Designing an online business communication course in English by responding to student needs through an evidence-based approach

Communication skills are essential for the employability and academic success of business graduates. These skills are either embedded in undergraduate business management courses or taught in a separate course. Designing an English communication course for business management students is reported wi...

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Main Author: Shrestha Prithvi N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2021-08-01
Series:Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/jccall-2021-2003
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author Shrestha Prithvi N.
author_facet Shrestha Prithvi N.
author_sort Shrestha Prithvi N.
collection DOAJ
description Communication skills are essential for the employability and academic success of business graduates. These skills are either embedded in undergraduate business management courses or taught in a separate course. Designing an English communication course for business management students is reported widely in the literature. However, research on such courses for distance education is scarce despite their increasing demand for distance courses due to an increasing globalisation of higher education and workplaces. This paper reports on the evidence-based design of an award-winning online business communication course in English which responded to changing needs of distance business management students at The Open University, UK. It draws on student needs analysis data (student surveys, online forum posts, industry skills survey reports and a content analysis of business management courses and assignments) and course evaluation surveys to investigate how the online course addressed student needs in terms of course content, teaching and learning and assessment. It argues that student needs analysis is paramount for any new course design and online delivery because the success of a course relies on meeting student needs. The paper has implications for business communication course design and business communication teachers.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2748-3479
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publishDate 2021-08-01
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series Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning
spelling doaj-art-c99b5c8dca4c4f84acaaeebc1f9a90922025-01-20T11:08:49ZengDe GruyterJournal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning2748-34792021-08-0111477910.1515/jccall-2021-2003Designing an online business communication course in English by responding to student needs through an evidence-based approachShrestha Prithvi N.0School of Languages and Applied Linguistics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UKCommunication skills are essential for the employability and academic success of business graduates. These skills are either embedded in undergraduate business management courses or taught in a separate course. Designing an English communication course for business management students is reported widely in the literature. However, research on such courses for distance education is scarce despite their increasing demand for distance courses due to an increasing globalisation of higher education and workplaces. This paper reports on the evidence-based design of an award-winning online business communication course in English which responded to changing needs of distance business management students at The Open University, UK. It draws on student needs analysis data (student surveys, online forum posts, industry skills survey reports and a content analysis of business management courses and assignments) and course evaluation surveys to investigate how the online course addressed student needs in terms of course content, teaching and learning and assessment. It argues that student needs analysis is paramount for any new course design and online delivery because the success of a course relies on meeting student needs. The paper has implications for business communication course design and business communication teachers.https://doi.org/10.1515/jccall-2021-2003assessment strategybusiness communication in englishcourse designevidence-based approachneeds analysisopen and distance education
spellingShingle Shrestha Prithvi N.
Designing an online business communication course in English by responding to student needs through an evidence-based approach
Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning
assessment strategy
business communication in english
course design
evidence-based approach
needs analysis
open and distance education
title Designing an online business communication course in English by responding to student needs through an evidence-based approach
title_full Designing an online business communication course in English by responding to student needs through an evidence-based approach
title_fullStr Designing an online business communication course in English by responding to student needs through an evidence-based approach
title_full_unstemmed Designing an online business communication course in English by responding to student needs through an evidence-based approach
title_short Designing an online business communication course in English by responding to student needs through an evidence-based approach
title_sort designing an online business communication course in english by responding to student needs through an evidence based approach
topic assessment strategy
business communication in english
course design
evidence-based approach
needs analysis
open and distance education
url https://doi.org/10.1515/jccall-2021-2003
work_keys_str_mv AT shresthaprithvin designinganonlinebusinesscommunicationcourseinenglishbyrespondingtostudentneedsthroughanevidencebasedapproach