ABSEL'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING/EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE: THE DECADE OF THE 1970S Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 ABSEL’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING/EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES: THE DECADE OF THE 1970S Lee A. Graf, Illinois State University ABSTRACT This paper summarizes the contributions of ABSEL’s membership to the development of experiential learning and experiential exercises during the decade of the 1970s. It overviews papers written on experiential learning and experiential exercises by ABSEL contributors during each year of the decade, and for the decade as a whole. Further, it categorizes each experientially-related paper by the paper’s major focuses to provide a systematic means of assembling literature reviews for related future research projects in various topical areas of experiential learning/experiential exercises. Also, year-by-year and decade-long statistics on types of delivery systems (i.e., regular paper session, workshop or demonstration, tutorial, panel or roundtable presentation) and extensiveness of published manuscripts (i.e., full paper, condensed paper) are provided. Finally, year-by- year and decade-long comparative statistics related to the number of proceedings papers written on the three primary pedagogies supported by ABSEL (i.e., experiential learning/ experiential exercises, simulation games, and cases) also are included. INTRODUCTION On April 26-27, 1974 the first meeting of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning (ABSEL) was held at Oklahoma Christian College in Oklahoma City. With the establishment of ABSEL, a forum for the fast-emerging field of business-related experiential learning was now in place. From this very first meeting, it quickly became clear that two dominant themes would frame the field of experiential learning at future ABSEL conferences. The two primary thrusts were: (1) experiential learning/experiential exercises (including, among others, such related pedagogies as internship programs, game show formats, assessment centers, COMPUSTAT tape usage, and Delphi forecasting) and (2) simulation games (non-computerized and computerized games). Even the awards given to ABSEL participants for innovation and research quality were initially divided and, to this day, remain split between these two focuses. While the evolution of experiential learning over ABSEL’s 25-year history has somewhat blurred the early clear distinction between simulation games and experiential exercises (see Graf & Kellogg, 1990), there remains three general differentiating factors between the two. Simulations generally are computerized, multiple-iteration experiences utilizing chained decisions; experiential exercises, on the other hand, are usually non-computerized, single- iteration exercises using non-chained decisions. The number of times a decision must be made for a participant to develop an understanding of the phenomena is at the heart of the concept of iterations. Simulations usually require a series or set of decisions (multiple iterations) to have full impact on learning, whereas, experiential exercises can have noticeable impact after only one iteration. Chained decisions, on the other hand, reflect the fact that the results of one set of decisions influence the decisions made in future iterations. For example, simulation games usually require participants to live with past decisions and do not allow them to begin anew for each trial. Experiential exercises, on the other hand, may require participants to make hundreds of unique decisions during the exercise, but with only one iteration--the results of one iteration are not the input or starting point for a second iteration, as is the case for a simulation game 25 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 (Graf & Kellogg, 1990). The third general distinction between experiential exercises and simulation games, at least early-on in the history of ABSEL, was use of the computer. In 1974 and, for the most part, for the next 25 years, most simulation papers focused on a computerized approach to learning, while most experiential exercises remained non-computerized. In 1977 the ABSEL Board of Directors voted to add a case-track to the organization’s previously two-dimensional focus (Goosen, 1986). This action likely occurred because the number of case-related submissions was on the decline (4 case-related papers appeared in the 1975 Proceedings, 1 in the 1976, and no case-related pieces were present in the 1977 Proceedings). Early reaction to this decision appeared quite positive in that 8 case-related papers were included in the 1978 Proceedings. Noteworthy, however, is that the majority of these were “live cases,” a form of experiential exercise rather than true cases. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the contributions of ABSEL’s membership to experiential learning/experiential exercises during the decade of the 1970s.1 Piggybacking on the experiential segments of the pioneering effort of Ken Goosen (1986) and differentiating among manuscripts utilizing the aforeoutlined experiential versus simulation categorization schemes, this paper overviews the types of experientially-related papers produced by ABSEL contributors and published in its conference Proceedings during each year of the decade of the 1970s, and for the decade as a whole. Further, it categorizes each experientially-related paper by the paper’s major focuses2 to provide a systematic means of assembling a literature review for future research in various topical areas of experiential learning/experiential exercises. For example (and extending