Integration and independent learning in a business synoptic module for international credit entry students

This paper details an action research enquiry into the efforts undertaken at Brookes Business School to bring integration to the international business curriculum and develop student autonomy via a synoptic module for international credit entry students. After outlining the general aims for student learning in higher education and the difficulties in achieving them by means of conventional didactics, an overview of the history, development and conceptualization of the generic synoptic module is presented. The main features of our international business synoptic are then illustrated, with a discussion of the pedagogical principles that informed the design and implementation of processes aimed at facilitating effective learning. In assessing what the module has accomplished, evaluatory evidence that also takes into account students' perceptions, provides support to its efficacy.