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Students entering Zayed University are expected to become active participants in their learning. However, the majority of these students have come from a public education system that is recognized to focus on teacher-centered passive learning. Students may be unprepared for this transition. This paper reports on a case study of changes in performance and motivation for students transitioning from passive learning to active learning.

Three students from the public education system were followed through two consecutive courses employing increasing active learning. Methods included observations, surveys, and interviews. Results indicate that the initial transition from passive learning to active learning has a negative impact, mainly due to inadequate preparation. However, subsequent development of skills through exposure results in improvement to the extent that motivation and performance exceed high school levels. It is concluded that the transition from active learning has the capacity to greatly improve student achievement if properly managed.

In the context of business schools, the word “leadership” is widely used in missions, visions, and marketing materials. However, underlying support and the infrastructure to truly develop leaders may be lacking. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the challenges and issues facing leadership education in the context of business education. More specifically, we highlight some of the structural challenges, foundational issues, and research related problems and identify several opportunities to address some of the areas for development. Throughout this paper, we discuss how the National Leadership Education Research Agenda can spark research that will legitimize our work not only in business, but across disciplines.