16

7. Being the first batch of students in Humber College to experience online courses, following

a pilot testing process what would you recommend to better the online courses?

……………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………

8. Do you believe that online courses should be implemented in the coming semesters?

Yes

No

Not Applicable

9. What do you like the most about the online courses?

……………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………

10. How well do the teaching styles of the online courses match your learning style?

Not well at all

Mildly well

Fairly well

Quite well

Extremely well

11. Where do you stand on this ladder according to your performance in the online courses?

12. What would you prefer out of the two options below?

Online Courses

Classroom Courses

YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE SURVEY.

Thank you very much for your participation.

Page | 17

Appendix C

Budget and Timeline Schedule

Budgeted Cost

The budget of the research study consisted of the costs of stationary items and 75 questionnaire

printouts. The total cost of this survey was around $10.00.

Timeline

The following table shows the dates and number of the days that were taken to complete each

activities of the research.

Activities Date Number of Days

Defining the research objectives 21/02/16 - 27/02/16 7

Planning the research design 28/02/16 - 05/03/16 7

Prepare the questionnaire sample 06/03/16 - 12/03/16 7

Collecting the data 13/03/16 - 26/03/16 14

Analysing the data 27/03/16 - 10/04/16 14

Formulating the final report 10/04/16 – 20/04/16 10

Table 1: Timeline