Testing ERE Cycle in Teaching Business Communication Courses: Experiential Learning Strategies

Abstract

Effective communication skills demonstrate the capacity and efficacy of any business graduate; however, the business industries have continuously raised their concerns on the lack of effective business communication (BC) skills, to serve the requirements of rapidly growing communication within and outside the organizations. Among many factors, teaching methods at higher education have been identified as a major factor that does not allow working skills to be developed. Scholars and researchers have tried to explore and test Experiential Learning (EL) techniques in teaching different courses of business administration programs. EL theory presents a playfield where learners can learn the best by doing (Kolb, 1984). Although business education around the world has already inculcated EL strategies into its system, in Pakistan EL theory is at its initial stage. In this regard, the researcher developed an ERE cycle which was based on Kolb’s (1984) EL theory and tested its impact on the grades of the students of oral and written communication skills. The study was conducted using one sample t-test in the paradigm of quantitative research. Three classes of BBA and MBA from oral and written communication courses were selected for this study. This research compared mean scores of these classes with the population mean over the last three years. The results showed a significant positive difference between the sample mean scores and population mean. The study proved that EL based ERE cycle could prove very effective in the enhancement of the skills of business communication students that were reflected in their performance in exams. The study aimed to provide communication faculty, trainers and institutes the opportunity to explore and utilize the effectiveness of the ERE cycle and perform further researches to extend the utilities of EL based teaching methods.