A KISS BEFORE DEBRIEFING Exploring Experiential Learning: Simulations and Experiential Exercises, Volume 5, 1978 5 A KISS BEFORE DEBRIEFING Steve Altman Florida International University A particular experiential exercise I find useful for promoting leaning points up many of the needs of effective debriefing. The exercise falls in the motivation segment of my course and requires only that students have read the assigned chapter before attending class. No other advanced warning is given. I walk into class and move directly to the board, writing “the topic for discussion today is motivation.” I turn and face the class and wait. No pleasantries, no ice-breaking, no sound. Silence. The air gets thick with tension, and the squirming begins in about 30 seconds. After about a minute or a minute and a half, the silence gets intolerable, and the anxiety level is very high. Finally, one of the students inevitably, can’t stand it any longer and blurts out a tension reducing wisecrack. I throw the student a piece of candy (a Hershey “kiss”). Laughter mixed with disbelief: Another wisecrack, another piece of candy. Another wisecrack, but no more candy until some reference to the topic of motivation is made. Selected reinforcement continues until the topic for discussion, motivation, is initiated. Of course, confusion continues. Some students try to “psych” me out; others try to get a handle on the process. Some retreat to their texts to elicit pearls of wisdom (real pearls get lots of candy!), while some are furious with me and withdraw. The process continues for one to two hours without a word from the instructor. The variety of reactions would be too lengthy to review here (some throw the candy back to motivate me, others form strategy groups to plot their retaliation, or to brainstorm my reasons for linking the exercise to the chapter in the text), but the lessons to be leaned regarding the debriefing process are highlighted. I believe this to be so because of the extreme ambiguity of the situation, the surprise, and the unpredictable reactions of different groups of students. Debriefing such an event is important for personal and professional reasons. Many students take it personally if they don’t receive enough candy. Others believe they have been double-crossed (by me) and run the risk of dysfunctional behavior for the rest of the term. But more important, without proper debriefing, the exercise becomes a game devoid of meaning and a waste of precious class time. The debriefing model focuses on particular aspects of the exercise in terms of activity, time and direction. By activity I refer to events and particular occurrences that have learning Exploring Experiential Learning: Simulations and Experiential Exercises, Volume 5, 1978 6 potential. Time is a factor as the class develops progressive or regressive behaviors, and is related to organizational growth. Direction refers to goal oriented behavior, both in terms of identification and implementation. Six specific areas are explored in the debriefing 1) identification of different perception and attitudes of what occurred, 2) linking the exercise to specific content theory for this segment of the course, 3) linking the exercise to skill building techniques (useful at time of exercise and in subsequent class sessions), 4) development of a common set of experiences for further data analysis, 5) making sure that each participant, or group of participants receives feedback on the nature of their involvement and their specific behaviors, 6) re-establishing desired classroom climate. A “kiss” without debriefing is a class without learning. Table of Contents Volume 5, 1978 Debriefing: The Key to Effective Experiential Learning A Kiss Before Debriefing Debriefing with Serialized Theory Development for TaskTeam Learning Insights Into Debriefing Experiential Learning Exercises The Two-Step Flow of Experiential Learning: A Preliminary Investigation Programmatic Experienced-Based Learning in an MBA Program The New Research Focus: An Analysis of the Simulation Game User An Analysis of Performance in Simulation Games Compared to Performance on Structured Course Criteria: A Case Study Le's Simplify the Administrative Requirements of Computerized Educational Simulations Assessment of Sex Stereotypes Within Task Group Simulation The Use of Program BAYAUD in the Teaching of Audit Sampling The Effectiveness of Progressively Complex Accounting Simulations in Increasing Decision-Making Performance The Natural Learning Project The Application of a US-USSR Trade Simulation to the Reaching of Business Russian The Use of Semi-Autonomous Work Group in Graduate Management Education: An Australian Experience Evaluation of an Experimental Course in Organizational Behavior for Managers of Japanese Banks Berkshire II: An Experiential Decision Making Exercise: An Exercise in Hegelian Inquiry Creating a Responsible Managerial Experience A Framework for Determining the Pedagogical Value of Simulation Gaming: Implications for Future Simulation Gamin Research Emergent Simulations in Administration Courses Measurement of Administrator Role for Feedback on Structure and Goals An Experiment in Assessing the Theoretical Recognition and Application Leaning Skills of Student Case Writers Some Game Information Systems Experience Using Job Control Language (JCL) for Group and Individual Simulation Considerations for the Use of Computerized Business Simulations Assessing the Effectiveness of Learning Styles as Predictors of Performance within Three Distinct Pedogogic Methodologies Learning Style and Performance A Psychometric Analysis of Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory Learning to Identify and Satisfy consumer Wants: A Classroom Game An Experiential Exercise in Product Benefit Segmentation Sales and Sales Management: A Case/Simulation Approach The SBI Case as Experiential Learning The Use of a Live Case in Teaching Organization Theory and management Principles to Graduate Students The Residency in Hospital and health Administration as Experiential Learning The Extended Live Case Approach to Teaching Marketing Research Experiential Learning in Marketing: Student Consultants The Brazil-Columbia Coffee Marketing Negotiations: An Experiential Exercise Aimed at Highlighting the Dynamics Involved in the International Business Negotiation Process Educational Values of Simulation Gaming Business Simulation Re-Revisited Simulation and Experiential Learning as Human Subject Research An Experiential Evaluation of a Didactic - Experiential Apporach for Teaching personnel Management Experiential Learning in Wage and Salary Administration Integrating Structured Experiences into Personnel Simulation Locus of Control and Performance in a Management Simulation Correlations Between Academic Achievement, Aptitude, and Business Game Performance Suggestions for Student Input of Decisions in General Management Simulations An Exploratory Investigation of Student Perceptions of Computer Simulation as an Educational Tool Time to Sell?: An Experiential Learning Approach to Stock Market Decisions through Interactive Gaming