COMPARING THE SIMULATION WITH THE CASE APPROACH: AGAIN! BUT THIS TIME USING CRITERIA APPROPRIATE FOR THE SIMULATION Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20,1993 126 COMPARING THE SIMULATION WITH THE CASE APPROACH: AGAIN! BUT THIS TIME USING CRITERIA APPROPRIATE FOR THE SIMULATION Jerry Gosenpud, University of Wisconsin- Whitewater John Washbush, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater ABSTRACT The purposes of this study were to identify academic learning tasks best accomplished with a simulation and compare class sections using a simulation with those not using one as to the accomplishment of those learning tasks. The learning task chosen was financial data analysis, including diagnosis and manipulation. Students exposed to class sections of Business Policy with a simulation learned these tasks better than students exposed to sections without a simulation. INTRODUCTION At one time, users of simulations were a bit insecure about the value of simulations, so some did research comparing their pedagogy with others as to learning enhancement. Simulations were a new pedagogy, thus a challenge to orthodoxy. Since the technique needed to defend itself, comparisons were usually in terms of a traditional criteria, that of delivering cognitive course material, and comparisons made were usually in terms of cognitive learning. Those days are essentially over. The value of simulations is not in question. But one question has not yet been answered by comparison studies: Does the simulation do a better job of helping students learn what the simulation is supposed to teach best? The present study’s purposes are to identify learning tasks best accomplished with a simulation and to test whether sections taught with a simulation do a better job of helping students learn those tasks than sections taught without a simulation. Part of the value of this study is to provide greater evidence of the validity of the simulation as a learning technique. The Task The learning task chosen as well suited for accomplishing in a simulation was an analytical one involving quantitative data manipulation, primarily financial. In simulations, players need to analyze and synthesize financial and other objective, functional information in order to make effective decisions (Scott & Strickland, 1985). Players also need to understand the relative consequences of the alternative decisions open to them (Jensen, 1992). METHOD Subjects and Classes The subjects were 103 college seniors from four sections of a Business Policy course at a midwestern university, each meeting twice a week for 75 minutes. Two were taught by the senior author of this paper using lectures on strategy, case discussions, and a simulation. Grades were based on the game, class participation, and two written case analyses. The other sections were taught by another tenured faculty member with four weeks of lecture including 75 minutes on financial analysis and case discussions presented by students. Grades were based on a theory-based test, class participation, and the presentation. The Learning Measure Learning was measured by two forms of a multiple-choice and short-essay examination constructed of material routinely confronted by students competing in a simulation, for example, determining costs of goods sold. RESULTS Students exposed to the simulation made greater test score gains on the learning measure than students only exposed to cases and strategic theory (t=3.37, p<.Ol). These results suggest that students do better in learning firm and business- related data analysis and decision making consequences when exposed to a simulation than when only exposed to cases and theory. While the authors believe that these results are valid, two methodological flaws temper the above conclusions. First, the class sections may not be perfectly comparable. In the two simulation sections, 94% of the enrolled students took both test forms compared to 46% in the control sections. Second, the test used to measure learning may not be valid. Learning was measured by parallel forms of a test reflecting what the authors believed students learn in the simulation. Whether the test reflects real learning is arguable. On the other hand, there is little reason to believe that skills learned in a simulation aren’t also taught with cases, which contain financial and other quantitative data. So while the sections may have been different in some respects, the learning goals for both included financial analysis and application. In addition the items in the test were logically chosen by the authors and an argument for content validity exists. Additionally, Spearman-Brown reliability coefficients were calculated for each form and were .65 and .7 respectively. CONCLUSIONS Considering the results of this and other studies, comparisons of the simulation with other pedagogies suggest that the simulation is equally effective in facilitating the acquisition of cognitive material and perhaps superior in helping students analyze, synthesize, and apply financial data. REFERENCES Tables and a list of the twelve references researched for this study may be obtained from the senior author. Table of Contents Volume 20, 1993 Dominant Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Shelf Wars: A Grocery Channel Simulation Shared Cultural Perspectives: An Experiential Exercise Utilizing International Students to Globalize the Classroom An Instrument for Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods in the Business Policy and Strategy Formulation Course Providing Better Trained Graduates for Accounting Employers The Ambition Gradient Approach to Evaluation of Computer Simulation Game Team Performance Alphatec: A Negotiation Exercise with Logrolling and Bridging Potential Using the Ideafisher Idea Generation System as a Decision Support System in Marketing Strategy Courses A Dynamic Market Share Allocation Model For Computerized Business Simulations Multi-Cultural Adaptability Using Experiential Learning in a Graduate Course Development of Experiential Applications in HRM: Practicing What Preach and Preaching for Practice Linking Students and Business Leaders Through Portfolios Debriefing International Experiential Learning Exercises: Road Signs for Effectiveness Sales Manager: A Simulation Modeling Interactive Effects in Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations: A Critique of Goosen's Interpolation Reducing the Complexity of Interactive Variable Modeling in Business Simulations Through Interpolation Antecedent Biases of Experiential Learners: Trainee Occupation and Subgroup Diversity Pax in Terra Sancta: Simulating the Middle East Peace Negotiations A Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changes in Ethnocentric/Geocentric Orientation by Business Students after Exposure to a One Summer Course in International Marketing's A Systematic Approach to the Development and Evaluation of Experiential Exercises Entrepreneurs Evaluate Experiential Education A Linear Programming Approach to Open System Total Enterprise Simulations Reflecting Leader Behavior from the Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation Linking Cognitive Styles, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives and Assessment: A Decision Tree Approach Restructuring Management Education in Post-Communist Countries: How Western Experts Can Help Managerial and Cultural Pre-Conditions for Superior Performance in a Global Setting: An Experimental Study with the Aid of Business Games Multiple Industries in Computerized Business Gaming Simulations Content or Process? - Content and Process! Some Observations and Reflections About Management Education in Central Europe Out-of-Class Experiences to Promote Volunteerism Enacting the Linguistic Consciousness of the Modern Managerial Mind: Post-Modernism and Experiential Learning Intergrating Experiential Exercises into the College Curriculum: The Case of Internationalizing the Business Curriculum Simulation Marketing Oversights Incorporating Advertising Creative Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations The Dynamics of a Partnership Between Business and Education Collaborative Education Done Globally Experiential Systems Analysis CADPLAN: A Simulation for Comparative Advertising A Doctoral Symposium: Preparing Students for Conference Behavior Comparing the Simulation with the Case Approach: Again! Total Quality Management: A Model for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Audit: An Experiential Exercise for Business Students Extending the Reach of Simulations: DECIDE Heads for the Inner City Lessons Learned from a Customized Management Development Simulation The Foreign Exchange Spot Trading Simulation Using Lotus 1-2-3 to complete a Triple Play in a Simulated Competition International Business Education: Is Enough Being Done? Matching of Student-Teacher Cognitive Style as a Factor in Student Success in an Introduction to Information Systems Course Breathing (More) Life into the Case Approach Lord of the Flies: A Live Case Approach to Leadership Cooperative Case Studies: Experiential Tools for Teaching Business Problem Solving Tools Strategy Simulations in Context: An Evaluation of Key Dimensions The Distribution Channel Game Evaluation of a Simulation Game as an Education Tool for Utility Professionals The Relationship Between Total Enterprise Simulation Performance and Learning Total Quality Management does not Happen by Magic, but it can be Taught Using a Pedagogical Methodology that Utilizes Magic Effectively Preparing Students for Careers in a Global Environment by Integrating Total Quality Management Thoughout the Business Curriculum An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive and Performance Consistency in a Marketing Simulation Game Environment Using MARSGAP with LAPTOP: (A Marketing Simulation Game Analysis Program) with LAPTOP: A Marketing Simulation Adapting TQM Implementation to Organizational Level An MBA Business Simulation: Executive Interaction Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the Classroom (and the Hotel Meeting Room) Closing the Gap between Corporate and National Culture The Dynamic Manufacturing Company The Use of Experiential Techniques in Corporate Training The State of Simulation Gaming in Easter European Countries- Principally Russia An Experiential Exercise in Cross-Cultural Training Valuing Differences: A Conceptual Framework Demonstration of an Experiential Exercise Effectively Using Experiential Learning to Impart TQM Concepts in a High Technology Environment The Older Worker Questionnaire: An Exercise Concerning Older Worker Stereotypes and Behaviors The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics Welcome to the Party! An Expression of Vocational Preference Experiential Exercise for Imparting Cross-Cultural Appreciation Six Swift Simulations on Globalization Overview of BASF Delegate Program