MEANINGFUL NOTEBOOKS AND ENHANCED LEARNING USING A TOTALLY MENU-DRIVEN DATA BASE AND DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS (DSS) PROGRAM Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 14, 1987 118 MEANINGFUL NOTEBOOKS AND ENHANCED LEARNING USING A TOTALLY MENU-DRIVEN DATA BASE AND DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS (DSS) PROGRAM Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, State University of New York at Geneseo Peter M. Markulis, State University of New York at Geneseo Daniel R. Strang, State University of New York at Geneseo ABSTRACT Journals, also called notebooks or log books, are frequently used in conjunction with computerized business simulations. This paper discusses the use of notebooks, as a form of learning device. The paper takes the position that while notebooks are used by most instructors -- as a written assignment to accompany the simulation -- instructors are not sure what to expect of notebooks and/or have no criteria by which to evaluate notebooks. The paper suggests that a notebook’s use can be enhanced through the use of menu- driven computer support programs. The paper describes one such support program written with LOTUS 1-2-3 (release 2.00)TM for the DECIDETM simulation. INTRODUCTION Many instructors who use computerized simulations in their courses frequently require their students to keep a log, journal or notebook of their decisions. If you are one of them, then this article is for you. Similar to our experience you may have found that for the most part, notebooks tend to reflect “seat-of-the-pants” decision making and analysis, rather than clearly thought out planning and strategic analysis. Before a recent semester, one of the authors put what he considered to be examples of “excellent” notebooks from past semesters on the reserve reading shelf In the Business Library (three different notebooks). You can imagine the result: students simply mimicked these notebooks. Perhaps Dr. Samuel Johnson’s epigram for the student would be appropriate here, “Dear students, your notebooks are both good and original; unfortunately the good parts are not original and the original parts are not good!” Thus, instead of reading about well defined strategies and carefully planned decisions, we read entries such as: “We really did not understand why stock price or ROI (or almost any dependent variable) was acting this way, so we went ahead and changed our price or promotion (or some other independent variable).” Or, “We changed X or Y and it seemed to come out okay;” or “We wanted to experiment with promotion. . but we ran out of time.” While such statements are more or less expected during the first round of decision making, these comments unfortunately appear throughout the rounds of play. In fact it sometimes appears that students’ confusion about which variable(s) is related to which only increases during subsequent periods of play. Conclusions stated in the notebook reflect a general feeling that they got a lot out of the game, even though there were problems such as lack of time to investigate the interrelationships of the variables more carefully, problems with some team members arguing or not showing up, and/or problems with the computer. some student teams are candid enough to confess that they are not sure what to write in their notebooks. Unfortunately, reading a notebook of this kind leaves one with the feeling that students are still using guesswork to make many of their decisions. Notebooks reflect the failure of students to adequately integrate the qualitative and quantitative techniques. This seriously limits the value of notebooks as a learning tool. We should not, however, totally blame the students for this lack of sophisticated analysis. We believe that the inadequate kinds of analyses frequently found in notebooks reflect a shortcoming of both students and instructors. Instructors, for example, expect that students have become so familiar with various kinds of quantitative techniques that the students can use them quickly to assist in making their decisions. This expectation, however, fails to take account of the fact that students have only a cursory knowledge of most techniques, and also that computer support in utilizing such techniques is not readily available to the students -- or if it is, it is not tied into simulation in such a way so as to make it readily available for the student to apply. Perhaps we expect the students to integrate many different skills and techniques, when in fact, we ourselves have not provided students with adequate ways in which to do the integration. This led us to ask several questions: 1. What do we expect of the notebook? 