THE SMALL GROUP RESEARCH PROJECT: AN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING APPROACH FOR UNDERGRADUATE MARKETING RESEARCH STUDENTS Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 49 THE SMALL GROUP RESEARCH PROJECT: AN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING APPROACH FOR UNDERGRADUATE MARKETING RESEARCH STUDENTS Phil Niffenegger, Murray State University ABSTRACT As an alternative to a “straight from the book” instruction approach, the author proposes a six step experiential learning approach. The recommended approach is compatible with most currently available marketing research textbooks, and encourages greater motivation and learning by means of a shared-group work experience. A description of the basic technique and illustrations of some of the teaching aids are provided. INTRODUCTION Teaching the undergraduate marketing research class can often be a tedious and sometimes low reward instructional task, due to the technical nature of the subject matter, as well as many students’ propensity to view the subject area as being a bit “dry.” The author concluded that the latter view was primarily the result of following a traditional “straight from the textbook” instructional approach, and that by introducing a form of experiential learning, a high level of student involvement, as well as, improved motivation and retention of material could be achieved. The result was the evolution of a learning–by doing approach which has been applied successfully with both American and British students, and is compatible with the majority of currently popular marketing research texts. An added plus is that students gain a “hands on” knowledge in applying one of the most widely used computer statistical packages, the S.P.S.S. program, through a specially prepared outline handout on the most popular analysis routines. BASIC APPROACH The first step in adopting this method of instruction is to begin to build up a file of potential research projects in the school and surrounding community. This should preferably be done at least a semester in advance of actually using the approach, in order to accumulate a sufficient number and variety of projects. For example, managers of retail stores and service institutions like banks can be approached with the offer of a free (or low cost) customer analysis and store image survey, by local university business school students. Other non-profit organizations like theater groups or museums also represent potential clients. And finally, the various departments of the university itself, such as the campus radio station or bookstore, are often interested in a customer survey type of analysis. The primary goal is to build up an adequate range of different types of organizations, to coincide with the varied interests of business students. Once the course has offered this service for a semester or two, word-of-mouth usually generates a continual inflow of potential projects. The second step involves setting up the actual study teams in class, and assigning each team a project in which each student is actually interested. The approach used by the author is to select a good range of projects from the pool of projects on file, then invite a representative from each organization to come to class and present some background on the nature of their organization, and its goals and information needs. Students are encouraged to ask questions in order to clarify the specific objectives of the potential research. An optimum group size is in the range of four to seven students, which allows for a high level of interaction and cooperation. For example, if the class has 25 students enrolled, between four and five projects would be required. Should an insufficient number of suitable “real world” projects be available, the instructor can add one of his or her own, of a more academic orientation, perhaps describing a new trend in consumer behavior or similar topic. For example, in the past, descriptive studies have been conducted on at-home shopping and a profile of video-game players. In this case, the instructor must “sell” the usefulness and importance of such a study to the class, through a presentation much as the outside clients make. These presentations should be made at the rate of one or two per week, so that all the research alternatives are known to the students by the end of the first month of classes. The presentations serve to convince the students that their efforts will be worthwhile and actually used to guide management decisions. On the date of assigned team formation, the projects are listed on the blackboard and students are asked to volunteer in turn, for each of the projects, and to select one in which they are interested. If too many attempt to sign up for a given project, a verbal “push” is given on the merits of the remaining projects, to encourage students to voluntarily transfer their choice until all project teams have enough members. The author provides each student with a “Research Project Timetable” (see Exhibit 1) during the first class meeting, which spells out the sequence of group work in some detail, along with completion deadlines for each activity phase. This helps the students to see how their projects will develop, and to plan each phase in advance. The schedule has been used with both a twice per week and three times per week class meeting schedule. The latter is preferred however, as it allows the instructor to keep closer tabs on group progress, and facilitates providing time in class for supervised team work sessions. The third step in this experiential approach is to carefully schedule lecture topics so that a phased learning-then-doing approach is followed. Although this may require covering some text chapters in a different order from that in the book, it maximizes the learning reinforcement from small group application sessions, through each of the stages of the research process. The instructor should strive to keep about one chapter ahead of what the teams are working on. Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 50 The fourth step, which is optional but highly recommended, is to provide the students with some means of computerized tabulation and statistical analysis. This is desirable for several reasons. First, it most closely approximates the “real world,” and gives students some experience in coping with the need to reduce the results of numerous printouts to the essentials required for decision making. Second, although most students have been exposed to the subject of computer programming, they have little awareness of the benefits of using an available packaged routine. The major obstacle impeding the experience is the rather formidable instruction manuals the user is required to master in order to gain a sufficient knowledge to operate the programs. In the current approach, this problem was overcome through the development of a highly simplified “Introduction to S.P.S.S.” handout (see Exhibit 2) by the author. This, in combination with about 60 minutes of in-class instruction, enables each student to set up and run a simple cross- tabulation homework problem. Completion of the problem gives the students sufficient confidence to then apply the S.P.S.S. routine to their own data (which is punched on cards) and to use a range of available procedures, such as t- tests and correlation analysis. It also greatly speeds up the analysis phase; two or three computer runs are usually sufficient to accomplish the individual project research objectives. The