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Dr. Stefan Zagelmeyer, Reader in Comparative and International Business at Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS), has extensive experience in international higher education and research. He leads multiple programmes at AMBS and serves as the Teaching and Education representative on the executive board of the Academy of International Business UK and Ireland. His research focuses on international business strategy, comparative institutional analysis, international human resource management, and business and human rights<\/p>\n
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Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) has a long-standing tradition of delivering transnational education (TNE) programmes\u2014study programmes where learners are located in different countries. Drawing on a decade of experience as a course unit coordinator for the International Business Strategy course unit within the Global MBA programme, this blog will critically examine the challenges of coordinating transnational teaching and learning processes across diverse locations. It will also offer practical, actionable guidance to successfully navigate these challenges.<\/p>\n
Coordinating courses across multiple locations is inherently complex due to variations in institutional, cultural and organizational contexts. TNE providers must ensure compliance with quality standards, deliver a curriculum that is relevant to all students, create effective learning environments, accommodate diverse teaching styles among instructors, and address the varied learning styles of students. Addressing these challenges requires careful planning, effective leadership, collaboration among stakeholders, innovative teaching designs, and robust quality management systems.<\/p>\n
The International Business Strategy (IBS) course in the Global MBA programme is offered each semester and delivered by a team of faculty and adjunct staff through a blended learning approach that combines self-directed study, online lectures, and three-day on-site workshops across multiple global locations. As course unit coordinator, the role involves overseeing curriculum design and revision, engaging with professional services staff, providing online lectures and virtual office hours, and maintaining the Blackboard platform, including the discussion board. The subsequent sections critically explore the teaching-related coordination activities across four stages of course unit management.<\/p>\n
Approximately nine months before the start of a new semester, the course coordinator receives information from programme management regarding the number and schedule of upcoming workshops. At this point, potential instructors must be informed, their availability assessed, and their assignments to specific workshops finalized.<\/p>\n
This stage requires balancing competing priorities, as workshop tutors have specific preferences for scheduling and locations that cannot always be accommodated, potentially affecting their engagement. Additionally, external constraints, such as business school and local centre requests\u2014such as minimizing travel costs or meeting student preferences for specific instructors\u2014further restrict assignment flexibility.<\/p>\n
Effective decision-making during this stage depends on balancing the diverse interests and preferences of stakeholders.<\/p>\n
The workshops take place across multiple teaching locations over (usually) a six-week period. Before they commence, the course coordinator collaborates with the teaching team to determine the structure, content, and assignments. Teaching materials, provided in a tutor pack, include case studies with assignment questions and model answers, the workshop schedule, slides, teaching videos, and instructional materials for experiential exercises. These materials are prepared and distributed to instructors in advance.<\/p>\n
A major challenge lies in ensuring that all workshops consistently prepare students to achieve the intended learning outcomes, particularly given the complexities of TNE. Full standardization is neither feasible nor desirable due to variations in instructors\u2019 teaching styles and students\u2019 learning preferences. The diversity of the student cohorts further complicates the process, as some workshops may consist primarily of local students, while others include internationally diverse groups with varying professional and cultural backgrounds, levels of experience, and educational needs.<\/p>\n
Workshop preparation is an ongoing, iterative process that involves continuous evaluation of teaching content and methods:<\/p>\n
The workshop assessment involves a group work assignment that is marked by workshop tutors. The use of a workshop-related group assignment brings several challenges, including the risk of plagiarism, variations in feedback quality and marking standards, and the need to balance practical relevance with academic rigor.<\/p>\n
One of the primary challenges is the risk of plagiarism, particularly when the same case study material is used across all workshops within a semester. Another challenge is ensuring consistency in feedback quality and grading. Tutors may differ in their academic backgrounds, perceptions of academic rigor, and approaches to marking, which can result in disparities in average marks, marking ranges, and the proportion of distinctions awarded. Such inconsistencies may affect student perceptions of fairness and undermine learning outcomes. Additionally, revising the course unit assessment to better align with intended learning outcomes in an MBA context often requires balancing practical, operational relevance with academic, analytical rigor.<\/p>\n
To help tutors adapt to revised assessments, continuous engagement and clear guidance are crucial. Tutors should receive support during onboarding sessions and have opportunities to discuss and co-develop teaching practices that balance academic rigor with practical relevance. Encouraging collaboration and knowledge-sharing within the teaching team fosters confidence and consistency in meeting the revised assessment standards.<\/p>\n
Coordinating teaching activities across multiple countries poses significant challenges for gathering student feedback and revising course units\u2014two essential components of quality management in higher education.<\/p>\n
The transition from paper-based to online student feedback questionnaires has led to a noticeable decline in student response rates, which have dropped from 90-100% to 40-80%. A troubling correlation was observed in some workshops, where higher student feedback scores coincided with higher workshop assignment marks. This correlation raised concerns about grade inflation and inconsistencies in marking.<\/p>\n
Student feedback is also crucial for revising the course, but the suggestions provided are often highly varied and, at times, contradictory. For instance, students in one country frequently request more lecture-style teaching and fewer experiential exercises, while other groups prefer the opposite. These differences reflect the diversity in learning preferences across the student body, complicating the process of workshop redesign.<\/p>\n
To address declining response rates, workshops now include a dedicated time slot at the end of each session for students to complete the feedback questionnaire in-class. This approach has significantly improved participation rates. The issue of grade inflation has been mitigated by restructuring the timing of feedback collection and grade release. Workshop marks are now released only after the end of the workshop. Students receive formative feedback during the workshop, complete their online feedback forms, and submit their assignments afterward, reducing the potential influence of grades on feedback.<\/p>\n
Student feedback continues to play an integral role in workshop revisions. Insights gathered by program administrators are shared with the IBS teaching team, where both student and instructor suggestions are considered. While balancing the diverse and sometimes conflicting perspectives can be challenging, these discussions ensure that workshops remain relevant and high-quality, meeting the needs of the Global MBA\u2019s diverse cohort.<\/p>\n
Coordinating teaching activities in transnational education programmes across multiple locations is a complex task that requires careful consideration of institutional and cultural diversity, as well as the unique characteristics and preferences of both instructors and students. These challenges can be effectively managed through strong leadership by the course unit coordinator, who fosters a supportive environment by maintaining timely and frequent communication, defining clear roles and expectations, and promoting a culture rooted in collaboration, participation, flexibility, openness, and innovation.<\/p>\n
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Further reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n Bovill, C., Jordan, L., & Watters, N. 2015. Transnational approaches to teaching and learning in higher education: challenges and possible guiding principles. Teaching in Higher Education<\/em><\/strong>, 20(1): 12-23.<\/p>\n Leadership Foundation. 2016. Challenges for the leadership of transnational education: Balancing risks and innovation.<\/p>\n Tran, N. H. N., Amado, C. A. d. E. F., & Santos, S. P. d. 2023. Challenges and success factors of transnational higher education: a systematic review. Studies in Higher Education<\/em><\/strong>, 48(1): 113-136.<\/p>\n Wilkins, S., & Juusola, K. 2020. Transnational Education (TNE). In P. N. Teixeira, & J. C. Shin (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Higher Education Systems and Institutions<\/em><\/strong>: 2649-2656. 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Zagelmeyer, Reader in Comparative and International Business at Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS), has extensive experience in international higher education and research. He leads multiple programmes at AMBS and serves as the Teaching and Education representative on the executive board of the Academy of International Business UK and Ireland. 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