the effort of Goosen), if researchers are interested in identifying the human resource experiential exercises that have been developed by ABSEL contributors during the 1970s, such information, including volume (year) and page number in the Proceedings, is now available (see Table 1). Also, the summary statistics generated through this effort will permit one to identify and compare on a year-by-year basis and for the decade, the number of experiential learning/experiential exercise papers to the numbers of simulation-related and case-related papers included in ABSEL Proceedings over that same period.3 Finally, year-by-year and decade- long numerical summaries of the types of delivery systems used to relay exercises and research to conference participants (i.e., regular paper session, workshop or demonstration, tutorial, panel or roundtable presentation), and 1 The other two decade-long companion papers in this series on the contributions of ABSEL’s membership to experiential learning/experiential exercises were developed by Lane Kelley, University of Hawaii at Manoa (the decade of the 1980s), and John Butler, Clemson University (the decade of the 1990s). 2 ABSEL papers often are multi-faceted in that, for example, while the primary focus of a paper may be on sharing an actual human resource experiential exercise with conference participants, often such papers also share instructor’s notes on “administering” the exercise and maybe even statist s related to participant satisfaction (“outcomes”) with e experience. In such instances, the first page number o recorded in each rel various contribution In this instance, for under “Descriptions “Human Resource Use/Administer Ex Impact of The Exe Exercise Effectiven page numbers appe by simply cross-re actual Proceedings found in the Append 3 When information with information inc the decades of th developed by Ke anniversary look exercises at ABSEL 26 ic th f that paper (i.e., page 30) would be ated category in Table 1 to denote the s that the paper makes to the literature. example, page 30 would be recorded of Actual Exercises/Programs” in the s” section, in the “How To ercises,” and in “How to Assess the rcise” category in the “Research on ess (Outcomes)” section. The title for aring in Table 1 can quickly be found ferencing that page number with the “Table of Contents” page numbers ix of this paper. assembled in this paper is combined luded in the two companion papers for e 1980s and 1990s that are being lley and Butler, an overall silver at experiential learning/experiential will be possible. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 the extensiveness of the published manuscripts (i.e., full paper, condensed paper) for each focus category (experiential learning/experiential exercises, simulations, and cases) also are presented (see Table 2). EXPERIENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS APPEARING IN THE 1974 PROCEEDINGS Excluding the four “Concluding Observation” reports written after the 1974 conference concluded, 48 actual papers were included in this first ABSEL Proceedings (Kenderdine & Keys, 1974). Of these 48, the vast majority were simulation-related. In fact, only 8 of 48 were not focused on some aspect of gaming (i.e., design of games, learning via business games, games as a framework for research). Of these 8, 1 paper was case-related, and the remaining 7 were directly focused on experiential learning/ experiential exercises. Interestingly, 3 of those 7 used simulation games as the means to frame the discussion. The paper of Byrne and Wolfe [22]4 focused on how a simulation game can serve as the vehicle for periential learning, Faria and Nulsen’s [54] o assignments (exe a marketing Leftwich’s [61] (finance/account can be used to su All of the four experientially f provided ABS definition of ex differs from the Lowe’s [48] paper examined how selection of elective courses and the format and delivery of those courses can permit participants in a course to better attain their personal goals. Lowe’s view was that elective courses can be transformed into split-track courses, permitting both those students desiring the structure of a conventional course and those seeking a personally meaningful experience the access they seek. The Byham [300] paper examined how assessment centers are actually types of simulations used both to identify management potential (to be used to screen and select future managers) and to train assessment center participants (participating managers). Finally, Certo and Dougherty [36] examined a methodology utilized in administering a specific organizational behavior structured experiential exercise, the “Stuck/Unstuck” exercise. They then generalized on this experience to discuss the teaching potential of related exercises. 4 From this point fo numbers that appear represent the begin year’s ABSEL Pr citations (page numb manuscript correspo ABSEL Proceeding Contents” for those follows, only Procee will be cited in the B The numbers appearing in the first column of Table 1 labeled “Vol. 1 (1974)” represent the number of the first page of papers appearing in ex n how internal and external rcises) can be used to embellish simulation experience, and paper on how “mini-courses” ing related special assignments) pplement a business simulation. remaining papers were strictly ocused. Hoover’s [31] paper EL’s first discussion and periential learning and how it more traditional methodologies. rward to the end of this manuscript, all in brackets and follow authors’ names ning page number of a paper in that oceedings. Further, since all such ers inside brackets) in the body of this nd directly with papers appearing in s Volumes 1-6, and the “Tables of volumes appear in the