Use of a Comprehensive Simulation in Technical Management Courses

An old adage says that you have not really learned something until you can “do it.” In many fields this finds its expression in internships, on-the-job experience, and apprenticeships. For many adult learners these sorts of supplemental learning experiences are not available when they take graduate programs to advance their professional development. Immersing the students in a simulated management environment for the duration of a class can approximate this on-the-job learning experience. This simulation paradigm has been employed in the Technical Management introductory courses at The Johns Hopkins University – Engineering for Professionals for more than a decade. Recently, this concept has been introduced into a higher-level Communications in Technical Organizations course in the program. This paper will describe the specific components of the simulation, including some details about the fictitious company used in the simulation and the way that the student experiences something very close to the “real” world in the online course experience by completing writing, presentation, and other communication assignments at several levels of responsibility within the company.