A SEARCH FOR VISUAL AIDS TO SUPPORT EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THROUGH THE 1990’S Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 206 A SEARCH FOR VISUAL AIDS TO SUPPORT EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THROUGH THE 1990’S John D. Overby, The University of Tennessee at Martin ABSTRACT This paper argues the proposition that currently and throughout the 1990’s, the best media available as a means of visually aiding student’s learning is the utilization of photographic slide presentations. A discussion of Horwood’s Model of Experiential Learning and the Communications Model serve as the primary bases for the paper’s development of argumentative support. A discussion of production, technical, and economic considerations also provide support for the proposition presented. INTRODUCTION Logistical requirements of taking a class of students to Visit a business facility can Sometimes create barriers for many faculty members in schools of business. These logistical problems result in the faculty member losing a valuable teaching aid and the students losing a valuable learning opportunity and have led many faculty to search for others means of providing the learning experience gained from looking inside business organizations. In the last decade a large number of faculty have turned to visual presentations as an experiential learning aid. Many of the visual presentations are either a 16 run film or a VCR tape that is provided by a textbook publisher, a part of their university’s film library or is rented from one of the many film libraries around the country. Horwood’s Model of Experiential Learning (1982) provides an experiential learning definition basis and aid to answering the question - How do visual aids compliment experiential learning? Visual Aid’s Fulfillment of Horwood’s Experiential Learning Model Criterion Visual aid presentations fulfill Horwood’s first criteria of the human condition component by allowing the student to fulfill individual’s upper level needs of Maslow’s Hierarchy through an affirmation that their earlier reading interpretation of a theory or concept was or was riot correct. The second criterion of transcending academic disciplines is met by a visual AID presentation of actual operations within a business setting assisting the student to recognize that the theory or concept is in actuality an integral component of organizational life after college. As a third component requirement of the experiential learning model, visual aid presentations provide many bases for group discussion as well as individual questions concerning the concept being presented. These questions and answers provide ample opportunities for group interactions and for individual independence. Fourth, visual aid presentations provide an implicit risk laden academic hazard for the students. This hazard is the risk of failing to adequately understand the material being presented. The three-parted learning sequence fifth component seems well suited for a classroom experience of lectures combined with visual aid presentations. The readiness stage can be developed by the instructor skillfully introducing the concept about to be presented and visually aided. The action or performance stage is provided by a visual presentation of the concept being mastered by real people within a real organization. The reflection stage can either take place during the classroom presentation or through after class analysis of the visual aids presented. The arguments above hopefully lead to acceptance of the proposition that visually aided presentations potentially fulfill the six criterion of Horwood’s Model of Experiential Learning The Best and Most Economical Experiential Learning Visual Aids Media For The 1990’s From a technical perspective, the limiting factor of the experiential learning visual aids communications chain becomes the media technologies utilized. From an financial perspective, the limiting factor of the experiential learning visual aids communications chain becomes the level of visual aids monies budgeted. Most faculties seem to have but three visual aid choices. We must use ancillary videos supplied by a publisher, rent a film or video; neither of which are specifically designed for our particular student body, or develop our own visual aid. In a study of the content of visual presentations, Golden (1987) determined that the quality and clarity of a photograph have a positive effect on the recall of the content. According to McComb and Robbins (1988), a technical system’s resolving ability is determined by lenses and film emulsion. Typical TV pictures consist of no more than 340 vertical and horizontal lines drawn. Some claims of up to 700 horizontal lines are being made and high-definition broadcasting system holds a promise of 1200 lines. A direct capabilities comparison can not be made, but Rogers (1989) claims today’s photograph still slide images represents approximately 2000 lines of resolution. Booth (1987) claims that electronic still photography (ES?) exist as the image of the future. Kodak announced in 1987 a chip capable of seeing 1.4 million pixels. To make a second comparison to still photography, 35mm color print film rated at ISO 100 can resolve and record about 18 million pixels. The most appropriate media for the present and for the 1990's decade is and will remain to be the old familiar standby, a photographic slide presentation. SUMMARY Use of photographic slides provides faculty an opportunity to present real world scenarios designed and composed for a particular audience’s competence level. Faculty can enhance the student’s learning experience by utilizing the most economical presentation media that currently and throughout the 1990s possesses the greatest level of transmission clarity. PUBLICATIONS Booth, Stephen A. (1987). ESP: Image Of the Future, Popular Mechanics, 164, 16. Golden, Anthony R. (1987). The Effect of Quality and Clarity on the Recall of Photographic Illustrations. ERIC ED 287 162. Horwood, Bert. (1982). The Anatomy of a Learning Experience. ERIC ED 241 195 McComb, Gordon arid Robbins, Ira. (1988). Taking the Mystery Out of Resolution. Video, 40-45. Rogers, Steve E. (August 1, 1989). Conversation Audio-Visual Librarian, Paul Meek Library, University of Tennessee at Martin. 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