TOWARD THE ULTIMATE EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE, THE STUDENT VIEW Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 140 TOWARD THE ULTIMATE EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE, THE STUDENT VIEW Bob E. Smiley, Indiana State University ABSTRACT This paper reports the results of a survey of students who participated in an experiential exercise. The exercise was reported at the 1980 meeting of ABSEL in Dallas, Texas. [ii In that paper, the author described the operation of a commercial radio station by students for academic, economic and experiential reasons. The survey questionnaire was mailed to the 65 students who “worked” at the station and graduated in the years 1974- 1980 inclusive. Of these 65 students, 29 completed the questionnaires and returned them to the author. The results of the survey show an overwhelming positive response to their participation in the program. INTRODUCTION In teaching we are continually searching for new methods which may make the difference between a program which is both exciting and educational and the program which is neither. To this end, those of us in ABSEL continue to work, experiment and report to our colleagues of our success and failures. When the original paper, “Toward the Ultimate Experiential Exercise,” was presented in Dallas, much interest was exhibited and the primary question was ‘What are these students doing now and what did they think of the program?” For a brief review, the radio station operated by the students is an FM commercial broadcast station. It is operated essentially by students of the Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN. A Board of Directors is charged with overseeing the operation but this involves only an annual meeting to check the results of the past year and plans for the upcoming year. The figure below shows the relatively standard organization chart. FIGURE 1 ORGANIZATION CHART The Board of Directors consists of faculty and staff of the college with the student manager being an ex-official member. The Instructor/Facilitator is responsible to supervise the students operating the station for purposes of fiscal matters and adherence to the many rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission and the various other government agencies. The Secretary/Office Manager and Engineer are non- student. In addition, the Instructor/Facilitator helps coordinate with the various other academic departments who may be using the laboratory in their teaching. The Survey The author, who has now relocated to another school, returned to review the records of the Placement Director at Wabash for the purpose of listing the names and addresses of all students who participated in this exercise and graduated from 1974-1980. The population numbered 65 students. A questionnaire was developed, (Appendix A), to attempt to determine how the students may have used this experience in school and after as well as their perceived satisfaction with the exercise. The questionnaire consisted of both specific and open-ended questions. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 141 Questions 1, 2, 3 asked for factual information such as semesters worked, hours per week worked, and duties in which the student might have been involved. Because most of the students participated on a volunteer basis, this then provided an indirect measure of the satisfaction with the exercise. Questions 4 and S asked about the usefulness of the exercise in later life while questions 6, 7, 8 asked for subjective opinions of their experience. Results of the Survey The data received from the 29 respondents were coded and entered into the computer for analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The analysis showed an overwhelming positive attitude by those who chose to respond. Follow-up was not attempted because the responses were mostly anonymous and it was not known who actually responded. Specific results indicated by those who responded were: Total respondents = 29 __ x range n % Time: Semesters worked 4.7 11 29 Hours as Freshman 5.5 19 11 Hours as Sophomore 14.2 39 16 Hours as Junior 13.0 39 22 Hours as Senior 10.6 48 23 Duties: Disc Jockey 22 76 Management/Officer 9 31 Salesman 12 41 Copywriter 6 21 Music Audition 10 35 Programming 9 31 Other 14 48 Follow—up: Now working in Broadcasting 3 10 Exercise helped employment search 10 34 Enhanced my resume 4 14 Management experience helpful to me 1 3 Helped improve my communication skills 5 17 Subjective; Would you participate again Much More 13 45 About the Same 15 52 Less 1 3 Would encourage more participation to others 23 79 Just a good extra time filler 7 24 Message to Administration of school: Operate lust as now 13 45 Require as part of Speech 2 7 Teach Radio courses 6 21 Provide more money support 11 38 Evaluation and Conclusions While this survey is only a sample of the many students which have participated in this exercise over the many years, and then only those who chose to respond, the results indicate a very strong support for the exercise. It is viewed as a “real world” experience which helps prepare the student for eventual entry into the working community.- Responses to question one concerning number of semesters worked at the station indicated that of the eleven students in the sample who started as freshmen, eight continued through the senior year. For those responding to the question of “If you had it to do over, what would you do?”, 97 percent indicated they would participate as much or more than they did the first time. Some of the responses received included~ “WNDY has proven to have been an invaluable life experience for me.” (student now working in radio and teaching communications.) “Explore the various options that this unique educational tool can offer to the advancement of the Liberal Arts education.” “It was a tremendous challenge to make the station work. Most will leave service with a good education in small business economics.” to the administration- “Its (admin) control of the station management and general operations should remain limited.” “My business (broadcasting) is in desperate need of educated people who also know their way around a microphone. WNDY is the ideal vehicle to produce this animal.” “Get involved! It’s great practical experience.” (student who only worked at station as part of a Speech course. Now working as a manager in a manufacturing plant.) “Too much worry and emphasis over academics and how much outside activities deter from scholastic work. Almost all of my interviewers asked in depth about my radio station work, particularly about my experience with person to person interfaces and my unique, individual contributions and analysis of events at the radio station.. .Relative to this experience, their interest in my scholastic work was often token. No one hires album, to be sure - you needed better than a 3.0 CPA. However, they were all searching for more than just a dry individual who buried himself in books for four years.” “…they should get involved w/WNDY in some capacity...The benefits (especially the intangible ones) don’t become apparent until after graduation. For me and my profession (law), my experience as a DJ was invaluable. It helped me develop my speaking techniques and impromptu speaking capabilities in a meaningful way.” (student who graduated from Harvard School of Law in 1981.) “WNDY radio was fun, a rare commodity at Wabash.’ (an aspiring actor.) I must conclude by saying that this has been a very rewarding experience for me. It has made the “pains” during the difficult times, which occur in any project, seem of little consequence and the messages received with the responses will he retained for future reference when things appear to get tough in future projects. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 142 REFERENCES [1] Smiley, Bob E. “Toward the Ultimate Experiential Exercise,” Experiential Learning Enters the 80’s, The Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 1980. 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