2. Can we improve the method by which students maintain the notebook -- and if so, how? 3. How should we evaluate the notebook? The Notebook It is not uncommon to find the use of notebooks or journals in classroom settings. Many Literature courses, for example, require that students keep a notebook as part of the course (Platt, 1975b). The idea being that notebooks can augment writing skills simply by requiring that the student write daily and that the notebook forces the student to carefully and clearly think through their explanations for or about various phenomena. Surprisingly, little has been written about the “notebook” as a pedagogical tool for computerized management simulations. This is particularly noteworthy since we know, based upon casual conversations with ABSEL members that their use or recommended use is standard in many courses. Many of the instructors’ manuals which accompany computerized simulations recommend that a notebook or journal of team decisions should be maintained and that it should reflect the rationale for the teams’ decisions. As instructors, however, we have to ask ourselves whether we make it clear what the notebook should contain. While it might be difficult to state precisely what an ideal notebook should look like, most would agree that It should have something more than guesses as to why certain numbers were chosen. One particularly Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 14, 1987 119 Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 14, 1987 120 Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 14, 1987 121 One of the highlights of this program is the glossary, which is basically a brief explanation of the key terms used in regression analysis. You will notice that the glossary appears on the right side of Figure E. This feature was built in to serve as a review aid for students who presumably learned regression analysis in a previous course. Using regression analysis students can readily observe the influence of one (or more) variables upon another variable, and do so over time. The main point is that this is the actual, historical data for the student’s own firm. Advantages of the Menu Drive Program in the Preparation of the Notebook The use of the menu driven program facilitates the preparation of a notebook in several ways. it simplifies the process of building and maintaining a data base of decisions and results. It permits the user to generate numerous graphs and regression analyses with ease. As a result it encourages students to do far more analysis than they would be apt to do if the process were more tedious. Students are given some guidance and assistance in doing and interpreting their results and therefore generate more meaningful results. A typical problem that this program overcomes is the one concerning historical analysis. Students often do not know which data to use in their regression analysis. For example, students make a set of decisions for a particular period, e.g., set the price of their product, determine the amount of labor to schedule and inventory to purchase, etc.; then enter those decisions into the competitive arena (with other teams) and finally receive the results of those decisions, e.g., stock price, inventory, etc However, in constructing a data base, they should enter for a particular period, some of their decision entries for that period, e.g., price, promotion, R & D, etc., and some of the output (after the actual round of competitive play occurred) into the data base for that period. The program prevents them from confusing this data base entry by telling them which decisions actually will be taken from their present set of decisions and entered into the data base and which entries they will have to obtain from their print-out and enter into the data base for that same period of play. The Notebook -- Evaluation Evaluating a notebook remains the most difficult part of the instructor’s task (Platt, 1975a). However, with this program, several points about grading can be made. First a minimum standard can be set. That is, all notebooks can be expected to have graphics and regression analyses. The choice of which variables and the student explanations (e.g., reference to economic or marketing theories) account for the various relationships has to be explained by the students. This cannot and should not be part of the program. However, there is no excuse for students not to carry out such analyses with rationalizations such as: “we didn’t have time;” “we could not get the program to operate;” or more importantly, “it was too hard to transfer all the Information to a spreadsheet package.” Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 14, 1987 122 CONCLUSION Notebooks are an important part of the learning process, if for no other reason than they force students to express and explain their decision criteria in written form. Certainly, the maintaining of a notebook can be justified by informing the students that today’s businesses are looking for people who can not only make good decisions, but accurately and concisely explain -- in writing -- why these are the “best” decisions. The menu driven data base and DSS program described above does not (and should not) write explanations about variables for students, but it goes a long way in helping the students to focus on the explanations for why things occur, while relieving them of the drudgery of having to go outside the simulation itself for tools and software to help explain and understand why various relationships occur. While the program above is specific to the DECIDE Simulation, it can easily be adapted for most general purpose policy simulations. REFERENCES Barney, J. L. and G. N. Vik. “Giving Students Experience in Team Report Writing,” Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Exercises, (ed. by James W. Gentry and Alvin C. Burns), Vol. 12, The Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Conference of ABSEL, Orlando, Florida, 1985, p. 56ff. Biggs, W. D. “Computerized Business Management Simulations for Tyros,” Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Exercises, (ed. by A. C. Burns and Lane Kelley), Vol. 