THE PROBLEMS OF MOTIVATING STUDENTS AND CLIENTS IN LIVE-CASE PROJECTS Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 108 THE PROBLEMS OF MOTIVATING STUDENTS AND CLIENTS IN LIVE-CASE PROJECTS Neil A. Richardson, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale John H. Summey, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Sion Raveed, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale ABSTRACT The live-case method offers great potential for both a teaching tool for instructors and a learning tool for students. However, the method itself, does not guarantee that students will be motivated to learn or that outside organizations will be willing to participate. Incentives must be provided to both parties to obtain and maintain their interest in the live-case program. Students can be motivated by group selection of the area of study, achievement of recognized steps in their projects and the use of peer evaluation instruments to ensure an equitable distribution of the work load amongst group participants. Clients can be involved and motivated by the use of client briefs, student proposals, project status reports and charging clients a fee for participation. INTRODUCTION The live-case method is a very strong tool for teaching college courses. Students recall 10% of what they read, 40% of what they write down, 70% of what they do and 80% of what they do in real-life application situations However, the translation of live-case theory into practice is frequently burdened with difficulties. Many of these problems exist because of the instructors failure to provide motivating incentives to both the students and the participating clients. This paper outlines some methods for motivating both of these parties in live marketing projects. MOTIVATING STUDENTS AND CLIENTS Student work groups are known for their tendency to have a few students doing a majority of the work. The task then is to create an environment conducive to higher levels of individual motivation, a continuing sense of involvement and intermediate successes along the path to the live-case completion. There is also a need to provide distribution of grades to individual group members so as to reflect the variations in the students abilities and project contributions. An environment that is conducive to high levels of motivation is achieved through the use of live cases, dealing with student selected topics. (The process of having a topic of interest establishes a foundation for involvement.) A continuing sense of involvement is achieved by using intermediate achievement points. The instructors task is to establish dates by which certain project tasks should have been accomplished. Ample opportunities exist at these points for the instructor to provide encouraging comments or to use other psychological “stroking” techniques. The evaluation problem is handled through a peer evaluation instrument. Such an instrument should use multiple criteria relating to various aspects of the particular type class and evaluating the “quality” of each student’s contribution. This instrument should be presented to the students at the first of the term so that they will know the criteria upon which they are being evaluated.1 A percentage of the students final grade should be based on the results of their peer evaluation. Clients frequently are not motivated to be involved in live- case projects because they perceive it as a time consuming task in which they are the givers and not the receivers. This can be overcome by demonstrating the instructor’s and students’ commitment to the project’s success from its inception. Clients should be educated from their first involvement that a written brief outlining the project problem is required. In particular all background information to the problem and a clear statement of the client’s problem and project objectives should be included. This forces clients to provide an adequate statement of their problems, objectives and project expectations. Utilizing their client brief, each student group should prepare a project proposal. This should interpret the clients problems and project objectives into a program that is actionable within the students knowledge, manpower and time constraints. This provides a written document which forms the agreed project scope for all three parties, I.e., the client, students, and instructor. The document ensures that the objectives and expectations of all parties are in agreement. Project status reports should be used to ensure that the students maintain their project timetable and to inform clients about the project’s progress. The reports act as a source of feedback on the client’s satisfaction with the project and a control on his desire for any mid-stream project inputs or changes. They also demonstrate the professionalism with which the project is being undertaken and they provide ongoing feedback to the instructor. Clients should be asked to pay for the project’s costs. This acts to increase the client’s involvement in the project, upgrades the project status in the client’s mind and provides an incentive for client participation. CONCLUSION The individual elements of a live-case project will vary with the particular application. However, in all situations the motivation of both students and project clients is a key consideration which the live-case method does not directly provide. Specific incentives are required to motivate the project participants. 1 Summey, John H. and Clayton S. Long. “Evaluation of the Efficiency of a Multiple Criteria Group Member Peer Evaluation Instrument,” College Student Journal (to be published in 1980). 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