Use of problem-based learning in teaching International Business with imported textbooks from developed countries (P.1)
Abstract
The use of textbooks presented the context of developed countries has both advantages and disadvantages for learners and teachers in developing countries. The approach and presentation of content in textbooks of developed countries, especially in the United States, is often different from the approach of Vietnam. Hence, it is logical to apply a more effective teaching method than the traditional approach. PBL therefore was taken into consideration. In International Business course, lecturers and students need to be familiar with many international contents such as modern international trade theories, FDI, managerial issues to overseas workers etc. to solve problems addressed by case studies in the textbook. As a consequence, the use of imported textbooks with PBL implementation would be a very good option as it equips Vietnamese students with the up-to-date knowledge and necessary skills at the same time to adapt quickly with the FDI enterprises’ requirements. In this paper, the authors use the observational and quantitative method on lecturers and learners to test the value of using foreign textbook when implementing PBL. The results show that, compared with the traditional teaching method, the ratio of students who passed are getting higher over time and so does their good score range.
Keywords: problem-based learning (PBL), textbook, International Business.
Type of contribution: research paper.
Globalization and Vietnam's open-door policy have led to significant changes in the development of university curricula (VHNT, 2016), requiring an equivalent change in teaching methods. The internationalization of higher education has contributed to improving the quality, learning experience, and bringing students the new career potentials (Anh, 2017). Universities have innovated their teaching methods ten years ago, such as the University of Posts and Telecommunications Technology, to gradually replace obsolete traditional teaching methods. In this context, it is necessary to Duy Tan University (DTU) looking for more appropriate teaching methods. The change from education philosophy to curriculum, learning materials will contribute to the training of people with global thinking, the ability to cooperate and work in the international environment.
Duy Tan University is one of the leading private universities in Vietnam that has grasped the development trend of society, aiming to train learners to work in the international environment as a mission. In addition to improving the facilities with modern facilities, improving the level of teaching staff, the school has chosen a new way to enhance international cooperation with universities having the high prestige to train a high quality human resources to accelerate the integration process of Vietnam with the world. Duy Tan University has transferred the business administration curriculum with Penn State University on teaching methods and resources for specialized subjects. International Business is one of the subjects transferred to equip learners with the knowledge to join the global labor market in the fastest, least barrier-free way. The approach of the authors is to prepare U.S. students with the knowledge and skills to go abroad to work is not suitable to the conditions in Vietnam - the country receiving mainly investment direct human resources, hire Vietnamese employees to work for foreign companies investing in Vietnam. In fact, the labor productivity and quality in Vietnam is relatively low. Vietnam is short of skilled labors. Labors’ soft skills such as teamwork skills, foreign language, critical thinking, creative thinking, technology compliance are also quite low. Some areas have to hire foreigners. (Trang, 2018) In order to contribute to addressing this limitation, International Business course in the cooperation program has adapted its approach, syllabus with U.S. curriculum, and problem-based learning (PBL) orientation.
In the Business Administration program, the International Business course is usually taught in the 3rd or 4th year. It requires the prerequisites including Principles of Management, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Human Resource Management, Principles of Marketing and Operations Management. This course has two distinct objectives:
(1) Provide knowledge related to international business so that students can apply in the workplace
(2) Perfect students’ professional skills such as communication skills (writing, presentation), creative thinking and critical thinking, teamwork skills, information collection and data processing in the real business environment, especially at FDI firms in Vietnam.
Course content consists of two parts: (1) International business environment such as, inter alia, international trade theory, cultural and political differences between countries, and (2) Specific business activities such as how to enter foreign markets, strategies for foreign markets / international business strategies, and general value chain activities including human resources, marketing, production management, logistic, R & D.
