Research

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Browsing Research by Department "Management"
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    Balancing online teaching activities: Strategies for optimizing efficiency and effectiveness
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2015-03-15) Raffo, Deana M ; Fisher, Lawanna S. ; Brinthaupt. Thomas M. ; Raffo, Deana M. ; Management
    Increased demands in professional expectations have required online faculty to learn how to balance multiple roles in an open-ended, changing, and relatively unstructured job. In this paper, we argue that being strategic about one's balance of the various facets of online teaching will improve one's teaching efficiency and effectiveness. We discuss the balancing issues associated with four key online teaching facets: course design/development, delivery of the course content, assessments/feedback, and professional development. We conclude with a template for a strategic professional development plan that addresses these key facets
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    Best practices for using conditional release in online classes
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2011) Gardner, Justin G. ; Fisher, Lawanna S. ; Brinthaupt. Thomas M. ; Raffo, Deana M. ; Management
    With advances in online course delivery methods, teachers have a variety of options to control the release of course content based on specific criteria. Despite the availability of such conditional release tools, no best practice recommendations are available to guide the implementation of these tools. In this paper, we define the concept of conditional release, review relevant literature, report a series of case descriptions and lessons learned from courses where conditional release was used, and generate a list of best practices for use of conditional release. These recommendations provide teachers and course designers with guidance regarding the use of conditional release tools. Implications for course design, delivery, and research using these tools are also discussed.
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    Blogging as a reflective tool for leadership development: An exploratory study of a leadership practicum grounded in the relational leadership model
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2012-10-01) Raffo, Deana M. ; Management
    Objective: The purpose of this research is to examine blogging as an instructional technique to develop an understanding of relational leadership through the lens of a leadership practicum. This research contributes to the literature in leadership education, specifically to experiential learning and reflective thinking in an online environment. Background: It is grounded in Komives, Lucas, and McMahon (1998) Relational Leadership Model (RLM) which is a framework for college students to understand leadership as a process of understanding self and others. Method: Blogs from 74 students enrolled in a leadership practicum at a large, comprehensive, southeastern university were analyzed using a holistic rubric to determine students capacity to understand the elements of the RLM. Results: Results revealed that students were able to analyze all five elements on a competent level. Conclusion: Blogging was found to be a useful, reflective thinking tool. Application: Recommendations are made to enhance the self-reflection process in leadership education.
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    Conditional release of course materials: Assessing best practice recommendations
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2014-06) Raffo, Deana M. ; Gardner, Justin G. ; Fisher, Lawanna S. ; Brinthaupt. Thomas M. ; Management
    With advances in learning management systems and online course delivery methods, teachers have a variety of options to control the release of course content based on specific criteria. Despite the availability of such conditional release tools, very little research has assessed student perceptions and experiences with these tools. In a 2011 article, Gardner, Fisher, Raffo, and Brinthaupt put forward a number of best practice recommendations to guide the implementation of conditional release tools. This paper reports on the authors' evaluation of several of those recommendations through a survey of undergraduate student perceptions of the use of conditional release in their courses. The results of the study provide support for the recommendations, with students reporting positive evaluations of and experiences with the conditional release tool. In addition, students with lower overall grades reported being more engaged in the courses compared to those with higher overall grades. Implications of these results for the strategic use of conditional release of course content are presented.
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    Gender, conflict, and workplace bullying: Is civility policy the silver bullet?
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013) Raffo, Deana M ; Management
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    Inspiring the civil revolution: The role of bullying education and experiential learning
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2015) Raffo, Deana M. ; Gilbert, Jacqueline A. ; Management
    The authors explore service-learning as a pedagogy to promote bullying prevention within schools. Specifically, they explain the preparatory experiences necessary for students in an undergraduate Experiential Learning Principles of Management course to interface with high school freshmen and the reciprocal impact that students at both levels had upon one another. Information on classroom instruction to create bullying awareness is provided to assist educators considering this partnership and to showcase positive learning experiences (along with areas that could have benefited from a different approach). The article concludes with implications for course restructuring to expand on civility and educational outreach.
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    Leadership practices of students enrolled in a leadership theories course
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2011-01) Raffo, Deana M ; Pender, Alexis ; Management
    This research investigated the student leadership practices of undergraduates enrolled in a leadership theories course at a large, regional university using Kouzes and Posners (1998) Student Leadership Practices Inventory (SLPI). Students enrolled in the course scored higher in all five categories of exemplary leadership practices than the SLPI normative data. Furthermore, leadership studies minors scored higher than non-leadership minors in two categories, inspiring a shared vision and enabling others to act. Results indicate that there are differences in leadership characteristics between students who minor in leadership or take a leadership course as compared to students in leadership roles. It is recommended that as curricular leadership programs continue to grow and expand, these programs take student leadership characteristics into account in course development to create more effective programs to address students needs.
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    Strategic responses of non-profit organizations to the economic crisis: Examining through the lenses of resource dependency and resourced-based view theories
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-01) Raffo, Deana M. ; Clark, Leigh Anne ; Arik, Murat ; Management
    This study examines strategies used by the nonprofit sector in response to the 2008 economic crisis. Drawing on resource dependency and resource-based view theories as frameworks for analysis, we explore the impact the use of numerous strategies on nonprofit organizational performance during this time. We analyzed 280 surveys from the Nashville MSA where nonprofits reported on their strategic response to the economic crisis. Survey items were used to calculate human resource capacity, levels of resource dependency, firm performance, and a visibility index. Findings indicated that nonprofits that had fewer funding sources were more likely to have a lower level of strategic response. However, a website presence and visibility of a board of directors were significantly related to a nonprofit reporting that its resources stayed the same or increased. Experience in the market and firm size did not appear to be significant predictors of the strategic response level. Implications of the findings for how nonprofits can position themselves with the best strategic responses during an economic crisis and recommendations for future research are discussed.
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    Teaching followership in leadership education.
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013) Raffo, Deana M. ; Management
    This paper provides leadership educators with a resource for teaching followership. It presents a lesson for teaching students about followership in contemporary society by including key concepts and follower characteristics followed by class activities and assignments designed to engage students in active learning and self-reflective processes. A dose of whimsy enhances this lesson with the use of a YouTube video that eloquently and humorously illustrates the crucial role followers play in organizational life.
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    TED Talks and leadership education: Ideas worth sharing: Ideas worth sharing
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016) Raffo, Deana M. ; Management
    TED Talks are short videos of experts talking about a variety of topics. This paper outlines six TED Talks that connect with the leadership literature and topics commonly taught with an explanation of how they enhance teaching about a corresponding leadership topic. The researcher shares how introducing TED talks related to leadership can stimulate critical thinking about leadership while keeping the class interesting.
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    What the best online teachers should do
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2011-12) Raffo, Deana M. ; Woodward, J.B. ; Gardner, Justin G. ; Brinthaupt. Thomas M. ; Management
    As a core project, a university eLearning Pedagogy Faculty Learning Community (FLC) chose to apply recommendations for the art of good teaching to the online realm. There is relatively little discussion of this issue in the literature. In this paper, we use Bain's (2004) book What the Best College Teachers Do to discuss some of the major ways that the practices of effective teaching in general can be applied to online teaching in particular. Specifically, we explore methods of fostering student engagement, stimulating intellectual development, and building rapport with students when teaching online. This analysis provides a much-needed art of teaching set of recommendations that complements the science of teaching best practices approach to online pedagogy.