Examining the effectiveness of experiential teaching methods in small and large OM modules

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the preferences of students towards different teaching methods and the perceived effectiveness of experiential teaching methods in different operations management (OM) modules.Design/methodology/approach – Student perceptions of different teaching methods and various aspects of an experiential teaching method, in the form of a business simulation game, are examined using survey data from 274 respondents in four small post‐experience and two large pre‐experience OM modules.Findings – The paper's analysis suggests that traditional and experiential teaching methods are both popular with OM students, whilst independent teaching methods are less well liked. Analysis also shows that students on both kinds of OM modules perceive most aspects of the experiential teaching method used in this study (The Operations Game) very positively.Research limitations/implications – This research study was confined to a particular type of experiential teaching method – a business simulation...

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