Presentation - Shova Thapa

Learning through role-playing games in business and management

Shova Thapa,

SPRU, BMEc,

University of Sussex

Abstract

Teaching and learning in business and management lies in the middle line of education for business and education about business. The for and about argument balances different views of management as a set of competences and as a practice. This implies that together with the understanding of concepts in business and management, the education will allow the students to develop range of skills that are necessary for their employment. Going further, the diverse range of students and large influx of international students travelling to the UK for higher education, has challenged the teaching and learning environment. This challenge is also with regard to meeting the diverse needs of different groups of people. Different techniques are in place to support undergraduate learning such as tutorials, seminars and small group-learning facilitating different types of learning styles. Similarly, case studies, group exercises and simulations are widely used to supplement the learning process. As education about business views management as a practice together with theory learning it is also important to have experimental learning, where students could experience the interactions process happening in the business world. Role-play games has become increasingly popular in the past few decades in the teaching environment. However, their usage has been limited to few subjects.



The aim of this paper is to highlight the impact of role-playing games in learning business and management studies at undergraduate level. A role-playing game was played with first year business and management students undertaking organisational behaviour module. At the end of the game a one page questionnaire was given out to evaluate the impact of the game in understanding the concepts taught in the lecture. 104 students filled in the questionnaire which was open and students were asked to give their comments on the role-play activity. Out of the total, 86% of the surveyed students claimed that the role-play was a fun and interesting way of learning. 11% suggested that it was different from their usual seminars and a very good change. 95% of the respondents stressed that acting the roles and becoming a part of the activity helped them to understand the concepts that were taught during the lecture. 64% suggested that involvement in the role-play helped them in the deeper understanding of the concepts. 16% said that they became aware of how people behave in different settings and how their behaviour affects team work and decision-making. 62% observed that the role-play activity was useful in understanding and experiencing the practical applications of the concepts. When asked about the parts of exercise they enjoyed most, 45% stressed that they liked the discussion part where they had to plan, brainstorm the ideas and come up with ideas. 24% suggested that they liked the role-play part as they could see how their behaviour affected the group dynamics and they could think how it could affect group work in organisations. 90% of the respondents claimed that these type of games should definitely be used again in other courses as it makes them feel involved in the process and learn at the same time. In comparison to the case study analysis, 73% suggested that role-play activity was more useful than case study where they just read a case and answer questions. However, 24% also found that role-play activity was less theoretical than case studies. When asked about what they did not like about the game, 83% stressed that it was a time-consuming and lengthy process. The results showed that role-play activity helped in the better understanding of concepts both theoretically and practically and it has lots of advantages in teaching business and management. However, to make teaching and learning more effective seminars, should be combined with other interactive exercises. Combining different ways of teaching will also help to meet the requirements of diverse students and their learning styles.