Experiental Learning: Empowering Students in an Interactive Online Hospitality Simulation Environment

Simulations have long been recognized as instructional tools capable of achieving greater degrees of realism by reproducing attributes of real-world systems in environments that enhance student learning while helping to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The potential to provide students with experiential learning activities facilitated by interactive learning modules have gained strides in higher education (Gredler, 1994; Martin & McEvoy, 2003). Using exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis, this study investigates students’ responses to the concept of ownership of a virtual Internet-based business in a real-time hospitality simulation.