Influence of Learning Styles on the Acceptance of Game Based Learning in Higher Education: Experiences with a Role Playing Simulation Game

This paper describes a study about the Beer Distribution Game in higher education as part of e-business courses. The Beer Distribution Game is a web based role playing simulation game of a supply chain. The original game was developed by the System Dynamics Group at MIT in the early 1960s. What is usually referred to as “the beer game” has been played all over the world by thousands of people ranging from high school students to chief executive officers and government officials, and it recreates a supply chain from industrial fabrication of the product to distribution. The simulation illustrates the building up and reinforcing processes of demand fluctuations within the supply chains. Simulations have proved to be very effective instructional techniques because learners cope with a model as if they were confronted with real life experiences. The present study is based on a survey of specified groups of students from two European universities. Based on Kolb´s (1984) experience based learning model the different learning styles of student participants were investigated and compared with their attitudes to game based learning in general and the beer game in particular. Students described how playing of the beer game helped them to understand the processes within supply chains and the important role of readily available information to manage these processes. Moreover, the study examined the learning success of students regarding their knowledge about dynamic systems and problems of the supply chains.