INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO PROBLEMS IN UTILIZING EXPERIENTIAL TECHNIQUES Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 105 INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO PROBLEMS IN UTILIZING EXPERIENTIAL TECHNIQUES Daniel C. Brenenstuhl, Arizona State University ABSTRACT Experiential learning has been widely heralded as an innovative and effective approach to learning. That is not to say that experiential learning has no problems or critics. Individual facilitators who choose to utilize experiential techniques will encounter a number of critics and a number of problems to resolve. Interestingly enough, our own students/trainees may well be critical of the process as well as our peers in academia. We must address our attention to these issues if we are to expect experiential learning to advance past its present state. INTRODUCTION This panel will identify some of the major problem areas that the participants have encountered in their own usage of experiential techniques. We will begin with the often overlooked problem concerning the Cost-Benefit relationship that a user (instructor) should be cognizant of before deciding to implement an experiential technique. Once the instructor has decided that the benefits exceed the costs involved, the next major problem area concerns formation of participant teams. Participants should be properly motivated to derive the maximum value from any experiential technique. This problem area is often underestimated by new users of experiential learning. The final problem area we will address deals with proper feedback to the participants. An innovative approach to the feedback issue will be discussed. Cost-Benefit Relationship A cost-benefit analysis should be considered by every user of experiential techniques. The analysis should be undertaken from the point of view of the instructor. Potential costs include additional preparation time during the start up phase of the project: heavy demands on the normal system for computer time, secretarial tine, etc; students not appreciating the demands upon the user: peers not appreciating the demands upon the user: potential risk of poor evaluations by students if all does not go well. The benefits include the stimulation of utilizing an innovative approach to teaching; intrinsic satisfaction from a successful application of the technique; better student evaluations if all goes well; increased status for the user if the user is seen as expanding the frontiers of knowledge. Team Formation Several possibilities exist for the formation of participant teams. It seems that a balanced approach is most equitable to all concerned. The difficulty in developing a balanced approach to team formation is the necessity for the user to develop a set of criteria to evaluate the equality of the resultant teams. Some possible criteria to consider would be: major, grade point average, past experience with experiential techniques, student’s available free time, student’s home address (to facilitate off campus meetings) , and number of hours of employment. Motivating Participants Several approaches have been suggested to boost participant motivation. One of these is to allow the participants active involvement in developing the experiential technique. Grading that seems more related to chance than to performance is sure to reduce motivation. The user would be wise to insure equitable grading and to use peer evaluations to determine intra- team grade distributions. Another approach that would be relatively easy to implement would involve the instructor with the usage of as much psychological support as possible. This psychological support seems to be especially important during the critical start up period when many participants are suffering from information overload and battling an unfavorable leaning curve. Performance Feedback Debriefing and performance feedback are necessary for participants to fully appreciate many experiential techniques. One innovative approach to performance feedback is the application of videotape to an experiential technique. The advantages of videotape for feedback include: the possibility of repeated viewing of the tape for a thorough self evaluation; the fact that the participant is actually seeing their own behavior with their own eyes; and that participants can be exposed to other participants who have performed effectively with these participants serving as models for appropriate behavior. These four areas are by no means the only problems that a user might encounter while applying experiential techniques, but they do represent a sampling of the major problems that one might expect to face. Table of Contents Volume 7, 1980 Symbol Recognition and Correlation for Evaluating Decision Making in Computer Aided Business Simulations Polanal: An Experiential Approach to Decision Support The Use of Time Contracts in Formal Education Indexing