The Effectiveness of Experiential Methods in Training and Education: A Review

A large number of experiential training and educational methods exist, such as business games, role playing exercises, T-groups, in-basket exercises, committee participation, field trips, forums, group discussions, panel meetings, seminars, etc. [3, 18], and these methods are in widespread use in both industry and academia [7, 30, 32]. Although there may have been a time when demonstration of effectiveness was not an essential precondition to the use of these methods, more and more both universities and business firms are being called upon to provide evidence of their effectiveness, and this trend will probably intensify in the future. Although many articles and books have been published in this area, the evaluative research relevant to these methods is widely dispersed and not easily obtainable. Thus, the current synthesis was undertaken to summarize existing research on three commonly- used experiential methods: business games, role playing exercises, and T-groups. The evidence reviewed will be strictly empirical, rather than impressionistic or anecdotal (since such material does not provide an adequate basis for evaluating experiential methods), and heavy reliance will be placed on earlier review articles. In addition, some of the distinguishing characteristics and purposes of the three methods will be discussed, to clarify their similarities and differences