13, The Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Conference of ABSEL, Reno, Nevada, 1986, p. 187ff. Proceedings of the tenth Annual Conference of ABSEL, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1983, p. 130ff. Platt, Michael D. “Writing Journals in Courses,” College English, Vol. 34(4), December, 1975, p. 408ff. Platt, Michael D. “Correcting Papers in Public and in Private,” reprinted from College English, September, 1975 by the National Council of Teachers of English. Pray, T. F. and D. R. Strang. DECIDE, Random House Inc., 1981. Raia, A. P. “A Study of the Educational Value of Management Games.” The Journal of Business, 1966, Vol. 113, pp. 339f. Twelker, P. A. “Some Reflections on institutional Simulation and Games,” Simulation and Games, 1972, Vol. 3, pp. 147f. Table of Contents Volume 14, 1987 Simulation Gaming as An Experimental Context for the Study of Multicriteria Decision Making How to Multiply Your Management Game Grading the Personnel In-Basket Exercise Simulation: The Players™ Perspective The Acute Susceptibility of Nominal Grouping to Negativity The Relative Value of the National ABSEL Meetings: An Analysis of Perceptions by Faculty and Deans A Survey of Behavioral Labs Used by American Business Schools A Structured Framework for Applying Conceptual Models to Problem Analysis: Hardening Up An Expert System Approach for Teaching Marketing Case Analysis From Theory to Practice: A Model for Teaching Beginning Advertising The Use of a Simple Forecasting Technique During an Interactive Computerized Business Game An Investigation of the Relationship Between Formal Planning and Simulation Team Performance and Satisfaction The Exponential Logarithm as an Algorithm for Business Simulations Learning macroeconomic Theory and Policy Analysis Via Microcomputer Simulation Laptop: A Principles of Marketing Simulation Teaching About Sampling in a Marketing Research Class Integrating Decision Support Systems and Business Games Demand Generation in a Service Industry Simulation: An Algorithmic Paradox ABSEL - At a Crossroads? Research on Predicting Performance in the Simulation An Expert System for Financial Planners "Developing Various Student Learning Abilities Via Writing, the Stock market Game, and Modified Marketplace Game in Beginning Macroeconomics" Professional Activity Reports: Getting back to Basics Œ A Preliminary Investigation "A Comparison of Performance, Attitudes, and behaviors of MBA and BBA Students in a Simulation Environment: A Preliminary Investigation" Decision Styles and Student Simulation Performance: A Replication Personal Power Strategies: An Experiential Exercise LTL I: A Trucking Simulation Game Total Enterprise Business Games: An Evaluation Can the Skill of Management be Taught? Developing Critical Thinking and Effective Communication Meaningful Notebooks and Enhanced Learning Using a Totally Menu-Driven Data base and Decision Support (DSS) Program Using a Computerized Menu-Driven Data Entry and fiWhat-Iffl Program as a Pedagogical Enhancement for Management Simulation Using a Joint Project Involving MBA Marketing Management and Undergraduate Marketing Research Students to Teach Marketing Research Testing the PAGE Technique: Results and Further Developments A Comparison of Student Perceptions with Accepted Expectations for Business Simulations "Conflict Management in Action: Verbal Strategies, Nonverbal behaviors and Conflict Styles" Dramatic Monologues as Surrogates for Experiential Learning Influencing One™s Superior: An Assessment and Exercise Personality Traits and Organizational Cultures: Two One-Hour Experiential Learning Exercises Computype: A Strategic Marketing Game Open System Simulations and Simulation Based Research "Teaching Forecasting to the Masses: Little Decision Support Training, But a lot of Answers" Goal Setting and Performance Evaluation with Different Starting Positions Œ The Modeling Dilemma The Gamesmanship of Pricing: Building Pricing Strategy Skills Through Spreadsheet Modeling Teaching MPR Experientially Through the Use of Lotus 1-2-3 Business Simulation Through Activities of a Manufacturing Company Simulated Stock Broker Teaching Employee Counseling Skills to Management Students: A Simulation Airline: A Strategic Management Simulation Developing Simulations and Experiential Exercises on the Personal Computer: Some Critical Issues A Powerful Tool Œ For What? An Integrative Systems Approach to Simulating Free Enterprise in a Small Business Course in a Business School Profits: The False Prophet The Use of Expert Systems to Develop Strategic Scenarios: An Experiment Using a Simulated Market Environment An Interdisciplinary Workshop: Spreadsheet Modeling and Case Analysis Techniques for Beginning Executive MBA Students An Innovative Approach to an O. D. Class Œ The Creative Interaction The Application of Spreadsheet Software Technology to Complete Taxpayer Elections Experiential Learning as the Cornerstone of an Industry Management Course "Identifying, Exercising and Enhancing Right Brain Skills in the Business Classroom" Utilizing Envisionary Technology in the Business Policy Course: An Experiential Pedagogy Business Simulation in the Policy Course: A Survey of American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business The Moving Van: Vehicle to Success of Disaster for the Two-Gender Work Force Oil and Gas Well Investment Analysis Using the Lotus 1-2-3 Decision Support System Team Cohesion Effects on Business Game Performance