An Analysis of Intensive Mode Pedagogy in Management Education in India

Purpose: Management education is at its peak in India. But pedagogy and modes of delivery are not always innovative compared to top international Business Schools. It is through experimentation that the paper may be able to discover what works best in our context. The purpose of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of intensive mode of delivery vs traditional semester-wide teaching of management courses among MBA students of a leading Business School, through one such experiment. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 19 dimensions were used in this study. The questionnaire was tested on two different groups. An independent sample t-test was conducted for each dimension, to find out if the group that was subjected to this experiment had opinions different from the group that did not undergo the accelerated version. Findings: The results indicated perceptions on most of the dimensions disconcerting, barring increase in commitment, engagement, focus, and concentration with intensive mode. Further, this negative perception augmented towards intensive delivery mode, after experiencing traditional delivery. Practical implications: The literature does appear to show controversial outcomes related to intensive mode but more studies are in support of intensive modes of delivery format. The issue of whether students learn better in a semester/trimester of traditional length or with a compressed schedule is a key concern to the innovations in higher education scheduling today. Findings of this study pose a serious threat to all those management institutions which are planning to attempt to speed up the delivery of programmes and courses within them in order to reduce cost or other reasons. Originality/value: In education literature, significant amount of research has been carried out using a time compressed in developed countries. This study is one of the first studies, which focuses on determining the effectiveness of intensive teaching against traditional trimester/semester wide teaching among MBA education in India.