fifth step consists of scheduling a formal presentation of the results and team recommendations to each of the outside research clients, during the final class meetings. Knowing that their clients will actually attend and ask questions “spurs” the students on to prepare carefully thought-out summaries of their results and conclusions, which are usually presented with the aid of an overhead projector. These results are incorporated into a final typewritten report one week after the presentation, which is given to the client. Although any charges to the client are at the instructor’s discression, in the past, these have been either in the form of a voluntary donation to the Marketing Department discressionary fund, or perhaps taking the team members out to dinner. The last step, that of having each student rate the contribution of his fellow teammates is essential. A form like that shown in Exhibit 3 can be used, and administered during the final examination. The knowledge that they will be evaluated by their peers encourages most team members to shoulder their fair share of the work. In the author’s course, the evaluation constitutes 25 percent of the course grade, and is weighted by the grade on the group project. General acceptance of this teaching approach by students has been enthusiastic, based not only on annual class evaluations, but on the number of students expressing a strong interest in making marketing research an initial career choice upon completion of the course and their degrees. Reaction of outside “clients” both from the community and other departments of the university has been strongly affirmative, and has served to enhance the awareness and image of both the Marketing Department and undergraduate business degree program at Murray State University. Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 51 Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 52 Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 53 Table of Contents Volume 9, 1982 The Value of Conjoint Analysis in Enhancing Experiential Learning The Effect of Participation in a Collective Bargaining Simulation on the Expectations and Attitudes of Union and Management Representatives Conflict Resolution in Experiential Learning The Use of Simulation to Test Theories of Bargaining in a Business Context The Nominal Group Technique: A Vehicle for Improving Case Method Courses A Framework for Developing a Business Policy Case Produce Your Own Video Cases for Classroom Use: A Demonstration An Experiential Effect from Charismatic Encounters Nine Topic Oriented Mini Simulations: Descriptions, Purposes, and Observations A Hospital Simulator (HOSPSIM) A Report of the Model and Results Expected from Field Testing An Evaluation of SLIM (A System Laboratory for Information Management) An Experiential Exercise Introducing Students to the Role Ambiguity Faced by Salespersons The Advertising Research Project as an Innovative Experiential Learning Technique The Small Group Research Project: An Experiential Learning Approach for Undergraduate Marketing Research Students The Relationship of Cognitive Style Maps to the Preference for Experiential Learning of Undergraduate Students The Learning Style Inventory Debate Revisited: An Empirical Assessment fo the Construct Validity Issue Related to Experiential Learning Theory Conducting a Classroom to Facilitate Career Goal Attainment Corporation Executives' Ratings of Policy Learning Techniques The Generation and Application of Evaluation Criteria for Management Policy and Strategy Simulation Games Experiential Opportunities with Microcomputers Leading Students to Learning: The Teacher's Obligation An Experiment in Teaching Principles Courses: The Mini Debate Formula Developing Creative Thinking Through Experiential Learning Heuristic and Systematic Evaluation of Policy: Exercise in Decision Making A Case Study Approach for the Litigation Decision: Employing Decision Analysis to Determine When a Business Should Settle or Go to Court Learning Negotiation Skills Through Simulation Union vs. Management: A Simulation of Collective Bargaining in Action Inside the Black Box: An Analysis of Underlying Demand Functions in Contemporary Business Simulations A Review of Channel Exercises and the Description of a New Alternative SIMCON I: A computer Based Simulation Model for Evaluating Physical Distribution Strategies Involving Order Consolidation Toward Competency-Based Management Education: The Interpersonal/Communications cluster The Value of Pre-Teaching in Role Playing Some Effects of Positive Personal Reinforcement upon Socializing Students in an Experiential Learning Course Who Gains and Who Does Not from Experiential learning Toward the Ultimate Experiential Exercise, the Student View Simulating Professional Writing Experiences in the Classroom The Johari Window as a Measure of Personal Development Windows Into Management: A Participative Aid to Learning Get Your Faculty Involved A Pedagogical Approach to Business Gaming for the Commuter Student Super Service for Computer Game Administrators Expand the Role of Simulation with Creative Scenarios The Delivery, Administration, and Evaluation of an Executive Development Program Using a Total Enterprise Business Game An Application of Experiential Learning in International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment International Management: Building Bridges Analysis of a Business Simulation Exercise: Organizational Survival and Success The FALRIS Organizational Scavenger Hunt Trainee V. Trainee Subordinates' Evaluation of Experiential Learning Longitudinal Analysis of an Innovative Teaching Intervention Student Perceptions of Effective Teacher Behaviors Revisited Realism and Learning: The Evolution of a Management Game A Merger and Acquisition Simulation A Stock Market Investor Simulation Experiential Learning in Consumer Behavior: Perceptual and Attitude Change Exercises The Recycling Industry Problems of Women in Management: A Role Playing Exercise for a Course in Contemporary Organizational Problems Experimental Three Weekend Course: Empirical Results A Process for the Analysis and Development of Course Content and Instructional Methodology for Large Class Sections Problems Associated with the Assessment of Experiential learning Using the Multiple Choice Test Combining Lecture and Simulation Teaching Methodologies Qualitative Determinants of Team Performance in a Simulation Game The Effects of Different Team Sizes on Business Game Performance Comparison of Problem-Solving Technologies: A Free Simulation Approach Consistency in Business Games A computer Simulation of Personnel Selection Decisions Giving Praise Exercise Job Enrichment A Look at the Spoken and Written Word in Organizations A Pattern of Group Communication A New Generation in Business Simulation Adapting Mainframe Business Simulations to Min Computers File Access is the Essential Prerequisite to Time-Flexible and Interactive Computer Simulation A Microcomputer Simulation for Teaching Retail Location Strategy Blocks & Chips: A computer-Assisted, Geno-Typical Entrepreneurial Game Development of a Self-Paced Course in Business Statistics The Involvement of Student Bodies in the Teaching of Advanced Technical Concepts Systems Learning Sequence: An Experiential Course Module for Management Information Systems An Experiential Approach to Developing Managerial Competencies Communication Research, Inc. An Experiential Learning Activity Developed as a Practicum for a Course in Organizational Communication