Appendix that dings volumes (not individual papers) ibliography. that volume. Each row that crosses that column reflects an issue relevant to experiential learning or experiential exercises (i.e., “How To Design/Construct Exercises). The two numbers in the cell of the aforementioned row/column category are pages 22 and 54. These numbers [22 and 54] then identify the starting page of two different Proceedings papers in Volume 1 on how to design or construct experiential exercises. Further, from information in column 1 (Volume 1), one can see that 4 papers contained information focusing on how to use/administer exercises, 2 papers included one type or another of information on how to assess the impact of an exercise, and 6 papers focused on exercises in specific topical areas (i.e., marketing, finance/accounting). Again, to identify the Proceedings paper associated with a specific page number in Table 1, see the “Table of Contents” for that volume (year) in the Appendix of this manuscript. 27 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 28 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 From information in Table 2 for the year 1974 (see columns labeled “74”) one can see that all papers were full-length papers presented in regular paper sessions. Further, 1 paper focused on cases, 40 on simulation games, and 7 papers on experiential learning/experiential exercises. NOTE: The detailed discussion of the experiential contribution in the 1976 through 1979 Proceedings were omitted due to page limitations. AN OVERVIEW OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING FOR THE DECADE OF THE 1970s Numbers in the far right column of Table 1 entitled “Total # For the Decade of the 1970s” provide an overview of the total number of experientially-related ABSEL Proceedings papers with particular focuses for the decade of the 1970s. For example, 21 different papers would be helpful in explaining “How to Design/Construct Exercises,” and 53 papers focused on “How to Use/Administer Exercises.” Also, if one were interested in learning how to assess the impact of an exercise, 31 papers focused on “Research on Exercise Effectiveness (Outcomes)," 14 on “Using an Exercise as a Research Experiment,” 8 on “Using an Exercise for Hypothesis Testing,” and 5 on “Using an Exercise to Evaluate Teaching Performance.” Further, if one were interested in papers reporting on actual exercises or programs, 16 can be found on “Marketing,” 15 on “Organizational Behavior/Communications,” 8 on “Human Resources,” 3 on “Finance/Accounting,” 2 on “Entrepreneurship/Small Business,” 13 on “General Management/Business,” 12 on “Cross- Cultural/International/Diversity,” 7 on “Problem Solving/Decision Making,” and 3 on “Other” issues (2 on economic-related issues, and 1 on health administration). More importantly from Table 1, however, for those wishing to have a systematic means of assembling a literature review for research in various topical areas, are the categorized starting page number of papers appearing in each of the six Proceedings for the decade of the 1970s. For example, with Table 1 in hand, the researcher will know exactly where to turn in specific Proceedings to find all exercises related to finance or accounting. The three articles related to this topic start on page 61 of Volume 1 (1974), page 318 of Volume 2 (1975), and page 114 of Volume 5 (1978)--see Table 1. Table 2 overviews the type of delivery system utilized (i.e., paper presentation, workshop/ demonstration, tutorial, panel/roundtable) and the extensiveness of published manuscripts (full paper, condensed or abstracted paper) for each of the three paper tracks (experiential learning/experiential exercises, simulation games, cases), and for all tracks combined for the decade of the 1970s. Non-underlined column totals summarize the total number of papers appearing in that year’s ABSEL Proceedings for each of the three tracks (i.e., a total of 12 experientially-oriented papers appeared in the 1975 Proceedings). Underlined row totals (labeled “TOT”) for each track reflect the total number of papers of that type for the decade of the 1970s. For example, the total number of “Simulation Games” papers presented in workshops or demonstrations for the decade was 10. Underlined column “Totals” (excluding the far right column) reflect the total number of papers for all types of delivery systems for the decade (i.e., there was a total of 112 “Experiential Learning/Experiential Exercise” papers that appeared in ABSEL Proceedings during the decade of the 1970s). The numbers in the far right column labeled “Totals” (with underlines and overlines) represent the total number of papers for all tracks for that delivery system/level of extensiveness. For example, full paper presentations for all three tracks for the decade of the 1970s totaled 271. Finally, worthy of note from numbers in the “Totals” column is that only 4 of 297 papers appearing in 29 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 Proceedings during the 1970s were condensed or abstracted. The remaining 293 papers were full papers. NOTE: The Reference section of this paper was omitted due to page limitations. 