THE EFFECTS OF SYNERGOGY ON THE POLICY COURSE: SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN STUDENT LEARNING AND TEACHER EVALUATION Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 178 THE EFFECTS OF SYNERGOGY ON THE POLICY COURSE: SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN STUDENT LEARNING AND TEACHER EVALUATION Gene E. Burton, California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-0006, (209) 294-4070 ABSTRACT Developing the conceptual skills essential for managing in the information age is one of the principle goals of the capstone course in business policy However, this objective is one not easily achieved through conventional teaching rnethodologies so policy professors must constantly seek improved techniques to maximize student learning. In this experiment, two forms of Synergogic methodologies are used to significantly improve learning in the policy course while achieving, at the same time, significantly better student evaluations of instruction THE STUDY The purpose of this inquiry was to measure the effects of two synergogic methodologies (Team Effectiveness Design and Team-Member Teaching Design) on the undergraduate capstone business policy course. Two policy classes were assigned to the same professor. A traditional pedagogic technique was used for the control class (n-26). The two synergogic techniques were employed in the experiential class (n = 28). Both classes also used the same experiential exercises and the same case studies. The same learning objectives and the same learning levels were established for both classes. Grades were determined by the scores on two common exams (a mid-term and a final exam). Just prior to the final exam, both sections evaluated the instruction using a common evaluation questionnaire. Team Effectiveness Design Mouton and Blake describe the Team Effectiveness Design (TED) as follows: “In the Team Effectiveness Design, each of a teams learners assesses his or her knowledge prior to the team discussion. After an initial review (prestudy) of the material to be learned, each learner completes a given set of true-false or multiple-choice questions. The team members then work together to reach consensus on the best answer to each test question. Members present their choices and reasons for them and learn about other members’ choices. Since the task is to achieve consensus, participants have the opportunity to exchange information, to explain their reasoning, to assess the reasons and evidence provided by others, and to use logic in weighing the pros and cons of each alternative as the best answer. Later, in general sessions, objective scoring enables team members to assess their individual work, arid the team’s consensus answers are scored for comparison with other teams. The answer key also provides a rationale for each answer, which further aids team members in understanding why each correct answer, according to the key, is regarded as most valid. Team members then use an evaluation period to assess how well they worked as a team and to plan how to increase their effectiveness. Team-Member Teaching Design (TMTD) The Team-Member Teaching Design is described by Mouton and Blake as follows: “In the Team-Member Teaching Design, participants are responsible for learning an assigned portion of the subject matter and teaching it to the others. Once each members part is fitted with the others, the entire body of knowledge is known to all. Thus, the TMTD somewhat resembles a jigsaw puzzle. …This design requires that the subject matter be subdivided and a part assigned as prestudy to each member. When the team assembles, the member with the first part teaches that material to the others; then the other members in turn teach their parts. A comprehensive test of the material is administered to assess each participant’s understanding. The answer key provides the expert rationale for each item and helps learners understand whatever questions each may have missed. In a subsequent brief critique period team members assess how well each seems to have learned and communicated the assigned subject matter, and members suggest how individuals could increase their effectiveness.” FINDINGS The grades for the two sections of policy, based on a 4.0 grading scale, resulted from two common examinations (a mid-term and a final). The experimental class, utilizing the two synergogy methodologies earned significantly higher grades than the control class, which utilized traditional pedagogic techniques. Just prior to the final examination, both sections evaluated the course, using a common questionnaire. The results of the student evaluation of instruction indicate that the experimental class gave the course and instruction significantly higher evaluations on all fourteen items tested. They even gave significantly higher ratings to the text, which also was the same for both classes. The synergogy class also expected to receive significantly higher grades in the course. SUMMARY The results of this study certainly provide strong support for the potential of the two synergogic methodologies -Team Effectiveness Design and Team-Member Teaching Design. The policy class that used these innovative techniques that make students responsible for their own learning earned significantly higher course grades than the students receiving convention ‘teaching.’ Because the learning objectives were the same for both classes and were carefully planned around Blooms Taxonomy of Learning Objectives, it can he concluded that the experimental class did, indeed, learn significantly more than the control class. Table of Contents Volume 17, 1990 The Impact of Decision Support Systems on the Effectiveness of Small Group Decisions - Revisited The Relationship Between Financial Performance and Other Measures of Learning on a Simulation Exercise Use and Effectiveness of an Analogy-Based Expert System Suggestions for Computerized Business Authors Dealing with Power: An Experiential Exercise Using Movie and Personal Diary Analysis Techniques A Model for Developing Student Skills and Assessing Outcomes Through Outdoor Training Computer-Aided Exercises Versus Workbook Exercises as Learning Facilitator in the Principles of Marketing Course An Exposition of Guilford's Si Model as a Means of Diagnosing and Generating Pedagogical Strategies in Collegiate Business Education Formal Planning and Simulation Team Performance: A Cross Sectional