Learning to lead organizational change: assessment of a problem‐based simulation in Thailand

Abstract

This paper presents findings of a study that evaluated the instructional effectiveness of a problem‐based learning module constructed around a computer simulation, Making Change Happen™. The Leading Organizational Change (LOC) course sought to enable students in a graduate management program in Thailand to learn to lead complex changes in organizations. This research compared student evaluation data collected from 1696 students who studied the LOC class over a seven‐year period with evaluations of other courses that employed problem‐based learning and courses that used a variety of instructional methods. The results revealed that students’ ratings of the LOC course were both consistently high in absolute terms, and significantly higher than the comparison courses. The learning design employed in the LOC course facilitates students’ action‐directed learning, enhances student engagement, and uses assessment methods that support student learning. While the study did not directly assess learning outcomes, the results suggest that the problem‐based, simulation‐centered approach employed in the LOC course successfully responds to key critiques leveled at education in the professions in general, and management education in particular.

Keywords:

• organizational change
• simulation
• problem‐based learning
• management development

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by research grants funded by the Hong Kong Institute of Education (Ref. RG21/2009–2010; Ref. RG53/2009–2010) to the first and second authors.

Notes

1. The capstone option tracks (i.e. Professional Practice, Consultancy Project, Independent Research Study, and Thesis) were treated as equivalent. The other tracks, all of which existed prior to the development of the Professional Practice Track, employed a traditional final report and “oral presentation and defense” of the report. Students were often required to make minor or even major changes to their reports, as opposed to receiving a Fail. With this in mind, the grading scheme in the Professional Practice Track offered students who did not pass a module (e.g. LOC) the first time, to retake it one more time. This “mastery learning approach” met the criterion of equivalence across capstone tracks, allowed the instructors to maintain a high standard, and enabled students to progress at a rate that was suitable to their circumstances.

2. We note that in the education version of the simulation, IT 2020 is a new platform for using IT in teaching and learning.

3. Due the fact that the Master degree program was taught in English, an English language version of the simulation that employs decision rules based on the Thai context was used.

4. Note that this is separate from the Course Evaluation Questionnaire.

5. Although it goes beyond the scope of this study, the trend of findings reported here are very consistent with evaluation data collected on the use of the simulation‐centered course with management students in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and China.