With the amount of knowledge needed to transfer as well as the requirement to meet the course objectives, lecturers need a variety of teaching methods, appropriate assessment methods as well as effective support of the learning system. Among them, textbooks are considered as a standard source of information for a subject and a tool for teaching and learning (Graves, 1999). The use of the available textbooks compiled in a country with advanced modern education will save time and resources for instructors. Moreover, with limited time for each course, if there are enough textbooks, the instructors will ask students to read before class then save time on other activities (Hue, 2017). To maximize the role of the textbook in teaching, it is a must to select the appropriate teaching method. As an evident result, the use of textbooks with PBL is a good option. PBL is a learner-centered teaching method that primarily learners in the real context, assigning tasks and specific issues to the learner for solving. Compared to conventional teaching, PBL encourages students to collaborate in groups and automatically learn to address practical issues that are currently a concern of the business. Through this learning method, students are trained in soft skills such as teamwork, creativity, reasoning, critical thinking, information processing, and the way they respond. Currently, the International Business course is assessed as follows: Final score = test score + practice score = (midterm + final exam) * 50% + (attendance + quiz / case-study + project) * 50%. The final exam consists of two parts: a multiple choice test and a brief questionnaire on case studies written in the textbook, if necessary.
After reviewing the above information, this paper aims to:
1. Check the difference in student achievement in the non-PBL and PBL courses.
2. Demonstrate that the use of learning resources from developed countries applied in the Vietnamese environment needs to adjust the content and select appropriate teaching methods.
3. Demonstrate the choice of teaching methods appropriate to each subject in each type of training program. That is why we conducted a study to answer the question: “Although there have been subjective perceptions of the changes, we are not entirely sure of this approach as it is not yet possible to determine exactly how the new curriculum incorporates American curriculum and PBL methods. Are there significant advances in student achievement in this subject?”
With traditional Business Administration approach, International Business course is taught with a variety of books as it only emphasize on transfer the knowledge from instruction to students. Students must listen to lectures, take notes, and ask questions, read a variety of materials to gather information and knowledge. Nevertheless, this method does not promote the development of skills, talents, aptitude and competitive spirit but merely adds the basic knowledge. Since the 2014-2015 year, the course have been switched to PBL approach: knowledge based on practical problems; students are required to work in groups to discuss, research and solve problems under the guidance of their immediate instructor.
Global Business Today 8th - 10th edition by Charles W. Hill was selected to use as textbook for teaching. Its structure consists of 5 sessions: Introduction to globalization, national differences in political-economic culture, international investment and trade, global monetary system and competition in the global market. Among them, session 2 and 5 are the core content that equips learners with both knowledge and skills to participate in the international labor market. To succeed in working abroad, students need to know the difference in political economy and customs of the country. To survive in the global marketplace, businesses need to choose the right international business strategy, choose a model to enter the foreign market, understand the production, global, logistics, marketing, R&D and Human. Understanding the global economy and demonstrating respect for diversity and cultural differences, therefore, is necessary for all involved in business and careers, regardless of size or type of business or career endeavor. Just like the introductory textbook on the McGraw-Hill website, "Global Business Today appeals instructors looking for an analytical approach to the course” and “Global Business Today is known for being practical, which is an important point as many instructors who teach this course are often not researchers, but come from the business world".
The case studies mentioned in the book are real situations from businesses in the US or other foreign countries investing such as Starbucks and Coffee, Apple and IPhone, Business culture in China, Panasonic and Walmart in Japan, Avon, IBM, GM in China, Phillips Overseas Venture, Boeing, Indian Automotive Industry, Global Marketing of Ford, Lenovo, P & G. etc. Attached to the lecture content at the beginning and end of each chapter. Businesses in these case studies are mostly companies from the United States and other developed countries who have gone abroad to find problems with their destination. At the same time, they have been operating in Vietnam such as Starbucks, Panasonic, IBM, Ford, Phillips and employing a large number of Vietnamese employees. According to the results of the Census of Economics in 2017 of the General Department of Statistics, FDI increased by an average of 15 people / 1 business compared to 2012, while the average employed a business fell from 32 to 27 in which state-owned enterprises and non-state enterprises reduced by 20 persons and 3 persons per enterprise respectively. Therefore, the introduction of PBL implementation in International Business for both traditional Business Administration program and BA-PSU is indispensable.
The origin of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) derives from Don Woods as he teaches his chemistry majors at McMaster University in Canada. However, the term PBL is really well known in the world after the modern method of education is widely used in medical science at McMaster University. PBL-based learning is primarily based on work among small groups.
There are now many different approaches of PBL implementation (Graaff & Kolmos, 2007) such as “a problem a day” approach, developed by the Republic Polytechnic, Singapore, and named as "one-day one-problem Approach" (every day without a problem). With this approach, students spend a whole day researching a problem. After one week, students will study 5 different but related issues; Problem-based Learning or Online - Use the online teaching methods combined with PBL; or Problem-based Learning in Early Years Education.
