MyeEMBA

Four state of learning

Four stages of learning

"Here's a pop quiz: What foods are best to eat before a high-stakes test? When is the best time to review the toughest material? A growing body of research on the best study techniques offers some answers. With test-taking season upon us, Sue Shellenbarger on Lunch Break looks at the latest findings from the science of studying. For students approaching SAT/ACTs, midterms and finals, which memory tricks work best and does cramming help? Chiefly, testing yourself repeatedly before an exam teaches the brain to retrieve and apply knowledge from memory. The method is more effective than re-reading a textbook, says Jeffrey Karpicke, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University. If you are facing a test on the digestive system, he says, practice explaining how it works from start to finish, rather than studying a list of its parts. "

What is the best way for an MBA student to study? This article may be helpful for MBA students that are having a difficult time studying. The article is not directed to MBA students, however there are some useful tips.

"As companies find themselves swarmed with applicants, struggling to match workers with the right skills to job openings, many are turning to virtual career fairs. Employers say these online forums-accessed by companies and job seekers from anywhere in the world-can save them time and money, as well as broaden the candidate pool. Companies are turning to virtual career fairs as they find themselves swarmed with applicants and struggling to match workers to job openings. When participants log into a virtual fair, they can access a variety of "booths" organized by company name or job field. In the booths, they find information about the company and positions available. Sometimes there are videos or live, one-on-one chats with recruiters or even high-level executives. Candidates learn about fairs through the company's website, social-networking services such as Facebook and Twitter, or word of mouth. Procter & Gamble Co. and Citigroup Inc. customize their own company-specific virtual career fairs. Other firms, such as Boeing Co. and insurer Progressive Corp., join broad-based virtual career fairs hosted by companies like jobs sites Monster.com, which is owned by Monster Worldwide Inc., and Brazen Careerist Inc. The group fairs host anywhere from a handful to hundreds of companies."

MBA students looking for a job may want to investigate to see if the companies they are interested in are holding virtual job fairs. However, one person's comment suggests that job fairs of any kind are a waste.

"The other day, on a flight from Charleston to Atlanta, I was in the middle of grading papers when the man sitting next to me leaned over and mumbled, "Those aren't final student papers, are they?" He asked the question because the pages had comments and emendations and line edits all over them once I finished each one. I laughed and replied, "Yeah, but they're good students. They're bright, but they just don't take enough care with their prose.""

Would an MBA student write a cover letter like the one discussed in this article?

"Many companies extol the value of work-life balance for their employees, but the reality for senior executives? There isn't any. Frequently, stressed and harried managers look up the organization hierarchy and assume that they'll have greater control of their time when they advance to the C-suite. What they don't understand is that modern-day telecommunications, the hair-trigger requirements of financial markets, and the pace of global organizations create 24 x 7 work lives for most executives. So, forget work-life balance and think personal organization and finding ways to relax."

"Everyone knows that enthusiasm boosts performance and that enjoying work can be the beginning of a virtuous circle. But can you become more enthusiastic? How can I view my work more enthusiastically?"

"GradHacker began as a bootcamp to introduce grad students to social media that would improve their lives. Most of our authors use a myriad of tech on a daily basis. All of us have Twitter, many are also on Google +, we own a diversity of smart phones, and our laptops are more an extension of our person than a tool. Technology is increasing important to academia, with online discussion and electronic publication becoming a frequent practice. Personally, I wouldn't be where I am without Twitter and Wordpress opening a number of important windows of opportunity to me. "

Wikipedia stands as an undeniable success in online participation and collaboration. However, previous attempts at studying collaboration within Wikipedia have focused on simple metrics like rigor (i.e., the number of revisions in an article's revision history) and diversity (i.e., the number of authors that have contributed to a given article) or have made generalizations about collaboration within Wikipedia based upon the content validity of a few select articles. By looking more closely at metrics associated with each extant Wikipedia article (N=3,427,236) along with all revisions (N=225,226,370), this study attempts to understand what collaboration within Wikipedia actually looks like under the surface. Findings suggest that typical Wikipedia articles are not rigorous, in a collaborative sense, and do not reflect much diversity in the construction of content and macro-structural writing, leading to the conclusion that most articles in Wikipedia are not reflective of the collaborative efforts of the community but, rather, represent the work of relatively few contributors.

"A few weeks ago, I wrote about avoiding social media failures. I briefly mentioned our company's "Failure Wall" and was surprised by the number of comments and questions I received about it. What's the purpose? How does it work? And what other kinds of things do you do in that crazy office of yours? The failure wall was part of our efforts to create a company culture where employees can take risks without fear of reprisal. As NPR's Here and Now reported earlier this year, we started by collecting inspirational quotes about failure."

