WHAT IS IT THAT WE WANT STUDENTS TO LEARN: PROCESS OR CONTENT? Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 19, 1992 211 WHAT IS IT THAT WE WANT STUDENTS TO LEARN: PROCESS OR CONTENT? James W. Gentry, University of Nebraska Jeffrey J. Stoltman, Wayne State University William W. Curtis, University of Nebraska ABSTRACT This paper addresses pedagogical assumptions underlying a good deal of experiential learning approaches. Both the predominantly applied character of business courses generally and the nature of experience-based learning seem to lead to an inherent emphasis on the learning of process as opposed to content. After reviewing the content" versus process arguments, the paper suggests a pedagogic model, based on problem-solving research, in which the issue is not whether to emphasize one at the expense of the other, but instead how to integrate the two for more efficient and effective learning. The role of content as a foundation for efficient communication and for conditions of application of processes is discussed. Based on research in instructional and cognitive psychology, both the “content” and process" concepts are refined and enriched, and the degree to which each should be emphasized is related to the instructional level and course objectives, and to the individual student’s motivation and capacity for "self-monitoring. The paper suggests that instructors, especially those relying heavily on experiential learning programs, should consciously develop internally consistent pedagogic strategies for individual courses. INTRODUCTION If you ask a child what they learn in school, she is likely to say things. However, some of us in higher education find fault with pedagogical approaches, which stress the knowing of things. The basic premise of experiential learning is that basic knowledge is present, but that the focus of the educational activity should be on the practical implementation of that basic knowledge as well as on higher order processes such as the abilities to focus, organize, compare, analyze, infer, predict, elaborate, integrate, and evaluate. This paper is concerned with this content versus process distinction. THE CASE FOR PROCESS Some of us who are of the experiential learning persuasion have tended to focus on the higher learning objectives expressed in Bloom’s taxonomy. We believe that students need to look for patterns among variables, to seek out relationships. Further, it is the process of looking for those relationships that is what we believe is learned. In other words, we carry the philosophy of ‘It’s not the answers, which are important, hut rather learning how to ask the right question? toward the extreme. By presenting students with real experiences that they have to structure and handle, we are promoting the learning of the decision making process. When we talk to people in industry, the feedback is not that the students need to know more about marketing strategy or market research. We more frequently hear that they need better critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills. These skills reflect more the "how" of business courses which we teach and not the what of the courses. A good course, regardless of its definition in the curriculum guide, should require the student to participate in a proactive manner, and feedback as to the quality of that participation is critical in order to insure that the experience leads to a more efficient, more effective, and more enjoyable subsequent experience. THE CASE FOR CONTENT With respect to content, it appears that we have often assumed that the requisite understanding exists. While the quality of an experiential exercise is a function of the richness experienced by the student, we must acknowledge that the mere exposure to experiential approaches is insufficient. All of us have probably tried experiential approaches, which yielded more confusion than learning. Quite possibly, we have assumed incorrectly that students possess the appropriate frame of reference and the requisite skills for acquiring and applying the skills upon which the success of an experiential exercise rests. While many of us find the memorization of facts, figures, and formulae to be busywork, the role of general knowledge in society is of vital importance to development of cultural literacy. Cultural literacy provides the basic framework upon which we communicate. Hirsch (1987, p. 31) notes that, to thrive, a child needs to learn the traditions of the particular human society and culture it is born into. Similarly, reading comprehension involves the implicit assumption that the reader has a basic cultural literacy. Every textbook, even the most elementary, implies information that it takes or granted and does not explain. Knowing such information is the decisive skill of reading (Hirsch 1987, p. 112). Being culturally literate is socially enabling. While knowledge for knowledge’s sake has little value, but knowledge as a basis for business and social interaction has great value. CONCLUSION The standard discussion of Bloom’s taxonomy is that all levels of learning, from Basic Knowledge to Objective Evaluation, will be present in every course, even those in elementary schools. A more realistic perspective would be that we acknowledge that all courses will no doubt involve a variety of levels, but that the relative emphasis on the different levels varies greatly. This leads to the conclusion that instructors need to be flexible in their general approach to teaching. Have Pedagogy, Will Not Travel,” so to speak. Those instructors given the opportunity to teach both introductory and advanced courses need to be very careful to avoid the trap of the comfortable pedagogy. This admonition has special relevance to those of us of the experiential persuasion, just as it does to those who lecture/test regardless of the level of the course. If the students do not have the “cultural literacy" to communicate efficiently with business people, then the live case approach should be avoided until they have acquired sufficient content. Experiential techniques emphasizing process are very appropriate in an applied discipline like Business, but we must acknowledge that they are more appropriate in some instances than in others. REFERENCES Bloom, B.S., M.D. Englehart, E.D. Furst, W.H., Hill and D.R. Drathwohl (1956), Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Company, Inc. Hirsch, E. D. Jr. (1987), Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, Boston: Houghton Mifflen Company. Table of Contents Volume 19, 1992 The Pedagogical Utility of a Management Simulation Game in a Business Policy Course Modeling Economic Environments in Business Simulations: Some Comparisons and Recommendations Experiential Learning and TQM Principles: Teaching Behavioral Science in a Business School The Use of Poster