DOES INVOLVEMENT INFLUENCE LEARNING FROM SIMULATION PARTICIPATION? SOME RELATIONSHIPS WITH HELPFULNESS AND PERFORMANCE OUTC... Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 DOES INVOLVEMENT INFLUENCE LEARNING FROM SIMULATION PARTICIPATION? SOME RELATIONSHIPS WITH HELPFULNESS AND PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES Lucette B. Corner, Purdue University J. A. F. Nicholls. Florida International University ABSTRACT This study concerns the relationship between participants’ involvement in the simulation experience arid learning related outcomes. It builds upon the findings of an earlier study that suggested that involvement might be a key to understanding how simulation impacts upon the way participants learn (Comer and Nicholls 1996). The present study seeks to replicate that research and to extend its findings by probing deeper into the way involvement relates to various learning- related variables. Thus, the thrust of the paper is on the way involvement in simulation enhances the learning experience of participants. A survey was conducted of 75 undergraduate students enrolled in a basic marketing course in which a simulation was used in addition to lectures and a textbook. Students completed a self- administered questionnaire describing their reactions to the textbook, the lectures, and the simulation at the conclusion of the course. Completed questionnaires were matched to students’ to the points students earned in (1) the simulation and (2) the rest of the course. The results indicated that while simulation was regarded as (1) less helpful than other learning tools as an aid to content learning, and (2) no more helpful than other learning tools as an aid to process learning, it was (3) more involving than other learning tools. To the degree that students reported themselves as “involved” in the simulation, they perceived more process and content learning from the simulation. Conscious involvement had a positive relationship with simulation outcomes, while unconscious relationship had a positive relationship with course outcomes. The two outcome measures (points earned in the course and in the simulation) were not unrelated as had been found in earlier studies (e.g., Wellington and Faria 1991), but rather were significantly and positively correlated. This is particularly startling, since the correlation occurred even though the simulation points had been subtracted from the total course points, so that the students’ course performance did not reflect their performance in the simulation in any way. One can only suppose that the better students in this group were also the better game players. Clearly simulation and course outcomes, as well as process and content learning, are interrelated concepts, not clearly distinguishable. While further work is needed, we feel encouraged by our study. Learning that occurs in a simulation potentially aids students both in learning the material of the course and in learning the process. Involvement appears to intensify this effect. We believe that involvement in simulation is a promising concept, worthy of further study as a variable that enhances the impact of participation on the learning experience. Understanding the nature of involvement and its correlates will lead to ways increase the value received by students from simulation participation. REFERENCES Comer, Lucette B. and J. A. F. Nicholls (1996), “Simulation as an aid to learning: how does participation influence the process?” in Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, 23, 8-14 Wellington, W. J. and A. I. Faria (1991), “An investigation of the relationship between simulation play, performance level, and recency of play and exam scores,” in Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, 18, 111-115. 11 Table of Contents Volume 24, 1997 Incorporating Computer Telephony into the MIS Course A Learner Oriented Infrastructure for videoconferencing Based Distance Education Courses The Identification of Temporally Related Structural Elements of the Experiential Component of Electronic Spreadsheet Tasks Does Involvement Influence Learning from Simulation Participation? Some Relationships with Helpfulness and Performance Outcomes Musings on Business Garne Performance Evaluation Performance on a TE Simulation: What does it represent? The Business Policy Game: An International Simulation - An Assessment Tool Students in Free Enterprise as Experiential Learning The Role of Computer Models in Wargames: A Practitioner's view Using Focus Groups as a Tool to Research Learning: A Demonstration and a Discussion Using Medical Simulations to Teach Multi-Cultural Diversity Using the World Game to Internationalize International Exchange Game Community Services Needs Assessment: An Innovative Approach Introducing Students to Potential Total Quality Management Ethical Dilemmas Privacy in the Workplace: A Situational Analysis Antecedents of Learning in Simulations Demonstrating the Learning