Evaluating the educational value of simulation games: Learners’ perspective

ABSTRACT

Simulation games (SGs) offer great opportunities for students to learn and experience real-world business decisions in a risk-free learning environment. However, the impact of using SG on educational outcomes is not fully understood. Drawing on experiential learning theory, we develop a conceptual model to examine students’ perceptions of the educational values generated from a SG adopted in a postgraduate programme at a UK business school. The study gathered data from 120 students by using survey data and qualitative data from students’ reflective reports. Results show that SGs have positive impact on students’ conceptual understanding, skills development and affective evaluation of their learning experience. The article discusses the findings and its implications for educational practitioners and offers directions for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Experiential learning
• management education
• strategic management
• simulation games
• students’ experience
• GLO-BUS

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kholoud Mohsen

Kholoud Mohsen (PhD, King’s College London, UK) is a lecturer in Marketing and International Business at Essex Business School, University of Essex. Her research interests are in the areas of intra-firm integration mechanisms and their influence on marketing performance, international marketing strategies of emerging market firms and innovations in education and teaching. Dr Mohsen has published her work in the Journal of Business Research.

Shahpar Abdollahi

Shahpar Abdollahi (PhD, King’s College London, UK) is a lecturer in Marketing at University of Richmond. Previously, she worked as an associate lecturer in fashion marketing at University of Arts London and as a post-graduate lecturer and a senior research fellow at Cranfield University. Her research interests are in the areas of Business to Business marketing and the role of social capital in product innovation.

Suha Omar

Suha Omar (PhD, De Montfort University, UK) is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the Department of Strategic Management and Marketing at De Montfort University, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM). She has over 10 years of teaching experience in digital marketing. Her research interests are in areas of digital marketing, mobile technologies and innovation.