Birla Institute of Technology

Mesra, Ranchi
Extension- Jaipur

Assignment
In
Organizational Behavior

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Aditi Sharma Sanchit Taksali
Manish Lalwani
Niti Niwas
 Table of Content

Sr. No. Particulars Page no.

1. Introduction
Definition
Principles 1-4
Types of
Perception

2. Case Study
Abstract
Introduction
Characteristics 5-12
Survey & Results
Conclusion
 Introduction

Definition:

Perception can be defined as a process by which individuals select, organize and

interpret their sensory impressions, so as to give meaning to their environment.
Perception is a complex cognitive process and differs from person to person. People's
behavior is influenced by their perception of reality, rather than the actual reality.

In comparison to sensation, perception is a much broader concept. Sensation involves

simply receiving stimuli through sensory organs, whereas the process of perception
involves receiving raw data from the senses and then filtering, modifying or transforming
the data completely through the process of cognition. The processes of perception
consist of various sub-processes such as confrontation, registration, interpretation and
feedback.

Though people are continuously exposed to numerous stimuli, they tend to select only a
few of them. The principle of perceptual selectivity seeks to explain how and why people
select only a few stimuli out of the many stimuli they keep encountering at any given
time. Perceptual selectivity is affected by various internal set factors and external
attention factors. Some of the internal set factors are learning, motivation and
personality. External attention factors include environmental influences like intensity,
size, contrast, repetition, motion, novelty and familiarity.

Sometimes, different individuals may perceive the same thing differently. Differences
may arise due to factors associated with the perceiver (attitudes, motives, expectations,
etc.) or the situation (time, place, etc.) or the target (novelty, background, sounds, size,
etc.). Perceptual organization focuses on the subsequent activities in the perceptual
process after the information from the situation is received.
Principles

The various principles of perceptual organization consist of figure-ground, perceptual

grouping, perceptual constancy, perceptual context and perceptual defense. The
principle of figure-ground states that perceived objects stand out from their general
background. According to the principle of perceptual grouping, people tend to group
several stimuli together into a recognizable pattern. People usually tend to group stimuli
together on the basis of closure, continuity, proximity or similarity. Even if a person is
not able to obtain sufficient information to arrive at a decision, he tries to close the gap
by grouping the available information with the information from his past experience. This
is called the principle of closure. Sometimes people tend to think only in a particular
direction. This is called principle of continuity. It may also happen that people may group
the stimuli based on their proximity and similarity.

According to principle of perceptual constancy, there are some things which are
perceived alike by all people, irrespective of the factors influencing perception. It
provides a person a sense of stability in this changing world. Perceptual context
provides meaning and value to stimuli with respect to a particular context. According to
the principle of perceptual defense, people tend to resist information that is emotionally
disturbing or clashes with their personal convictions or cultural values.
Types of Perception

Social perception is concerned with how individuals perceive one another. The primary
factors that lead to social perception are the psychological processes that lead to
attribution, stereotyping and halo effect. Attribution refers to the way in which people
explain the cause of their own behavior or others' behavior. If a person's behavior can
be attributed to internal factors such as personality traits, motivation or ability, then it is
called dispositional attribution. If a person's behavior is attributed to external factors,
such as a machine or being under the influence of others, then it is referred to as
situational attribution.

Stereotyping and the halo effect are common problems in social perception. When an
individual is judged based on the perception about the group to which he belongs, it is
termed as stereotyping. When people draw a general impression about an individual
based on a single characteristic, it is known as the halo effect. The process by which
people try to manage or control the perceptions other people form of them is called
impression management. It is used by employees in organizations to favorably impress
their boss and move up the hierarchy.

Perceptions have a crucial role in individual decision-making in organizations, by

affecting both the decisions as well as the quality of the decision. The decision taken by
an individual is a complex process involving the intake of data, screening, processing,
and interpreting and evaluating of data, based on the perception of the individual.
Student’s perception on e-learning: A case-study

Abstract

The reflections presented in this work lead us to emphasize the existence of a problem
in the new market of university online learning. The costly evaluation of the quality of
new courses can in fact increase the risk for students in making the best choice. In the
absence of enrollment fees, which can act as a signal of quality, market growth would
seem to be severely hampered. On the basis of the answers to a question administered
to 1,790 students at Italian universities, we are interested in analyzing the perception of
quality of university courses available on line, in order to distinguish signals, a
la Spence, which can reduce the problem of adverse selection.

