DEVELOPING STUDENT TEAM-BUILDING AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS USING COMPUTER-AIDED EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING STRATEGIES Development In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 18, 1991 143 DEVELOPING STUDENT TEAM-BUILDING AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS USING COMPUTER-AIDED EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING STRATEGIES Carol F. Mehihoff, University of Nebraska ABSTRACT This paper discusses communication style as a factor in a computer-aided experiential developed for interior design pre-professionals to aid student learning visually and also to develop the team-building skills so essential for the boundary-spanning role of professionals in this field. An assessment of the communication style of the team members and leaders was used to identify positive strategies to build teamwork and leadership skills. INTRODUCTION The development of student communication skills and leadership skills during the educational experience is one of the goals of any educational institution. The guiding philosophy for education to date has been the culturally patterned belief that a teacher’s work is to transmit a body of knowledge to students. However, many people learn better by teaching others, not just by listening to lectures. (Hall, 1981). Team interaction can provide students with further opportunities to develop interpersonal and communication skills. A number of researchers has investigated factors such as communication style, tear,, cohesiveness, and team size relating to team performance in the classroom. Gosenpud and Wolfe (199(fl analyzed decision-making and the stages of development in a graduate level student management team. They found that the majority of the team players had a unilateral communication orientation. Gentry (1980) found that a team size of three functioned with less dissension than teams of four members. Wolfe arid Box (1986) investigated the relationship of team cohesiveness to performance and found that team cohesiveness can facilitate effective communication among team members. ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATION STYLE The present project was based on a prior study in which the leadership experiential was contained within a larger experiential learning project (Mehlhoff and Mauldin, 1990). As students experienced positive outcomes working with the original project, it seemed logical to focus on the leadership and team-building component for further evaluation. As increased levels of effective communication may contribute to team-building and team cohesiveness, a measurement of communication style (Truell, 1975) was selected as an assessment tool. The 20-item questionnaire is used to categorize respondents into four conununication styles: 1) the Analyzer is characterized by placing high value on facts and figures, 2) the Affiliator places high value on interpersonal relationships and feelings, 3) the Conceptualizer values ideas, concepts and theory, and 4) the Activator values action and results. Results showed student leader profiles on the communication styles measurement were grouped in categories three and four. Three student leaders were Conceptualizers and were future-oriented. They can be described as questioning and visionary. The two student leaders who fell in the fourth category of communication style (Activators) were practically oriented. Communication profiles of the balance of the class were concentrated in the Affiliator style and valued personal relationships. Group dynamics illustrated that the student leaders who were Conceptualizers were able to visualize possibilities for the project and to utilize team- building techniques to teach their team members effectively. The Activators were also effective leaders, but at times were too assertive for the Affiliators. As a means of helping students and leaders understand how their communication style influenced team effort and group dynamics, one class session was used as a debriefing technique. CONCLUSIONS Interior design professionals are boundary-spanning individuals, with responsibilities to both clients and craftsmen or contractors. The analysis of the communication style of interior design students created a greater awareness of effective communication for each of the team members who participated in the computer-aided experiential. Additionally, the team leaders benefited from the evaluation of communication style as a factor in developing team- building techniques. REFERENCES Gentry, J.W. (1980) Group size and attitudes toward the simulation experience. Simulation & Games, 11(4), 451- 460 Gosenpud, 3. & Wolfe, 3. (1990). A life cycle analysis of decision making for a strategic management team. Proceedings of the 17th Annual Convention of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential learning, 17,73-7g. Hall, E. T. (1981) Beyond Culture New York: Doubleday Co Mehlhoff, C. F. & Mauldin, S. (1990) Experiential learning for interior