"Late December brings thoughts of Santa and snowmen. And for many M.B.A. hopefuls, significant stress [Tuck] Tuck School of Business . Harvard Business School, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and other top business schools in coming days will inform applicants of their first-round admissions decisions. A lucky few (roughly 14%-20% for Wharton and 12% for HBS, based on last year's numbers) will receive letters of acceptance, but others who are waitlisted or rejected must scramble to meet later deadlines at other schools or gear up to try again next year. "

"I have been teaching college writing since 1992. The corrections I find myself making on student assignments fall into two general categories. The first concern problems of style - specifically, clarity and grace. So I mark the many places where my students commit wordiness, vagueness, awkwardness, banality, and so on. The other category is mistakes: usages that do not follow the accepted rules of standard English. From the beginning, it was clear to me that most student mistakes fall into a small number of categories - seven, to be precise. They have common qualities that speak to unfortunate cultural trends, which I'll discuss in a minute. But first, the seven deadly sins. (The examples in quotation marks are from actual student writing assignments.)"

"For the past year a group of MBA students at business schools worldwide, has been blogging about their experiences for the Financial Times. From arriving in a foreign land and knowing nobody, to working together in a team with complete strangers, who in time become close friends, the students have written candidly about what it means to study for an MBA. In MBA programmes generally women students tend to be in the minority, but as the blogs from our female students reveal although they may be fewer in number, nevertheless they are just as enthusiastic about their MBA journey. "

MBA students working together with one or more classmates in order to complete an assignment is a norm in most MBA programs. Working together successfully often depends on how well the group shares information. This usually means sharing a document or file of some kind, such as an MS Word document, PowerPoint presentation, PDF file, picture, graphic, or a spreadsheet. While MBA students working together may be the norm for most MBA programs, providing students effective and efficient ways of sharing documents is not. The answer for most MBA programs is to let students find their own solution, which usually means using email and file attachments. Much better solutions are available, many of which are consumer-focused, user friendly, and free.

"Workplace mentors used to be older and higher up the ranks than their mentees. Not anymore. In an effort to school senior executives in technology, social media and the latest workplace trends, many businesses are pairing upper management with younger employees in a practice known as reverse mentoring. The trend is taking off at a range of companies, from tech to advertising. "

"The Web site RateMyProfessors evokes skepticism among faculty members. Some view the anonymous evaluation site as a haven for rants and odd remarks ("He will crush you like an academic ninja!"), or a place where students go to grade instructors based on easiness or attractiveness (a chili-pepper icon distinguishes professors that are "hot" over those that are "not"). But new research out of the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire suggests the popular service is a more useful barometer of instructor quality than you might think, at least in the aggregate. And the study, the latest of several indicating RateMyProfessors should not be dismissed, raises questions about how universities should deal with a site whose ratings have been factored into Forbes magazine's college rankings and apparently even into some universities' personnel evaluations."

"Companies are spending more this year on recruiting but are focusing their dollars on more high-tech methods than in the past, a new report suggests. Additionally, more companies are hiring their own full-time recruiters or temporary contract recruiters to cut down on the costs of outside recruiting agencies, the report from Bersin & Associates, a human resources consulting firm, found. "There are shifts in how companies are allocating their money," said Karen O'Leonard, an analyst and author of the Bersin study. "In the long-term, the shifts will save companies money.""

"Most people assume being good-looking gives you a career boost. But just how much does it help? A lot. Good-looking people charm interviewers, get hired faster, are more likely to make more sales and get more raises. Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas in Austin, measures out the benefits in his book, "Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful." According to his research, attractive people are likely to earn an average of 3% to 4% more than a person with below-average looks. That adds up to $230,000 more over a lifetime for the typical good-looking person, Dr. Hamermesh estimates. Even an average-looking worker is likely to make $140,000 more over a lifetime than an ugly worker. We asked Dr. Hamermesh to discuss his findings. Edited excerpts follow:"

What does this mean for an MBA student? Perhaps a little "dress for success" training is in order.

Two of my recent articles, "MBA Students Do You See Yourself as Your MBA Peers See You" and "MBA Program No Asshole Rule" addressed MBA student behavior while enrolled in an MBA program. A behavior related area that appears to be gaining interest is online business etiquette, a topic that is certainly something MBA students need to keep in mind as they use multiple forms of social media to advance their careers and interact with their MBA classmates, faculty, staff, and other professionals. One online misstep can have an adverse impact on one's career advancement. Click on the title to read the complete article.

"Last May there were reports of exploding watermelons in China. Apparently, farmers applied fertilizer that made the melons grow really big really fast and then KAPOW! They exploded. It is with a fair amount of distress that I am observing a similar phenomenon at my own institution. No, we aren't growing fruit on campus, but we do seem to be growing some mighty big egos, and I fear the splatter of gray matter as a few heads begin to explode."

When reading this article, think about MBA students, and in particular EMBA students.