Introduction

Studies concerning the way the markets work often assume that individuals are able to
make a correct assessment of the quality and price of the goods which are exchanged.
Unfortunately, these hypotheses are rarely borne out in the real world.

In a famous article published in 1970, "The market for Lemons: quality uncertainty and
the market mechanism", George Akerlof introduces an idea, which is simple but also of
deep and universal significance. Using the second hand car market as his example,
Akerlof shows that when the buyers and sellers have different information about the
quality of the goods (information asymmetry) this results in a problem of adverse
selection on the market. In other words, the agents who have less information find
themselves operating with those they would have preferred to avoid. In fact, if the
quality is not apparent, goods of both good and poor quality converge in a single
market and have a single price tag. The latter, determined on the basis of an expected
average quality, provides ample profit for the worst sellers but not necessarily for the
best who find themselves driven out of the market. Consequently the buyers are left to
operate only with the worst sellers. So the term "lemons" is used to indicate poor
quality goods which are found in the market in the absence of correct information. This
conclusion leads Akerlof to explain the set up of many third-party institutions which
offer guarantees for the real quality of the goods, so contributing to a reduction in the
inefficiencies of the market.

The work we present here attempts to analyze the problem of adverse selection in an
unexplored context, namely that of online university learning. In this market there is
great information asymmetry which penalizes the students (buyers of instruction) in
their evaluation of the quality of the courses offered by the universities (producers of
learning). However, unlike Akerlof's hypothesis, the mechanism of adverse selection in
this case is not due to a reduction of the market price (strict, by definition) but rather to
a reduction in the number of buyers. However, following the contribution ofMichael
Spence, the market itself can offer a way out of the problem. In 1973 in "Job Market
Signaling", Spence showed that the best sellers are not necessarily forced out of the
market if they 'signal' the true quality of their goods. But in order for the signals to
reach their objective of contrasting the adverse selection, they need to have a
production cost which is inversely correlated to the quality of the seller. In other words,
the signal must be more expensive for the worst sellers.

Following the paths traced by Akerlof and Spence, there are numerous applications
and empirical tests to be found in the latest literature. In the financial economy, for
example, Myers and Majluf (1984) have shown how shareholders can become victims
of adverse selection among firms, while John and Williams (1985) have highlighted
how dividends can act as a credible signal of the profitability of the companies quoted.
In the field of industrial organization, Nelson (1974), Milgrom and Roberts (1986) have
shown how the highest prices and the use of advertising are generally considered by
consumers to be signs of the high quality products. From a methodological point of
view, Rothschild and Stiglitz (1976) among others, show how, under certain conditions,
agents who are less well informed can indirectly obtain information from those who are
better informed, while Cho and Kreps (1987) use the game theory to discriminate
between the much equilibrium which can be resolved on the market in the presence of
signals. On the basis of the answers to a question administered to 1,790 students at
Italian universities, we are interested in analyzing the perception of quality of university
courses available on line, in order to distinguish signals, a la Spence, which can
reduce the problem of adverse selection. Our approach differs from some previous
work. Hsing and Chang (1996) and Bezmen and Depken (1998) analyzed the market
demand for distance learning and concluded that university fees are an efficient signal
of the quality of courses. In contexts where the fees are fixed administratively,
however, they lose their intrinsic value as a signal. Alternative signals are thus
required.

The characteristics of online university courses

As Harasim (2000) emphasized, online learning must not be confused with distance
learning. They share many features, such as the context not limited by space or time,
but they are completely different as regards group communication. This is a
phenomenon which, as Dean (1994) pointed out, is at the centre of the learning
process. It is in fact through group participation that students have the chance to
elaborate concepts, share experiences, acquire knowledge and socialize. Moreover,
interaction between teachers and learners helps to increase student motivation and
satisfaction, and consequently to produce greater benefits. From this perspective
online learning appears to be more similar to traditional learning, although differing in
its pedagogical approach.

