Montana high school model offices

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine what Montana high school business educators perceive as the advantages and disadvantages of offering a simulated model office course as part of their curriculum. Other major areas of interest include evaluation techniques, equipment used, follow-up studies, reasons for not using a model office, and needed improvements. A questionnaire and cover letter were mailed to 171 public high school business education instructors in Montana. The number of people returning the questionnaire was 126, equalling 74 percent. Thirty-five or 27.78 percent of the respondents have model offices. Ninety-one or 72.22 percent do not have model offices in their schools. Many Montana high schools are small, thus both enrollment and curriculum limitations pose a problem. Many of the schools use up-to-date equipment in their model office, with the exception of microcomputers. Microcomputers can be expensive and this may be one reason that few of the schools have them. Another explanation is that model office packages are not always designed to include the use of a computer. The most popular means of evaluating students in the model office is through grading the work produced. Generally, the instructors use more than one method of evaluation. The most common problems encountered in the use of a model office include student absences and shortage of time for completion of student assignments. The advantages, however, far outweigh the problems. The instructors had many positive comments to make concerning the model office. Follow-up studies are conducted by only 37.17 percent of schools with a model office. This is an important area that instructors are overlooking, perhaps due to a lack of time and knowledge about follow-up studies. In conclusion, the instructors with model offices are very pleased and would recommend the use of a model office to other instructors. The schools without model offices need more information on how to implement this form of simulation. With this information, it is likely that many more Montana schools would use the model office as a teaching tool.