Approach Cases: Real Organizations in Real Time in the Classroom An Empirical Investigation of the Internal Validity of Marketing Simulation Game An Empirical Evaluation of the Pedagogical Value of Playing a Simulation Game in a Principles of Marketing Course Factors Affecting Effective Teaching of Strategic Planning: Some Preliminary Evidence An Experiential Exercise for Learning About the Relationship Between Organizational Form & the Project Management Process Accounting Communication Skills can be Taught in the Auditing Course Modeling Cost Functions in Computerized Business Simulation: An Application of Duality Theory and Sheppard's Lemma A Life Cycle Analysis of Decision Making for a Strategic Management Team What's the Problem? A Dynamic Model for Teaching Problem Solving Skills Experientially International Currency Fluctuations: Money$im, A Simulation Superstores: A Specialized Retailing Simulation Within a Specialized Marketing Curriculum Factors Affecting Student Perceptions of Learning in a Business Policy Game VC + EL = VL The Name Game: An Experiential Exercise in Intergroup Relations The Effects of Experiential Accounting Work Experience on Student Performance in Intermediate Accounting Courses The Results of Using the Experiential Activity Group Performance Evaluation in a Business Policy Setting Using a Legal Database to Describe the Legal Environment of Marketing (and Business) Matching Environmental Uncertainty and Organizational Configuration An Instructional Computer Simulation of Tampering in QC Executive Evaluation of Student Learning in the Looking Glass Simulation Group Personality Composition and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance An Expert System for Selecting Analytical Techniques for Analyzing Marketing Research Data Effects of Cognitive Styles on Responses in an In-Basket Simulation A Psychometric Analysis of Kolb's Revised Learning Style-Inventory Selecting and Developing Experiential Exercises Using Movies Application of a Real-World Strategic Management Model in the Classroom Demand Equations which Include Product Attributes Consumption as the Objective in Computer-Scored Total Enterprise Simulations The Effects of Decision Format and Evaluation on Simulation Performance, Decision Time, and Team Cohesion The Effects of Computer Related Assignments on Student Performance in Business Administration The Money Game: A Dynamic Simulation Including Random Shocks for Money and Banking Courses Methods for Evaluating Performance on Business Simulations: A Survey The Effects of Synergogy on the Policy Course: Significant Improvements in Student Learning and Teacher Evaluation Conditions and Outcomes of Trust in a Two-Person Bargaining Exercise Bankgame Enhancing Computer Business Simulation with the Use of VGA Graphics An Experiential Approach to Entrepreneurship An Advanced Simulation Method (ASM) for Multiple Objective Problems The Influence of Experiential learning Techniques on Student Recognition of Non-Primary Learning Styles Negotiating Mergers and Acquisitions: A Cocktail Napkin Approach Identification of Unintended Effects in Experiential Laboratory Exercises An Experimental Comparison of Paper and Pencil and Computer Aided Decision Support Tools Porting a Simulation from the IBM World to the Macintosh World A Transaction Cost Analysis of Experiential Learning The Development of Experiential Exercises for Courses in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management The Assessment Center as and Experiential Classroom Exercise Pricing Strategy Algorithms for Playing Business Simulations Organizational Structures for International Operations: An Experiential Activity Simulation Emphasis in the Business School Capstone Course An Integrated Approach to Computerizing the Business Curriculum Cross-Cultural Business Negotiations Exercise Organizational Socialization and Gender Differences in Students at Work Understanding Student Work Experience: A Content-Analytic Approach Introducing Executive MBA Programs with Management Games An Analysis of Improvement in Business Decision Outcome with Sequential Use of Two Simulation Games Teaching Business Policy Utilizing Mass Lecture and Individual Case Labs Potholes Along the Road to Evaluating Learning Outcomes: The Case of Outdoor Management Training Experiential Learning for Interior Design Students: Using CADD, Lotus 1-2-3, and Wordperfect Cognitive Learning Using a Computer-Based, Qualitative Interactive Business Simulation Sex Discrimination: Does the Woman get the Job or Does the Best Man Win? A Search for Visual Aids to Support Experiential Learning Through the 1990's An Experimental Analysis fo the Effectiveness of Student Role-Playing in Sales Training How to Have Students Learn from their Term Projects Self-Evaluation Exercise (SEE): An Assessment of Class Contribution A Study of the Influence of Team Formation on Attitudes and Performance in Management Games A Hardware Based CIM Simulation Laboratory Model Test Substance Abuse in Organizations Micro Computer Training Models Teaching Forecasting, Cash Budgeting and Inventory Model Building Using SBTools A Comparison of the Effects of Experiential Learning Activities and Traditional Lecture Classes An Adjunct Writing Instruction Assistant, The Computer; With an Illustration Classroom Software for ABC Analysis Utilizing Information Processing Technology to Enhance the Business Policy Simulation Experience Progressive Cases Realistic Job Previews Vs. Traditional Job Previews: Experiencing the Differences and Understanding the Consequences Investment Analysis Using the Pragmatic Multiplier Approach A Computer Simulation Interface for Competitive and Firm Analysis Self-Assessment of Ethical Decision Making Predispositions Preparing Managers for Overseas Assignments An Inquiry into Japanese Marketing: Workshop on Teaching Japanese Marketing The Performance Appraisal Feedback Interview: A Role Play for Human Resources Management Teaching Counselor Selling techniques Using Experiential Techniques to Teach International Topics International Management Simulation Gaming: Current Status and Future Developments A Realism Comparison of Simulation Technologies/Methodologies A Time-Efficient Game to Illustrate Concepts Taught in Management Courses and Management Development Programs Teaching the Management of Technology The Concept of Face and the Applicability of Experiential Exercises in an Oriental Culture's