Recent studies of online learning have tried to compare the results of online learning
with traditional 'face to face' learning. Analyses of students' marks at the end of a
course of studies by Smeaton and Keogh (1999), Wade (1999), Navarro and
Shoemaker (1999), Sener and Stover (2000), Fallah and Ubell (2000) show that no
substantial difference exists between the results of traditional learning and online
learning. This would also confirm Russell's position (1999) in his well known book "The
No Significant Difference Phenomenon" in which he underlines, however, the
importance of the quality of online learning. While there are numerous contributions
concerning the effectiveness of online learning, according to Fresen (2002) there is
little research regarding quality. Phipps and Merisotis (1999), in their report which
generated wide debate amongst US academics about what constitutes quality in
learning, focused their attention on the specificity of online learning. In fact the authors
noted that the way in which technology conditions the learning and teaching processes
is still far from clear, so any question regarding 'specific' traits of quality
becomes superfluous. In agreement with this position, Pond (2002) considers it useful
to distinguish "universal" traits of quality, independent of teaching methodologies.
However, while it is true that the final result of learning is important, notwithstanding
the pedagogical approach, an evaluation of the quality of the different specific teaching
tools makes it possible to anticipate, as well as to improve, the final assessment of the
learning process. We consider this to be the correct line of approach and we are
encouraged by the contribution of McGorry (2003), who identifies six 'specific' traits of
quality in online learning: flexibility, responsiveness and student support, student
learning, interaction, technology and technical support, and student satisfaction.

Aside from the difficulty in identifying "specific' traits, the evaluation of quality from an
empirical point of view, appears to be particularly costly for potential buyers, generating
a classic problem of information asymmetry. Actually a solution to this could be found
in the workings of the markets, in sending signals. The fees for online courses, for
example, could be interpreted as signals of quality if they were fixed for each individual
course on the base of production costs and expected demand. The problem becomes
more complex in contexts in which the enrollment fees are decided by the public
administration on the basis of welfare state policy. In these circumstances, which are,
moreover, common practice in most European countries, such a signaling function is
invalid. If the market is unable to send signals and if the evaluation of quality is
particularly costly, the less well informed agents are faced with the problem of adverse
selection. Students who have no way of distinguishing good online courses
from mediocre ones, perceive a greater risk in choosing online courses compared to
traditional educational contexts. A "virtual examination" of a course which is only
 accessible online, is, in fact, much less conclusive than physical contact with a
traditional educational institution which can easily be assessed for the number of
facilities, the atmosphere of the campus and the level of satisfaction of the students.

While the risk of choosing online courses is greater than making alternative choices, it
is likely that students who are averse to risk taking will opt for the latter, so causing a
drop in the numbers of online enrollment. This fact is particularly relevant for the
equilibrium of the online learning market. As Rumble (2001) stated, the creation of an
online course imposes costs which are strictly related to the use of technology.
Therefore, if there is a drop in student numbers, the faculties which intend to make the
best use of technology by offering high quality online courses, may no longer find it
profitable to stay on the market. Increased production costs could, in fact, exceed the
benefits. The best would find themselves excluded from the market and the risk in
choosing online courses of quality would increase. This leads a majority of students to
opt for alternative teaching methodologies, so setting up a vicious cycle which would
tend to wipe out the whole online learning market. The classic solutions to the problem
have already been indicated in the introduction to this paper, but our attention is
focused on the study of signals a la Spence.

Survey and results

In carrying out our survey we collected 1,790 answers from students in the Faculties of
Science, Political Science and Communication Sciences at the University of Palermo.
Students were randomly selected. Each one was given the following instructions:
"Imagine you go back in time and have to decide which university course you want to
follow. You have to choose between a traditional course and an online one. What
information regarding these two types of course would you consider decisive in making
a thorough evaluation?” Every student was given the chance to freely indicate different
types of information. In the following list, students' answers and related scores:

Career prospects 842

Quality of teachers 725
Interaction with teachers 631
Adequacy and clarity of materials 461
Degree of flexibility 387
Ease of finding materials 358
Efficiency of auxiliary services 351
Technology used 281
Limited number of participants 230
Personalization of study programs 209
Use of tests for self evaluation 86
Availability of tutors 79
Prestige of the faculty 21

Career relevance appears to receive most attention from the students. Over 46% of the
students mentioned it, considering it to be an important signal in evaluating online
courses. It should be noticed that results of Dey, Astin and Korn's studies (1991) on
what quality means for students in traditional university courses apply also to on line
courses. The closeness of the learning path to the world of work in fact presupposes
great attention to the curriculum and the effectiveness of group communication, factors
which are crucial to the process of acquiring skills and professional competence. In this
direction, the university could produce statistics, certified by external institutions, about
the percentage of students who have got a job (within six months, one year and three
years), their average salary and whether their expectations have been fulfilled. For the
purpose of our analysis, it is interesting to observe that the production cost of the
highest values of the above indicators is inversely correlated to the quality of the
courses: in fact, increasing career relevance proves to be, ceteris paribus, more
expensive for online courses of mediocre quality. This allows us to deduce that the
information regarding the career relevance of online courses could constitute real
signals a la Spence.