Aalborg University's PBL model: In the 70s of 20th century, there are two universities established in Denmark: Roskilde University Center in 1972 and Aalborg University in 1974. The following is a one-semester model designed by the PBL method of Aalborg University, Denmark.
50% courses |
Course 5 ECTS |
Course 5 ECTS |
Course 5 ECTS |
50% project |
Project 15 ECTS In groups of up to 8 persons |
Figure 1: PBL model of Aalborg University
Conditions for Implementation: The basic theory of PBL is that the learning process shall be mainly based on small groups, so the prerequisite for organizing PBL classes is that the number of students in the class should not exceed 30 students per class. 30 students / class with a small group size of 4-6 students / group will help the group size not exceed 5 groups, which is more convenient for lecturers during the interaction with the group. (Graaff & Kolmos, 2007)
Stakeholders in teaching by PBL: (Powell, 2003) once said, "The biggest challenge for a university's leadership up to now is to persuade the teaching staff. The student renounces the familiar teaching practices that are being applied daily to invest energy in a new form of education in which many new ways of thinking are realized." One of the principles of PBL is to promote the role of classroom lecturers on the condition that the instructor must be and have experienced the process of learning and cultivating experience from a group of co-workers Innovate teaching methodology according to PBL.
Overview of research related to curriculum and learning materials when implementing PBL: In the field of medical education, many studies have been conducted to explore the influence and relationship between the use of the library and the teaching of PBL to medical students. These studies were scattered between 1992 and 2008. (Rankin, 1992) (Marshall JG, 1993) (EA, 2008). From the author Rankin et al. point out that: "Medical Students in PBL and conventional medical school library and Curricula were compared on library and information-seeking competencies, behaviors, and perceptions. The results showed some significant differences (P less than 0.05) between PBL and conventional curriculum students, suggesting that PBL students were more frequent library users, using information resources that supported the independent learning process, acquired information-seeking skills at an earlier stage in their medical education, and reported greater ease in using these skills." (Rankin, 1992)
For teaching economics students, the 2013 study by Satish Nargundkar et al. shows that by using a modified textbook, compiling from the original curriculum and then developing the PBL teaching, the results achieved against the curriculum for teaching traditional teaching methods is very positive. Specifically, "We found that this approach motivated the students and improved their performance on a departmental final exam by about 9% on average, or almost one letter grade. When measured on Critical Thinking Questions alone, the improvement was roughly 24% on average. Finally, it also improved the task group performance by 6%." (Nargundkar, Samaddar, & Mukhopadhyay, 2013) . Based on the study by Satish Nargundkar et al., Hala ML Enaba et al. suggest that for basic marketing classes, in order to apply PBL to teaching, it is essential to have a revised curriculum ( a reversed book to improve teaching effectiveness. (Enaba, Fouad, & Nargundkar, 2016)
In Asian countries, a study more than 30 years ago in Thailand shows that "textbooks may affect achievement by substituting for additional postsecondary mathematics education of teachers and by providing a more comprehensive curriculum." (Lockheed, Vail, & Fuller, 1986). At Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea, in 2002, another study confirms that Asian students are very dependent on the curriculum during their studies. Specifically, "Students rely heavily on using textbooks during their self-regulated learning. And the elements greatly effecting the learning environment are the physical environment and the use of humor in class. " (Y & S, 2002). In Vietnam, PBL is a research field that is not new but still has few results. Currently, there is no study that has evaluated the effectiveness of use of textbooks from affiliate programs with overseas for undergraduate teaching in Vietnam in general and economics and business administration major in particular.
From there, we come to two following hypothesis:
H1: Vietnamese students studying International Business by American textbooks with PBL method will achieve good results.
H2: The combination between American textbooks, PBL method and relevant assessment methodology will better classify students’ learning outcomes.
(to be continued)
Thien Nguyen Le Giang1, Dat Tran Tuan2 and Ngon Nguyen Thi Tuyen3
1 International School, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam, nguyenlgiangthien@dtu.edu.vn;
2 International School, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam, trantuandat@dtu.edu.vn;
3 Faculty of Business Administration, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam, nguyenttuyenngon@dtu.edu.vn
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