روندهای دوتایی در تحصیلات فوق لیسانس: بینشی از تجربیات دانشجویان مدیریت کسب و کار Dyadic processes in postgraduate education: Insights from MBA student experiences

1. Introduction Institutions of higher learning have a responsibility to prepare students for the modern workplace where there is an expectation that graduates have developed the ability to collaborate with others (Hancock et al., 2009; Yorke & Knight, 2004). Thus, high-quality relationships have become increasingly important within dynamic and ever-changing organisational environments (Grant & Hofmann, 2011). Furthermore, the ability to relate to a wide range of people and make a contribution to the team are considered essential graduate attributes in South Africa (Griesel & Parker, 2009). Certainly the goal of a business school, beyond the academic prospect, is to develop professionals capable of consistent and productive interaction with others (Jackson & Chapman, 2012; Krass & Ovchinnikov, 2006). Group work in its variety of forms has been defined as a pedagogic strategy where students work together without direct lecturer interaction or supervision towards a common objective (Killian, 2003). While various terms have been used to describe the practice of group work including cooperative learning and collaborative learning (Drake, Goldsmith, & Strachan, 2006) the process remains understood as one where students work together to achieve a common goal. Given that dyadic relationships are the central building blocks of organisations through daily interactions between people at work (Liden, Anand, & Vidyarthi, 2016), many existing management education programmes include some variation of group work. Collaboration with peers is thus considered an essential form of learning (Summers, Bergin, & Cole, 2009). While anecdotal evidence from both faculty and students indicates varying degrees of success with group work, there is a paucity of research in this domain in South Africa. Furthermore, while garnering some attention worldwide, research around dyadic relationships – those interactions occurring between two individuals (Joshi & Knight, 2015) – is still relatively undeveloped within the academic sphere. This qualitative paper explores the experiences of postgraduate students who worked in dyads for a Master in Business Administration work-based project. The study presents the findings drawn from 440 student reflective papers. Through the submission of a short assignment detailing their learning and insights, students individually reflected on their six weeks of working with a randomly allocated partner. The study explored whether dyadic group work detracted from or enhanced individual learning