BUSINESS GAMES VS. CASES AS TOOLS OF LEARNING, RESULTS OF RESEARCH AT UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO.

AS A TEACHING DEVICE, THE MANAGEMENT GAME POSSESSES UNIQUE FEATURES--DIRECT FEEDBACK OF DECISION RESULTS AND SEQUENTIAL DECISION-MAKING. THE BUSINESS GAME AND CASE METHOD ARE CLOSELY RELATED. BOTH DEFINE A COLLECTION OF DATA, AFFORD PRACTICE IN THE USE OF ANALYTICAL TOOLS, EXPOSE TRAINEES TO DECISION-MAKING UNDER CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY, AND ILLUSTRATE THE ACTIONS OF COMPETITORS. ATTEMPTS TO COMPARE THE TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS OF GAMES AND CASES CARRIED OUT AT HARVARD AND NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITIES SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO METHODS. IN ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT EVALUATION, TWO GROUPS OF BUSINESS STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO USED FIVE GAMES AND FIVE CORRESPONDING CASES AND WERE TESTED AT THE END OF THEIR COURSE. TEST RESULTS DID NOT SUPPORT THE PROPOSITION THAT GAMES ARE MORE EFFECTIVE FROM THE STANDPOINT OF LEARNING, IN FACT, THEY SHOWED SOME ASPECTS OF LEARNING TO BE BETTER ACHIEVED THROUGH THE CASE METHOD. WHILE THESE STUDIES WERE NOT MEANT TO MEASURE MOTIVATION, THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT GAME PLAYERS ARE NOT STRONGLY MOTIVATED TO LEARN THE BASIC CONCEPTS UNDERLYING THE GAME BUT RATHER BECOME PREOCCUPIED WITH "BEATING THE SYSTEM" OR WITH COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER. THE CASE METHOD, ON THE OTHER HAND, MAY PROVIDE AN ATMOSPHERE MORE SUITABLE TO THE EXAMINATION OF KEY ISSUES. THIS DOCUMENT APPEARED IN TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL 21 (10)/ 13-23, OCTOBER 1967. (AJ)