An Experiential Evaluation of a Didactic - Experiential Approach for Teaching Personnel Management

Abstract

First, this paper presents a brief review of the studies of the effectiveness of different teaching methods in colleges of business administration. The effectiveness of different teaching methods are assessed in terms of attitude change, skill development, and cognitive development. Second, the lecture method and a didactic-experiential approach are discussed in terms of the learning process: (1) development of theory (generalization), (2) relating theory to psychological set, and (3) modification, acceptance or rejection of theory. The results of an empirical comparison between the effectiveness of the lecture and didactic- experiential approaches is presented in terms of (1) cognitive learning of personnel management principles and (2) attitude toward the course.