AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS AND EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES IN PROGRAMMATIC EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, Volume 6, 1979 239 AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS AND EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES IN PROGRAMMATIC EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Eugene T. Byrne, Southern Methodist University Douglas E. Wolfe, University of West Florida ABSTRACT This paper uses correlation analysis to investigate the relationship between demographic, ability and personality factors and two performance variables: overall grade point average and total scores in an assessment center. Further investigation of performance is analyzed using teaching method and learning resources as independent variables. Findings reveal differences in understanding performance for grade related outcomes compared to managerial skill levels as measured by assessment center ratings. INTRODUCTION In the last quarter century simulation has emerged as an accepted teaching method in schools of business administration. However, simulation cannot be considered a mainstream activity of business education. A recent estimate of simulation use indicated that “... for all schools taken as a whole, simulations are used in less than 1 percent of all business courses taught.” [11. Some of the failure for widespread use of simulations can be traced to specific causes: the predominance and success of the case (and other) methods, the necessity, in most cases, for a computer, the probable extra time and energy required of faculty and the changing role requirements for faculty using simulation. Perhaps more important is the failure of research to convincingly demonstrate the value of the simulation approach [7,8]. While research on the value of simulation has continued and been supplemented by studies aimed at identifying predictor variables, the research on experiential learning has been relatively scarce [5, p.167]. What does exist lacks a conceptual framework and generally conflicts on the value of experiential learning as a teaching tool [5, pp. 165-167]. Finally, both the simulation and experiential approaches have been evaluated from the standpoint of their use in a single course. There is some doubt in the writers mind that these pedagogies will ever achieve widespread use until they are investigated for their ability to educate students at each and every point in the business curriculum. One of the great assets of the case method is its ability to be the primary, if not the sole source of pedagogy in schools of business. It was with this purpose in mind that our school undertook the creation of an experiential option for M.B.A. students in the fall of 1976. The program permitted students to complete all of the requirements for the M.B.A. degree by working on live projects in the business community. Research on the performance of the experimental student group and a control group was assessed on the basis of grades received in the program and an assessment center administered at the end of the program. In terms of grades the performance of the experimental group was at least equal to that of control group students. In the assessment center twenty management skills were measured and the experimental group demonstrated superior performance in eight while the remaining twelve dimensions showed no significant difference [6, pp. 19-22]. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether (1) there are demographic and ability variables that can be used to predict performance in an experiential program and (2) identify activities and resources used by successful experiential learners. THE DATA The experimental (n=21) and control groups (n=21) completed the Omnibus Personality Inventory and the Personal Orientation Inventory upon entering the program. The students also provided the usual demographic data while ability data was available in the form of undergraduate grade point average and GMAT scores. Student attitudes toward education were obtained at the end of the first semester by the use of a Likert-type scale. At the end of the program the students completed a questionnaire asking them to identify and value the resources contributing to their education and to specify the percent of coursework completed by the different teaching methods offered in the school. PERFORMANCE MEASURES The study utilized two performance measures: overall grade point average and total assessment center score. The assessment center utilized role play, an in-basket exercise and small group discussions to evaluate performance on twenty dimensions of managerial skill. The total assessment score is the arithmetic sum of un- weighted scores on the individual dimensions. RESULTS Pearson correlation coefficients are shown in Table 1 for selected demographic and ability variables. Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, Volume 6, 1979 240 Two observations are noteworthy for this data. First, is the failure to find any correlation between the number of months of full-time business experience and performance in the experiential program. This is true whether performance is measured by grade point average or assessment center score. Nor is there any relationship between age and performance. A second observation is that overall grade point average is significantly correlated with GMAT scores while assessment center performance is not related to GMAT scores. At the same time undergraduate G.P.A. was not significantly related to either measure of performance. This finding lends credibility to the position that aptitude tests are useful in predicting grades in school [2, p.1]. However, to the extent that current research has demonstrated the assessment center to be the superior method for identifying management potential these results suggest that the admission decision may be based on inappropriate criteria. Table 2 presents the Pearson correlation coefficients for the relationship of student attitudes to the performance variables. As shown in the table the student attitude “Education is Cooperation is inversely related to grade point average but it is not related to assessment center score. Thus there is the suggestion that high G.P.A. students view education as a competitive environment. This is not a surprising outcome for most observers of the educational scene. What is surprising is that students with higher managerial potential do not view education on the competitive- cooperative continuum. Further examination of Table 2 reveals no relationship between performance measures and attitudes toward trusting others, preference or