The quality of teachers, indicated by about 40% of those interviewed, would, on the
other hand, be an ambiguous indicator. How can you measure the quality of teachers?
According to their teaching experience, their academic achievements or other complex
parameters? And once you have assessed the quality of each individual teacher, how
do you relate this to the quality of online courses? In fact, online courses require
different teaching methods from traditional courses; they involve the use of multimedia
teaching materials, as well as the construction and implementation of a computer-
mediated communication space. These skills are not part of the usual teaching
experience. The following three indications provided by the students appear to be of a
more concrete nature: the level of interaction with teachers (35.2% of those
interviewed), the adequacy and clarity of the materials (25.7%) and the degree of
flexibility of the course (21.2%). As Arbaugh (2000) points out, these are factors which
can have a direct influence on online learning and the satisfaction level of the students.

Concerning the "interaction with teachers" issue, it should be said that there is an open
debate in literature regarding the different ways for measuring interaction in on-line
educational systems, and many solutions have been proposed [Anderson et al. (2001),
Rourke et al. (2001)]. Nowadays, the technological solutions for managing on-line
education processes, such as LMS and LCMS, include tools that can measure
statistical data on specific elements of interaction. Of the different proposals, the
average response time of the teachers to students' questions and the number
of discussion threads proposed by the teacher for a course can be considered a
measurement of the interaction between teachers and students that could be collected
automatically. It should be noticed that the answer to the questionnaire provided by the
students concerns only interaction with teachers, and shows that students are not
aware of the importance of interaction with other students.

Regarding the "adequacy and clarity of materials", some well known measurement
criteria are: the full availability of on-line material, the necessity to buy printed material
in addition to that available on line, the organization of learning paths, the presence of
references to external sites in order to deepen the explanations, and so on. Besides,
the students interviewed highlighted the importance of flexibility, considered as the
opportunity of accessing the educational material and interacting with teachers
without time constraints. One of the measurement criteria for flexibility is the frequency
of synchronous sessions. Actually, this parameter is not an absolute value of quality,
but it is important in the personal evaluation of the adequacy of the organization of the
course with respect to the single student needs. The same number of weekly
interactions could be, for example, too many for some students and too few for others.
We think that a very useful tool to measure the level of the courses respect to
indicators discussed above is an anonymous questionnaire administered to students
from previous years, because their estimation is related to the effectiveness of
learning. In this way, the obtained data could enable the best online universities to
send signals of quality. It is interesting to observe, also in this case, how the cost of
producing quality signals concerning student satisfaction is inversely correlated to the
quality of online courses.

Conclusion

The reflections presented in this work lead us to emphasize the existence of an

adverse selection problem in the new market of university online learning. In fact, since
the evaluation of new courses is costly and the enrollment fees cannot be used as a
signal of quality, students perceive a greater risk in choosing on line courses;
consequently they could be encouraged to enroll on traditional courses. In response to
these concerns, the Italian Ministry for Universities and Research issued a decree on
April 17 2003 about "Criteria and procedures for the accreditation of distance learning
courses offered by state and non-state universities and by university
institutions entitled to award academic qualifications". The aim of this decree is to
ensure a quality standard for academic courses which makes use of the Internet.

The considerable limits of this decree lie, however, in the fact that it is merely an
administrative act. In fact, it does not provide for a continuing evaluation procedure nor
establish methods of comparison or a system for publicizing the evaluation results.
This regulatory instrument seems, therefore, to be unable to send out signals regarding
quality, in order to prevent problems of adverse selection. In order to avoid this risk, we
propose the use of signals h la Spence. Our survey has enabled us to underline certain
types of information which students in Italy see as indispensable in evaluating
prospective online courses. Two of these, in particular, seem to stand out: career
relevance and the level of satisfaction expressed by those who have already followed
the course. In particular, the latter aspect is important for reducing doubts about the
effectiveness of the new learning environment. Further research is necessary,
however, in order to test the validity of these signals empirically within the market.