design students: Using CADD, lotus 1-2-3, and WordPerfect. Proceedings of the 17th Annual Convention of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 17, 203. Truell, C. (1975) Comm-style questionnaire George Truell and Associates Wolfe, J. & Box, T. It (1986) Relationships between team cohesion dimensions and business game performance. Proceedings of the 13th Annual Convention of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 13, 11-16 Table of Contents Volume 18, 1991 Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Using DIS 'n DAT as a Decision Support System for a Marketing Simulation Game Theoretical Derivation of a Market Demand Function for Business Simulators The Ethnographic Case Study: An Experiential Approach to Teaching Retail Management Electronic Bulletin Board Systems (BBS): Support Software for Computer Simulations The New Budget Game Negame: A Cross-Cultural Role-Play to Introduce Students to the Familiarization Stage of Negotiations Modeling Short-Run Cost and Production Functions Using Sheppard's Lemma in Computerized Business Simulations Increasing Simulation Realism through the Modeling of Step Costs Predicting Simulation Performance: Differences Between Groups and Individuals A Facility Location Case to Stimulate Classroom Interaction Educational Effectiveness of Business Simulation Gaming: A Comparative Study of Students and Practitioner Perspective Ethical Dilemmas in Experiential Learning: Issues and Strategies A Critical Review and Assessment of ABSEL's Award-Winning Procedures and Protocols Political Risk: A Simulation for Business Practitioners Upside Down: A Cross-Cultural Game in Experiential Learning Gorby's Dilemma: From Communism to Free Enterprise in Two Hours Strategic Market: Planning with the COMPLETE Product Portfolio Analysis Package: A Marketing Decision Support System Career Concepts and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Experiential Learning in Human Resources: A Performance Appraisal Application Managerial Motivation and Realism Among MBA Student as Viewed through The Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation An Experiential Approach to Teaching Data Analysis Using MYSTAT: Rationale, Procedures and Results Practicing What Was Preached: A Sequential Learning Model put to the Test Student Attitudes about Policy Course Simulations An Investigation of the Relationship Between Simulation Play, Performance Level and Recency of Play on Exam Scores The Effect of Leadership and Cognitive Processing Styles upon Peer Performance Evaluation: Implication for the Utilization of Simulations in Business Pedagogy On the Transfer of Market Oriented Business Games to Socialist Cultures An Application of Financial Analysis of the Business Firm in a Simulated Competitive Environment Collective Bargaining Simulation: An Exercise based on a Familiar Theme Making Business Policy a Strategic Management Experience A Student Exercise for Intergrating the Concepts of Power and Motivation The Boundaries Extended: An Experiment Comparing Dialectical Inquiry, Devil's Advocacy and Consensus Using the Executive Game Using a Simulation Package to Develop a Simulation Exercise in Cost Accounting Success Factors in Experiential Training for Creative Problem-Solving Teams An Experiential Approach for teaching Quality management Critical Success Ratios: A Comparison of Two Business Simulations in a Multi-Year Environment Stocklogs: A Classroom Exercise for Teaching the Logistical Relationship of Location and Inventory The Organizational Leadership Program Simulating Business Decision-Making: Using Statistical Cases for Classroom Exercises Scripting for the Classroom Upgrading the Business Strategy and Policy Game Developing Student Team-Building and Leadership Skills Using Computer-Aided Experiential learning Strategies Organizing and Outward Bound Field Trip An Architecture for Extensible Simulation Games Performance in the Capstone Business Course: What is the effect of Pedagogy, Learning Styles, and Student Motivation? Operational Strategy with Participant-Modifiable Parameters An Example of a Personal Selling Case Transformed into a Role Play Scenario Instructional Software: It's Evolution and Current State of the Art in the Business Curriculum Ascertaining Performance Variables for use in Determining Student's Grades in Courses Employing a Business Simulation Designing Management Seminars Using Business Simulations The Accounting Information Systems Course: Bridging the Gap between the Classroom and the Real World The Good Cooks Guide to Training Excellence: Working with Passion A Demonstration on Multiple Data Collection Methods: Seeing Strategic Issues Through the Looking Glass Simulation Systems Analysis and Design: Why Undergraduate Education gets a Failing Grade Accommodating Organizational Culture: An Evaluation of Management Development Delivery Modes in Varying Organizational Cultures Modeling Total Quality into Business Simulations The Political Futures Game Meeting Meeting Objectives