avoidance of risk, student inputs to grading and course syllabi and acceptance of total responsibility for learning outcomes. Finally the attitude toward task accomplishment is interesting. Though not significant the students’ attitude is more toward accomplishing a task than the means by which you arrive at task accomplishment. The results from the correlation analysis of the factors on the Omnibus Personality Inventory and the Personal Orientation Inventory are not presented in tabular form since all relationships were not statistically significant. Turning to the results of the correlation between performance and percent of coursework completed by different pedagogies, there are some interesting findings. As shown in Table 3 overall G.P.A. is related to percent of coursework completed in the project and simulation (experiential) modes and inversely related to the amount of coursework taken by the lecture method. At the same time, there Is no relationship between any of the teaching methods and performance in managerial skills. These findings appear to be somewhat contradictory seeming to indicate that managerial skill attainment is unrelated to the percent of coursework completed by experiential learning. However, noting that the mean percent of coursework completed by projects was fifty-five percent suggests that substantial levels of experiential learning are beneficial for students. The fact that overall G.P.A. has a positive significant relationship to experiential learning is evidence that students can benefit from additional experiential learning. In terms of this particular M.B.A. program the additional experiential learning can be obtained by reducing students involvement in lecture-type courses. Table 4 presents the relationship between the students’ evaluation of instructor specified learning resources and the performance variables. Also included in the table are the rankings provided for the importance of each of the resources. Inspection of the data reveals that there is a significant inverse relationship between the value assigned to the instructors in the program and the development of managerial skills. While not statistically significant, the relationship between instructor and overall G.P.A. is in the same direction. This finding lends credibility to the value of the experiential method of teaching. The only other relationship of significance is that performance is improved as the use of faculty not involved in teaching courses increases. The rankings of learning resources can be usefully compared to those presented for a group of students involved in a business policy simulation. As reported by Wolfe [9, p.322] students ranked ‘Playing the Business Game” first and rated “Lectures and Discussions of Assigned Readings” second. In this study the instructor contribution was also ranked second as a resource to learning. While the Wolfe study offers no Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, Volume 6, 1979 241 direct comparison to the self-initiative dimension reported here as the first ranked resource, it appears likely that there is a large element of self-initiative involved in “Planning the Business Game.’ Of interest however is the rankings assigned to course reading and classmates. Wolfe’s study shows that course readings have much higher rating than classmates while the results reported here indicate that classmates have a higher ranking than course readings. In fact, classmates were almost as important as instructors, as shown by the mean point values in Table 4. This result is not consistent with Wolfe’s finding. Finally, the relatively low rankings assigned to academic background (sixth) and work background (last) support findings reported earlier in this paper that undergraduate G.P.A. and amount of work experience do not predict performance. CONCLUSION The results of this exploratory study do not provide a very solid basis for predicting performance in programmatic experience based learning systems. Demographic and personality variables showed no relationship to performance. Yet is has been demonstrated that there is no necessity for students to have business experience prior to participating in extensive project work. The results do suggest that the G.M.A.T. score can be used to help identify the students academic performance but that these scores are not related to managerial skill development. There is a further suggestion that high G.P.A. performance is found among students whose attitude is more competitive than cooperation while managerial skill development is not related to this factor. Apparently both types of students benefited from the high level of involvement in experiential learning. It has been suggested that experiential learning activity in the form of projects, could improve academic performance. The significance of self-initiative and classmates to student performance suggests that one area for faculty contribution to improved student performance would be in the improvement of self-learning ability. As noted earlier, high performance is accompanied by attention to task rather than process suggesting that introspection is not a highly developed skill among students. Further research in this area is warranted especially in view of commentary on the value of introspection as a managerial skill [3, p. 193] and as a factor involving performance [4, p. 3131. Further research in the area could productively follow the framework provided by Schneier [5]. This study utilized some of the variables provided by Schneier but he identifies many more. Another area for research is in the area of the appropriate managerial skills to be measured in an assessment center valuation of management potential. This study utilized a set of skills identified by fifteen managers and six faculty. It is possible that more extensive studies can provide a more appropriate set of skills and this may improve the reliability of the use of these skills as performance measures. REFERENCES [1] Gosen, Kenneth R .,‘An Analysis of ABSEL: Its Past Achievements and Future Prospects,” in Carl C. Nielsen (ed.) New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning (Wichita, Kansas: Wichita State University, 1977, pp. 207- 214). [2] McClelland, David C., ‘Testing for Competence Rather Than for ‘Intelligence’.”, American Psychologist, Vol. 28, No. 1, January 1973, pp. 1-14. [3] Mintzberg, Henry, The Nature of Managerial Work (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1973). [4] Ruble, Thomas L., ‘Locus of Control and Performance in a Management Simulation” in Brenenstuhl and Certo (editors) Exploring Experiential Learning; Simulations and Experiential Exercises (Tempe, Arizona: Bureau of Business and Economic Research, 1978, pp. 311-315). [5] Schneier, Craig Eric, Experiential Learning: Toward the Development of a Theoretical Base and the Identification of Variables and Hypotheses to Guide Research” in Carl C. Nielsen (ed.) New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learn- (Wichita, Kansas: Wichita State University, 1977, pp. 166-173). [6] Wolfe, Douglas E. and Eugene T. Byrne, “Programmatic Experience-Based Learning in an M.B.A. Program in Brenenstuhl and Certo (editors) Exploring Experiential Learning: Simulations and Experiential Exercises (Tempe, Arizona: Bureau of Business and Economic Research, 1978, pp. 16-22). [7] Wolfe, Joseph, “A Comparative Evaluation of the Experiential Approach To a Business Policy Learning Environment, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 18, Number 3, September, 1975, pp. 442-452. [8] Wolfe, Joseph, ‘The Effects and Effectiveness of Simulations in Business Policy Teaching Applications,” Academy of Management Review, April, 1976, PP. 47-56. Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, Volume 6, 1979 242 [9] Wolfe, Joseph, “Correlations Between Academic Achievement, Aptitude, and Business Game Performance,” in Brenenstuhl and Certo (editors) Exploring Experiential Learning: Simulations and Experiential Exercises (Tempe, Arizona: Bureau of Business and Economic Research, 1978, pp. 317-324). Table of Contents Volume 6, 1979 The Use of Cases with Role Plays in a Research Methods Course Debugging and Implementing the Live-Case Approach to Marketing Research in the Australian Environment Using a Case as the Basis for a Modified Debate Using Cases in Business Communication Classes A Structured Approach to Case Analysis and Reporting Intercollegiate Case Analysis Competition as an Experiential Learning Experience Attributes Germane to Student/Live Case Situations Understanding Dispute Resolution Through Experiential learning Personality Development and Conflict Dynamics: An Experimental Design to Study the Effects of Teaching Methodologies on Conflict Resolution Interpersonal Competence and the Digital PDP-11:40 The process of Writing a Collective Bargaining Simulation: A Case Study in Practical Pedagogy Simulating Negotiations in an Educational Context Simulations as a Technique for Teaching Collective Bargaining Experiential Processing of Differing Managerial Perspectives: The Use of a Game Show Format Individual Self Report vs. Group consensus in Small Decision-Making Groups Effects of Sex-Role Stereotypes on Promotion Decisions: An Exercise Computer Aids to Planning: The Budget and Forecasting Module Use of a Microcomputer in a Decision Analysis for Investment Portfolio Selection A Game of Investment Strategy: Description, Use, Criticism and Modification Coping with Future Uncertainties Through Probabilistic Budgeting Administration and Design of Simulation Materials for a Specialized Management Training Program Managing Stress in Organizational Life Banksim: The Bank Management Simulation Issues in the Organizational Application of Simulation and Experiential material Games Within Games: The Role of the Glitch Experiential Learning from Classroom to Business An Evaluation of the Small Business Institute Program as an Experiential learning Exercise Conversations with Top Management (Simulated) Experience in the Use and Assessment of Simulation in Management Education A Statistical Analysis of Simulation Users: Relationships between Stress and Human Subject guidelines Group Decision Making in a Computer Game Analysis of Demographic and Psychosocial Variables Comparing Performance During Three Managerial Accounting Simulation Schedules Business Policy Simulation and the Intense Course Structure The Use of Intensive Simulation in Executive Development and Academic Settings The Use of Experiential Exercises in the Undergraduate Consumer Behavior Course A Personal Marketing Strategy Approach: Framework and Application Teaching PERT Experientially in Marketing Research Discovering the Majority Fallacy An Experiential Approach to Studying International Business A Demonstration of the Business Simulation Game as a Curriculum Assessment Device Relating Teaching Methods with Educational Objectives in the Business Curriculum The Junior Achievement Applied Management Program as a Compromise Situation Between the Simulation and the Internship Who is Using Computerized Business Games?: A View from Publishers' Adoption Lists Trials and Tribulations in Testing Educational Innovations An Examination of the Perceived Effectiveness of Computer Simulation in a Classroom Setting as Affected by Game, Environmental and Respondent Characteristics Game Administration: A Life Cycle Analysis Research on the Effectiveness of Using a Computerized Simulation in the Basic Management Course Gaming and Attitudinal Change The Teacher-Student Relationship in Experiential Classes and the Student's Perception of Course Effectiveness An Exploratory Study of Student Characteristics and Educational Processes in Programmatic Experiential learning General Incongruity Adaption Level (GIAL) as a Predictor of Risk Preferences in a Simulated Management Game The Cap-Stone Opportunity: Combining Business Simulation and Experiential Learning Incorporating MIS/DSS into Policy Courses Via Simulation Who Benefits Most from Participation in Business Policy Simulations: An Empirical Study of Skill Development by Functional Areas The Use of Program NAMEX in Teaching the Accounting for Nonmonetary Assets The Use of Program CVP in Teaching Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis Experiential vs. Traditional Classroom Approach in the Basic Management Course: A Puerto Rican Experience A Guide to the Successful Use of Business Simulation Games The Dynamic Aspects of Interactive Gaming Puts the Realism into Gaming System Representation of SIMORG The Design of a Database System to Support Business Simulation and Experiential Learning A Data Entry and Retrieval System for a Computer Simulation (DERS) Simulation - An Advantage for Accounting Research Computer-Aided Project Performance Control Simulation: An Interactive Experiential Gaming Technique for Managerial Decision Making Utilization of Manual Simulation Games to Develop Scenarios of Future Events - An Exploratory Study Foundry: A Foundry Simulation Customized Debriefing: The Achilles Heel of Experiential learning? Computerized Business Simulations and Experiential Learning Exercises: An Instructional Interface The Baseball Game: A Group Role Observation, Problem Solving Experience A Practical Design for Experiential Learning Exercises: Roles, Technical Equipment and Alternative Debriefing Formats