Presentations as a Final Project in the Business Policy Course The Device Business: A Management Simulation for Strategy Formulation The Advantages of Experiential learning in the Auditing curriculum A Framework for the Identification of Moderated and Mediated Performance consequences of Pedagogical Alternatives Simulating Qualitative Research Relating to Values and Lifestyle Segmentation A New Market Demand Model for Business Simulators Interactive Optimization Using the Method of Relative Improvement Preferences: Methodology and Empirical Evaluation The Service Trainer Simulation Benefits of Internet Computer Networks for ABSEL Members How Should We Measure Experiential Learning? An Assessment of Simulation Usage in Management Accounting Courses The Influence of Myers-Briggs Type and Group Dynamics on Simulation Performance Effective Leadership Behavior in the Desert Storm Arena: An Application of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model Installing and Consolidating Work-Team Values: The Effects of a Multicultural Outdoors Experiential Program Key Determinants and Decision performance in a Business Simulations and Experiential Learning environment Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in Indonesia Attitudes Toward and Emotions Related to Women as Managers: A Replication and Beyond Scenario Approach to Simulating Consumer Expenditures: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Insights into Ethical Decision making Activities and Organizational Performance: A Management Simulation Analysis of College Students and Managers Evaluating a Business Simulation Program for Joint Venture Negotiation and Management Teaching Business Interviewing Strategies with an Experiential Approach Cooperative Learning Across the Business Curriculum Modeling Total Quality Elements into a Strategy-Oriented Simulation Teaching Business Decision making using a Simulator Extending the Educational Utility of a Simulated Competition within the Confines of an Established Undergraduate Marketing Curriculum Expert Systems Versus Traditional Methods for Teaching Accounting Issues Confidence Extremes Diminish Quality Performance in a Total Enterprise Simulation Can Ethics Be Taught? A Simulation Tests a Traditional Ethics Pedagogy Through The Looking Glass, Inc.: Organizational Climate Research as Experiential Pedagogy The use of Cluster Analysis for Business Game Performance Analysis Power and Ethnicity: An Experiential Learning Exercise (How to Sensitize Students to Diversity) Directed Development of Critical and Creative Thinking Skills for Case Analysis Implementing Total Quality Management in a Computerized Business Simulation Product Quality in Business Simulations Use of Simulation for Ethics Education in Management Satisfying the University's Customers through Total Quality Management Instruction: A Case Study Personality Characteristics and Group Performance in Total Enterprise Simulations Concepts of Interval Estimation and Quality Control Charts via Computer Simulated Sampling An Examination of the Effect of Team Cohesion, Player Attitude, and Performance Expectations on Simulation Performance Results The Effectiveness of Inventory Management and Production Scheduling Training in a Total Quality Management Environment Peer Group Indicators of the External Validity of Business Games: A five-year Longitudinal Study Political Strategies and Personal Actions Does Practice make Perfect? Observations on Simulation Trial The Use of A Non-Business Computer Simulation to Teach Marketing Management BankPro Commercial Bank Simulation The Production Game Pursuing Excellence: Work Strengths, Assets and relevant Values (An Exercise) Test of a Short Outward Bound Experience for College Students What is it that we want Student To Learn? Using Two TQM Philosophies when Playing Blackjack The Lagged Effects of Decision Variables on Financial Performance Measures Used in Two business Simulations The Development of an Experiential Exercise for Career Planning and Effective Job search Performance Measuring Quality in Management of Business Pedagogy Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement: Using and Experiential Process Toward a Generalized Architecture for Intelligent Reactive Management Systems The Quality Game TQX: Using Expert Systems to Improve Training in Total Quality Management A Simulation of the Effect of the Medicaid Payment Lag on the Financial Position of Community Pharmacies The Use of a Board of Directors to Evaluate and Validate Decisions in a Competitive Graduate Management Simulation Course The Impact of Academic Dishonesty on Business Simulations and Experiential Learning Activities Picture Project: An Experience of Icebreaking and/or Decision-Making An Effective Role-playing Exercise for Teaching Requisite TQM Supervisory Attitudes/Behavior Computerized Management Simulations and Some Correlates of Students' Satisfaction The Timing and Stability of Reactions to Market Structure in a Single Player Simulation Environment A Graphics Application Extension for a Simulated Decision Support System Environment Aspects of a Group Project Utilizing Actual Business data and a Computerized Accounting System The Role of Universities' Extended Learning Department in Assisting Organizations Implement Total Quality Management A three-dimensional Learning Experience to Develop Total Quality Management Skills Estimating Quality Costs by Computer Simulation Applications and Examples of Quality Control Software Assessing Business Pedagogy A Demonstration of an Experiential Process for Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement Processes An Action-Ethics Dilemma: A Demonstration Org Sim Jr.: A 2-3 Hour Version of the 2-Day Blanchard/Murrell Organization Simulation Building Buildings: An Experiential Exercise in Organizational Structure, Communication, Leadership and Group Dynamics Expert Systems for Organization Design: A Demonstration A Demonstration of Product Quality in a Business Simulation: Version 2 of CEO Two Revolutions, Total Quality Leadership, and the Baldy: The Story of Milliken Total Quality after the Award - The Xerox Story Building a Competitive Advantage through Customer Satisfaction and Reengineering Human Resource Planning: Managing the Only Renewable Resource for a Competitive Advantage Using Simulations to Teach International Issues: An analysis of the Multinational Management Game's Learning Environment Quality Function Deployment: A Tutorial Care and Nurturing of Teams Making a Good Thing Better: Adding TQM to Participative management Empowering Organizations to Redesign and Transform Themselves - Eastman Chemical Using Simulations in Field Management Development of an International Life Insurance Company Reinforcing the TQ Environment via Simulation Transforming a Business College into a Total Quality College