Effectiveness of Simulation: Where we are and Where we need to go The Use of Computer Simulations as a Pedagogical Aid in Teaching Management Information Systems Evaluating Simulation Learning in a Distant Learning Instructional Model Financial Engineering of Global Investments The Labor History Game: Playing with the Past Perks Participation Assessing Negotiator's Proficiency with a Negotiation role-play The Art of Negotiating Enhancing Learning and Employee Development through the Assessment of Learning Pedagogy Preferences across selected Dimensions of Culture: A Preliminary Investigation Cooperative Learning: What are we Learning? Effective Use of Mastery Based Experiential learning in a Project Course to improve skills in system analysis and Design Simulations and Learning: Can we prove a relationship? (Seminar) Predicting and Reviewing NYSE Stock Prices by use of Basic Statistical Analysis and Logic Toy Car Depreciation Exercise ABSEL as Home Community: An Interactive Exploration Service Learning: Linking Academic Study to Community Development and Business Enhancement Ability of Efficient Evaluation of Knowledge-Based Management Strategies Corporate Ethics Training Programs Modeling Attributes in Demand Functions of Computerized Business Simulations: An Extension of Teach's Gravity Flow Algorithm Expert Systems Combined with Neutral Networks: Tools to Benefit the Marketing Researcher Computer Game Design: New Directions for Intercultural Simulation Game Designers Consistency in Simulation Performance over Time and Across Simulation Games The Impact of an Artificial Market Leader on Simulation Competitor's Strategies Business Plans, Case Studies, and Total Enterprise Simulations: A Natural Co-existence An Exploration into the Non-Use of Business Simulations The Market Game: Interactive Learning Through Market Simulation Plotting Brand Trajectories with the COMPLETE PPM package: A Market Segmentation Analysis and Positioning Tool Me and Mine Inc: An Exercise in Management Theory Learning to Differentiate Leadership from Managerial Position Business Ethics Survey: A Perspective from the Retail Industry Experiential Learning in Demand Analysis for an Agricultural Commodity Marketing on the Internet: A Pedagogical Exercise College Students Need Simple Computer Simulations, Especially for International Business Courses An Analysis of Student Attitudes, Performance, and Strategies in a Simulation Competition Based on a Controlled Product-Market-Entry Game Structure The Crystal Enterprise: Application of a Non-Computerized Simulation Model in a Process of Organizational Change Threshold: A Windows-Based Behaviorally Oriented Total Enterprise Simulation Coaching Business Game Teams Using a Decision Variable Optimizer Rock and Roll is here to Stay: Enhancing Experiential Pedagogy with Musical Exercises An Example of Business Process Analysis Simulation for Customer Software Support The Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Academic Institutions Using the Integrative International Simulation INTOPIA Mark 2000 in a Concentrated MBA Curriculum A Group Experience as an Integrated Part of the Core Management Course Empowered Learning in the Classroom The Inter-Group Interaction: An Innovative Approach to Cooperative Learning Courses that Utilize Student Team: An Approach to enhancing their Effectiveness Thoughts about the Measurement of Learning: The Case for Guided Learning and Associated Measurement Issues Measuring Student Learning Using Business Simulations: A Theory Based Perspective On the Use of PC Fingame in an Undergraduate Finance Course How Managers get Things Done: A Virtual Soundbite Internet Experiential learning in the Principals of Marketing Classroom: A Pedagogical Approach Current Student Perceptions Relative to Business Simulations Beyond Capitalism: Designing Business Policy and Social Justice The Use of Boards of Directors to Evaluate Reports and Presentations in an Undergraduate Business Policy Course Beacon Lumber: An Experiential Introduction to Financial Accounting The Application of Organizational Motivation Principles: The Experiential Business Simulation Motus Manufacturing Avoiding a Bogey: Grading Case Discussions Scientifically Communicating Consumer Behavior II: A Modified Exercise Using Personal Consumption Journals in Condensed Courses Designing Instruments for Assessing the Effectiveness of Simulations, (Seminar) 360º Performance Feedback: Appraisal vs. Assessment The Cafeteria Approach to Managing an Academic Career: Remaining Non-Perishable while Doing Your Own Thing An Experiential Exercise Related to Person-Organization Fit and it's Consequences For Today's Dynamic and Changing World, Business Simulations need to be expanded to encompass Much Greater Complexity: A Demonstration The Incident Process: A Case in Reverse Contextually-Anchored Business Simulations The Energy Factor: Building Motivation in the Simulation Gaming Environment The Design of an Internet Game