ABSTRACT
During 1991 concerns about rising student numbers led to an experiment with a large first-year degree module in financial management, comprising students from a range of rural-based programmes, most of whom had no intrinsic interest in the topic. An off-the-peg game was used as the central means of learning, supported by lectures, computer-assisted learning, fortnightly tests, and surgeries. Annual evaluations of student perceptions, coupled with qualitative and quantitative outcomes of assessments, show the strategy to have been very successful, with a high quality of learning experienced by students despite numbers ranging from 130 to over 200 (40 companies). The fact that the game is based on a manufacturing business, rather than rural land-using, gave no difficulty. Staff enjoy being involved with a more highly-motivated student group, although reductions in formal contact time are balanced by other pressures.
A more complex game was subsequently used with third-year students in a module which had previously been based on ‘live’ case studies, allowing students to bring together various aspects of their managerial learning. Over 1,000 students have now taken this module, and reactions have been extremely positive – far more so than when real businesses were used. Future developments envisaged include incorporation of different types of game into other modules to create a ‘game continuum’ throughout the business pathway; involvement of teams from universities overseas; and development of learning support materials on a WWW server.
