Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

A concern of business Education in colleges and universities for many years has been the preparation of young men and women for the professional business world. Business curricula have adequately addressed the technical aspects of business preparation but have fallen short of the development of 21st century skills such as teamwork, communication, technical literacies, achieving high productivity, higher-order thinking, creativity, and risk taking. Innovative Curriculum College (ICC), the invented name of a Midwestern college, has introduced and is implementing an innovative curriculum that features the development of 21st century skills within the confines of core and upper-level academic classes. This study sought to determine if the perception of competence of two skills, teamwork and communication, increased for students in the first semester of their freshman year. Additionally, the study sought to determine if there were any differences between the changes in freshmens perceptions of competence in teamwork or communication during the first-year curriculum at ICC compared to those in More Traditional Curriculum College (MTCC). Statistical analysis revealed that growth was noted in both schools and the results of the freshman experience did not reveal a statistically significant change in one institution as compared to the other.

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