Simulation Model Response for Gaming Flexibility Moving Toward A Theory of the Use of Simulation Games and Experiential Exercises Use of Simulation Administration to Achieve Pedagogical Objectives Experiential Learning on the Job - A Business Internship Program Toward the Ultimate Experiential Exercise A Learning Through Managing Program Workshop Using Experiential Materials in Industry Training Sponsored Experiential Learning - An Opportunity Problems and Pitfalls of Externally Sponsored Field Research Projects Viewed form an Experiential Learning Perspective A Modular Approach to Experiential Learning: Classroom & Consulting Using Simulation & Experiential Learning In Industrial Settings Terminations: An Experiential Review Agenda Items -- Board of Supervisors' Meeting - Town of Jori The Objective-Setting Interview in MBO: An Experiential Approach The All-Star World Series Team Exercise: an Experiential Learning Exercise Dealing with Various Organizational Behavior Issues Progress Report on global, A Rich Multinational Gaming Environment Computer Simulation: A Tool to Teach Queuing Theory New Technology for Business Games Technological Frontiers in Computer Simulations for Business Education Simulating the Product Life Cycle on Interactive Terminals On Compensatory Demand Functions in Marketing Simulations The Use of Games at Different Levels in a Single Marketing Course to Increase Game Participation Sun Airlines: A Heterogeneous Consumer demand exercise Incorporating a Group Selection Test An Organization Development Approach to Teaching Organization Behavior CBID: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Interpersonal Development - A Skill Development/Social Learning Approach to Management Development Using a Live Case Via Video Tape A Town and gown Approach Development of Student Generated Cases Using Computerized Text Editing and Database Technology Interdisciplinary Approached to Problems in Utilizing Experiential Techniques To Use or Not To Use Experiential Techniques, That's is the Question Forming Participant Teams in Simulation Gaming The Problems of Motivating Students and Clients in Live-Case Projects Problems of Teaching Leadership Skills Through Experiential Techniques Conflict Style Measurement: Antecedent to Change - A Proposal for an Experiential Exercise Demonstration Fundamentals of Simulation for Newcomers An M.B.A. Orientation Simulation for Managing Time and the Areas of One's Life SimNet Workshop: The International Simulation Network Demonstrates Three New Business Games The Use of a Simulation Model in the Planning and Evaluation of Commercial Bank Operations Probability Assessment and Performance in Business Game Simulations WageSim: A Wage and Salary Administration Simulation Grading as a Teaching and Feedback Mechanism: Modifying Student's Self-Perceptions of Performance Can Business Games Effectively Teach Business Concepts? Development of Multiple Value Orientations in Conflict Resolution Behavior: An Experiential Teaching Paradigm in Labor-Management Relations Course Designing a Competency-Based Peer Assessment Scale for the Evaluation fo Teaching in Higher Education A Method for Evaluating Information for the Equipment Replacement Decision: An Application of Monte Carlo Simulation Simulation: A Method of Appraising Communication Networks in Managerial Decision Making An Evaluation of In-Class Student Involvement Evaluation of the SBI Program from an Experiential Viewpoint: Focus on the Student Differential Predictors of Academic Performance for White and Non-White Samples The Manager's Dilemma: An Unobtrusive Measure of the managerial Sex-Role Stereotype Are Computer Simulations Sexist? The Effect of Group Size on Attitudes Toward the Simulation Associations Between Individual Cognitive Processing Variables and Business Game Performance and Play Students' Perceptions on Managerial Functions After Exposure to Either the Case Method or a Simulation What Business Students Learn from Finance Simulations Attitude Toward Experiential Exercises, The Student-Teacher Relationship, Student Psychological Types, and Performance An Example of How to Design a Research-Based and Classroom-Effective Organizational behavior Exercise Some Issues in Game Design Untested Hypotheses: An Approach to Experiential Learning Evaluation of Simulation Games: A Critical Look at Past Efforts and Future Needs Is Self-Perception Predictable? - Some Laboratory Results An Exercise in Conflict-Handling Behavior The Relationship Between Group Size and the Learning Curve Effect in a Gaming Environment Learning About Organizational Management Through Organizational Management: Closing the Gap Strategies, Managerial Approaches, and Decision Making in a General Management Simulation A Comparison and Evaluation of Similar and Dissimilar Group Scenarios Generated Using Manual Simulation Games Weaknesses of Research Methods in Experiential and Simulation Studies