Accelerated Learning in Business Education

• Main Authors: Constantino, Winifrida M, Palo, Ricardo R, Ibarte, Yolanda P, Reyes, Krishna U
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2010
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/gsb-pubs/23; https://gsb.ateneo.edu/research/publications/#gsb-special-studies
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This study investigates the attitudes and quality of learning of students and alumni in the accelerated MBA program of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business and assesses these in comparison with those in the traditional MBA program. This is of particular importance because of the intuitive notion in higher education that learning is less effective when less than the traditional amount of time is devoted to it. The profile of the students surveyed show that those who take the accelerated programs tend to be older and have longer work experience as compared to their counterparts from the traditional programs, consistent with the findings of similar studies involving colleges and universities in the U.S. The study indicates that, in general, the perceptions and attitudes of students and alumni in the accelerated MBA program and in the traditional MBA program are not vastly different, with both showing positive perceptions and attitudes with regard to motivation, and instruction and materials. In the case of the performance assessment of current students, which was based on summative problems and cases given at the end of the term, there is no significant difference between the mean scores of the students in the accelerated and traditional programs for two of the subjects that were selected for the study, namely, Human Resource Management and Quantitative Methods for Managers. For Strategic Management, the other subject selected for the study, the mean score of students in the accelerated program is slightly better than those in the traditional program. These findings are consistent those of previous studies done on the subject matter. In general, one could say that those taking the accelerated program are able to do just as well if not better than those taking the traditional program.