Effectiveness of teaching methods in business education: A comparison study on the learning outcomes of lectures, case studies and simulations

Abstract

Our study compares simulation, case study and lecture as the most common teaching methods in the business education. A sample of 194 undergraduate and MBA students is used to assess the perceived effectiveness of these teaching methods for developing students' problem solving skills, interpersonal skills and self-awareness. Our findings indicate that students perceive simulation as the most effective teaching method for developing their interpersonal skills and self-awareness followed by case study and lecture respectively. Regarding problem solving skills we found that simulation and case study are perceived as being similar but more effective than lectures. Comparing these three teaching methods based on their cognitive, skill-based and affective learning outcomes is a new approach for comparative studies in this literature.