Brief In-Class Role Plays: An Experiential Teaching Tool Targeted to Generation Y Students

Abstract

Research suggests educational styles and content must be adapted if we are to effectively educate Gen Y: the largest population of business education students in American history. We propose a new twist on an existing teaching tool - the Brief In-Class Role Play (BIRPs)-as an effective teaching tool to reach Gen Y in the classroom. Based on real sales situations, these BIRPs are short (to keep Gen Y's attention) and realistic (reminiscent of reality TV), and they include only minimal details (so that students can personalize the characters). Tested in a personal selling class, preliminary assessment suggests BIRPs provide a useful pedagogical tool that can be developed for other marketing courses.