An Empirical Investigation of the Conception Focused Curriculum: The Importance of Introducing Undergraduate Business Statistics Students to the “Real World”

Continuing pressures are being placed on undergraduate business education to alter curriculum content and delivery. The anticipated product of these changes is a graduate that is capable of performing the higher order thinking skills needed to navigate a constantly changing, global business environment. This article describes the implementation of a conception-focused curriculum in an undergraduate business statistics course that has guided students to become masters of the discipline through conception learning and real world problem solving. The sample of 125 students shows that students exposed to the conception-focused curriculum perceived themselves as being higher order learners and global citizens. Recommendations are provided for other educators to implement this approach in their classrooms and suggestions made for future research.