Kathrin Uedl, MSc. Junior Researcher Institute for Banking and Insurance Industry

1. Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational(part-time) StudentsResults Presentation of a Students‘ Needs Analysis Kathrin Uedl, MSc. Junior Researcher Institute for Banking and Insurance Industry FH JOANNEUM, Graz |Austria

2. CONTENTS Status Quo Results of a Students‘ Needs Analysis SuccessFactors for part-time Students Implementation Discussion Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

3. Also including programmes that finish with e.g. „academic expert“ … I – STATUS QUO • No BA degrees; MBA; certificates … • BA Part-time studies in Austria |Facts & Figures Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

4. I – STATUS QUO Finance, Accounting & Taxation Banking & Finance Controlling, Accounting & Financial Management Tax Management Banking & Insurance Industry • BA Part-time studies in Austria in the field of “Banking/Finance/Taxation” in AUSTRIA Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

5. I – STATUS QUO • Problems with part-time students • Heterogenousgroupof students • Different practicalbackgrounds; • Different educationalrequirements; • Different age groups and furthermore priorities; • In the end: work/family = N° 1 priority; • Tight schedule & use of e-Learning; • Lack of time (learning, preparation); • No work-life-learn balance; • Different attitudes towards “learning” and the importance of “sustainable learning” Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

6. I – STATUS QUO • Results of an Analysis of students‘ priorities • N=110 (students) • Factor-Analysis • 21 factors  reduced to 6 • Exams • Study Performance „light“ • Job & Career • Family • Social Contacts • Friends & Freetime Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

7. I – STATUS QUO Family Exams 1 Social Contacts 2 Job & Career 3 Study Performance „light“ 4 Friends & Freetime • Results of an Analysis of studnets‘ priorities • Frequencies-Analysis Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

8. II – RESULTS „Needs Analysis“ • Research Questions • How do students learn best? (learning type) • How do students organise their learing? (learning style) • When do students learn most? • What expectations do students have concerning the organisation of courses? • What expectations do students have towards teachers? • Does (Could) e-learning contribute to their learning process? • Assumptions • Students arecommunicativelearners; • Students have to be flexible according to job and familyduties; • Students learn in the eveningsand not on fridays/saturdays; • Students prefer less blocked courses; • Students want teachers to be more available; • E-Learning is not used in order to contribute to the students‘ needs; Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

9. II – RESULTS „Needs Analysis“ • Research Method • Paper-Questionnaire among all students of • „Banking and Insurance Industry“ (part-time, BA) & • „Industrial Management“ (part-time, BA) • Complete-count; • Return-rate: 70 %; N=110 (students) • Statistical Analysis with SPSS • Frequencies-Analysis Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

10. II – RESULTS „Needs Analysis“ • Learning-Type • Students are very communicative – also within their learning process; • Discussions in different forms are very popular with part-time students; • In discussions, students combine their knowledge from their work with what they learn in theory; • By experience, we know that our students only built learning groups in specific situations (e.g. final BA-exam); • Students are sensitive to written contents; • Students learn easier when „using“ contents; Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

11. II – RESULTS „Needs Analysis“ • Learning-strategy • Students don’t have a fixed learning schedule; • They have to be flexible and find an appropriatework-life-learn-balance; • 38 % work overtime; • 18 % are on business trips often; • Students are organised learners; • Relevant resources are available for learning; • Additional sources (e.g. books, internet) are used; • Students try to focus on “understanding”than on “memorizing” contents; Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

12. II – RESULTS „Needs Analysis“ • Learning-time Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

13. II – RESULTS „Needs Analysis“ • Course- & TEACHER-Expectation • Students dislike enormously blocked courses; • They prefer courses up to a maximum of 4 lessons/course (= 3 hours); • They have problems concentrating, when courses are planned longer than 3 hours; • Students dislike courses with partial performances; • Students don’t have enough preparation time for courses, exams and so on; • Students prefer a methods-mix within classroom-teaching, like group-working, single-working-tasks, presentations; Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

14. II – RESULTS „Needs Analysis“ • COURSE- & TEACHER-EXPECTATION • It is important for the students that contents refer to their practical knowledge; • Students expect teachers to allow active discussion; • Students are sensitive to group-working tasks; they prefer time that is available within the presence courses and teachers that are available in the meantime; • Students expect feedback from their teachers; Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

15. II – RESULTS „Needs Analysis“ • E-learning & blended learning • 95 % of the students claimed that “Moodle” was only used for up- and downloading of materials; • Students think that “Moodle” can help organising their learning process more flexible; • Students claim that teachers are not available on the platform; • Students claim that the combination of e-Learning and classroom-teaching is not balanced; Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

16. III – SUCESS FACTORS • for fostering students within their learning process • Responding to the student’s learning type and strategy; • Allow for active discussions online & in the classroom; • Increase the availability of teachers; • Use of related practical examples in all courses; • Provide written learning documents; • Provide time- and place independent learning possibilities ( e-Learning); Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

17. III – SUCESS FACTORS • for fostering students within their learning process • Responding to the student’s learning type and strategy; • Increase e-Learning; • External lecturers have to be made aware that e-Learning is a very important part within part-time organised studies; • E-Learning tasks should correspond to the students’ learning times; • Organise block-phases up to a max. of 3 hours/course; • Implement different types of instruction; • Provide feedback whenever necessary/possible; Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

18. IV – IMPLEMENTATION Classroom Online „Moodle“ Difficult contents; Organise easy theory blocks online, e.g. with podcasts; Use different forms of instruction (methods-mix); Feedback-Sessions; Adopt „Moodle“ to the students‘ learning times during the week; Provide enough time for group-working tasks in the classroom; Allow for discussion; Use study-related contents, e.g. industry, banking/insurance and so on; Beingavailable for the students‘ questions; • Considerations for course-planning Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

19. V – DISCUSSION • restrictions • 45 external lecturers vs. 2,5 teachers (degree-programme: Banking and Insurance Industry); • External lecturers don’t have enough time for an appropriate course preparation; • External lecturers are not willing to deal with the platform “Moodle” • External lecturers (mostly) don’t have a pedagogical background; • External lecturers adapt the courses to their schedule and not vice-versa; Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin

20. REFERENCES • Meisel, Klaus (2002): Organisationsforschung, Ergebnissefür die Erwachsenenbildungspraxis, in: Grundlagen der Weiterbildung, Praxishilfen, p. 1-32, Neuwied • Seufert, Sabine (2001): e-Learning, Weiterbildungim Internet, das “Plato-Cookbook” fürinternetbasiertesLernen, Smart Books, Kilchberg • Uedl, Kathrin (2012): Implementation of a blended learning concept at the bachelor-degree-programme Banking and Insurance Industry, Conference Proceedings, Int. Conference on e-Learning, Belgrade, Sept. 27th to 28th 2012 • www.fachhochschulen.at [17.7.2013] Kathrin Uedl | Blended Learning for Extra-Occupational Students | August 2013 | ISBE Conference Berlin