An Experimental Study of a Software Based Teaching (SBT) Methodology in an Undergraduate Negotiation Course

Abstract:

Cross-cultural negotiation courses have been taught for many years both at graduate and undergraduate levels, using conventional pedagogical approaches such as classroom-based lectures, material readings, and paper-pencil based negotiation exercises. In the contemporary world of higher education, it is often expressed by the faculty that students show lack of enthusiasm, interest, and motivation to actively participate in such learning activities.  Moreover, semesters after semesters faculty find students becoming less and less engaged in conventional learning activities. In this learning atmosphere, as teachers, we find it really challenging to create and maintain a minimum level of the required interest in students and motivate them to pay attention, ask questions, and participate actively in classroom sessions.  Therefore, in this study we propose to the faculty who are teaching negotiation related courses to use software-based teaching strategy in order to engage students in a more enjoyable manner and provide them with an interactive learning environment.