30 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 APPENDIX 31 Table of Contents Volume 26, 1999 ABSEL's Historical Research Interests Back From the Future: An ABSEL Merlin Exercise for the Year 2005 The Contributions of ABSEL During the 1980's ABSEL's Contributions to Experiential Exercises in the 90's ABSEL's Contributions to Experiential learning/Experiential Exercises: The Decade of the 1970's Business Simulations - Algorithms and Model Enhancements: A 25 year Review A Study of the ETS General Field Test as an AACSB Assessment Tool and the Impact of Experiential Exercises and Simulation on Learning A Framework for Assessing the Competencies Reflected in Simulation Performance Developing A Learning Culture: Assessing Changes in Student Performance and Perception Financial Simulation Using Distributed Computing Technology Analyzing Managers' Judgements and Decisions with an Educational Business Simulation Understanding Your Business through Home-Made Simulator Development An Examination of a Reanalysis of the Impact of a Market Leader on Simulation Competitors' Strategies Applying Shocks to TE Simulations: A Demonstration Increasing Efficiency of Management Skill Assessment A Testbank for Measuring Total Enterprise Simulation Learning Developing Leadership Skills - Video Live! LEADSIMM: Collaborative Leadership Development for the Knowledge Society A Team Approach to Producing Multi-Media Laptop and Video Formatted Presentation Tinkertoys Revisited: Exploring Trust Based Relationships Overall Dominance in Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Success or Bankruptcy: The Relationship between Personal and Goal Orientation and Simulation Performance Assessing the Effects of Feedback: Muti-method and Muti-directions in Multi-pedagogical Courses The Missing Ingredients in Experiential Learning Purpose and Learning Benefits of Business Simulations: A Design and Development Perspective Building Capabilities for Change through Laboratory Simulations Modeling Innovation as a Process of Design in Educational Business Simulation The Need to Measurer variance in Experiential Learning and a New Statistic to do so Assessing Effectiveness of an Experiential Oriented Course Over Time Developing Participant Satisfaction Models of Experiential Exercises in Business Education Perceptions of Learning in TE Simulations Students' View on the Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Management Gaming's Lost Opportunity: Meditations about the Russian Experience and Prospects for the Future Unanticipated Enhancements in the Business Strategy and Policy Game when Running in Windows 95 Using a Business Game to Demonstrate Broad Business Concepts A New Model for Business Courses (Getting the Student Connected) Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Integrating Knowledge Using Large Scale Simulations in Capstone Business Strategy Classes Is It Here To Stay? A Roundtable Discussion of the Inter-Group Interaction Interactive Tools Used in Applying Financial Concepts Strengthening Essential Skills through a Finance Exercise: Calculation of Beta A Model of Currency Exchange Rates Understanding Currency Exchange Rates: A three-part Exercise Student Experiences in the World Intercollegiate Business Game Competition Student Experiences in the International-Collegiate Business Policy Game Competition Using Boards of Directors in Simulation Environments: Comments From Board Members Sharing Best Practices: Teaching Smarter, Not Harder Star Power: A Simulation for Understanding Power and Empowerment The Marketing Game: A Marketing Principles Simulation Alexander Islands: GSSM Tiny Business Simulator on the WWW Putting Strategy into Strategic Business Games Industry Analysis, Porter's Five Forces Model and Strategic Group Maps in the Business Strategy Game Simulation The Use of Concept Mapping to Improve Student Performance and Understanding of Strategic Management Concepts: A Comparison of Techniques Transformational thinking in the Organizational Behavior Course: The Use of Metaphor as an Assessment Tool Creation of a Virtual Learning Community for the Global Virtual Enterprise Project Inter Institutional use of Educational Resources: Joint Use of Management Simulation Games Business Insights: Theory and Practice with the Aid of a Business Simulation Progress: An Experiential Exercise in Development Marketing The ABC's of teaching the Theory of Constraints to Undergraduate Business Students Demonstrating Principles of Organizational Purchasing Behavior through an Experiential Exercise The Virtual Manager: A Different Simulation for Managing Complexity When the Rules are changing and Chaos Breeds Innovation: Recapturing the Value of Constructive Thinking and Play in Simulation Training The Pitfalls, and Potential, of Actual Events as Problem Drivers Using Business Games to teach Environmental Awareness and Green Management: The International Experience with the ENSIM Game A Review of my ABSEL-Related Work Simulation of Government: A Workshop Using GEO Creating Internet-Based Games Using Perl and JavaScript Who's on First? Exploring the Concepts of Problem-Based Learning, Experiential Learning, and Lifelong Learning Students Learn Customer Service and Selling while Conducting Research So You Want to Run an NFL Football Team–An Honors Interdisciplinary Project Supervised Internship: The Employer's Perspective Using Computer Assisted Simulation to Teach International Business Strategy: A Case of the Multinational Management Game (MMG) Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in China An Appreciative Stance on Diversity as We Move into the 21st Century: A Timeline Exercise to Identify Key Experiences in Good Work Relationships between Black and White Peers A Day in the Life of an Interactive, Real Time, and Internet Delivered Course: A Demonstration Comparing Internet Search Engines: An Experiential Learning Exercise Total Enterprise Simulations and the Internet: Assessing Student Perceptions and Preferences Teaching Accounting Information Systems in a Practicum Format Providing Experiential Learning in Accounting through a Field Study Payroll Project A Spreadsheet Based Business Simulation Game Computer-Behavioral Simulations Training for Project Managers Simulation Scenarios - Rationale and Illustration