Predictive Models of Learning: Participant Satisfaction of Experiential Exercises in Business Education

Authors

  • Gregory H. Patton
  • Daniel Cochece Davis
  • Gita Govahi

Abstract

This study explores the use and evaluation of experiential exercises in the business classroom. It briefly examines the research foundations of business gaming, highlighting the emphasis on management simulations and the need for explorations of experiential exercises. This study builds on existing research by comparing two competing models of “learning enhancement” across three avenues of participant learning: mega lectures, lab sessions, and experiential exercises. Results of regression analyses on the competing models surprisingly contradict previous theorizing about experiential learning’s role in management. Specifically, findings indicate that experiential exercises may be misplaced in learning theories and should not be considered as pedagogically interchangeable with simulations. The interaction of instructors on participant satisfaction and monotonic trends among means of the three learning categories are explored. The emerging predictive model for experiential exercises provides a key stepping stone toward a consumer satisfaction orientation allowing a better transition between the business classroom and corporate settings.

Downloads

Published

1998-03-04