Article
Enhancing the Student Experience: Simulation-based Learning in the MBA Classroom
The Educational Review
(2020)
Abstract
Business schools use computer-based simulations to teach students strategic decision-making skills in the context of real-world applications. Simulations fit well into the student-centered classroom where students take responsibility for their own learning and the professor offers guidance throughout. While much research focuses on students’ perceptions of simulations as well as the measurable student learning outcomes that result from their use, little research exists on the evolution of students’ mindsets as they move through the various rounds of a long-form simulation. This study documents the phases and shifts in students’ self-efficacy and confidence as they work to successfully complete a complex, multi-round computer simulation in the context of a graduate business course. The results show a gradual but distinct pattern of improvement in the students’ beliefs in their decision-making abilities, a dissipation of anxiety, the displacement of extrinsic motivations by intrinsic ones, and an increase in students’ overall confidence.
Keywords
- Attitudes,
- Business,
- Computer Simulations,
- Higher Education,
- Decision Making,
- Learner-Centered,
- Strategy
Disciplines
Publication Date
2020
DOI
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/er.2020.07.002
Citation Information
Diane Fittipaldi. "Enhancing the Student Experience: Simulation-based Learning in the MBA Classroom" The Educational Review Vol. 4 Iss. 7 (2020) p. 150 - 156 ISSN: 2575-7946 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/diane-fittipaldi/14/