Student interactions in online discussion forums: their perception on learning with business simulation games

Digital technology offers new teaching methods with controversial results over learning. They allow students to develop a more active participation in their learning process although it does not always drive to unequivocal better learning outcomes. This study aims to offer additional evidence on the contribution of business simulation games to students' learning outcomes, considering student interactions in online discussion forums. We conducted a qualitative research with the online discussion forums of 5 different courses at bachelor and master levels, which involves 41 students' teams. The final sample was composed of 3681 messages posted by the students. The results reveal that some generic and specific managerial skills exert a positive influence on learning outcomes. Students mostly highlighted teamwork, decision-making, information processing, reaching agreements, and dealing with uncertainty as the most relevant contributions of the game towards their learning. These results have instructional and pedagogical implications for determining the best way to enhance students' motivation and learning outcomes when using digital technology methods, which involves recommendations that affect their design and monitoring

Do business games foster skills? A cross-cultural study from learners’ views

Purpose: This study seeks to analyse students’ perception of the effectiveness of business games as an e-learning method in management training. This analysis of games’ effectiveness is centred in the generic and managerial skills acquired, through the comparison of students’ opinions in different cultural contexts within Europe. Design/methodology: The analysis focuses on 120 management students at postgraduate level who use the same business game at different universities in five European countries: Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Findings: The results indicate that students positively assessed the generic and specific managerial skills fostered by the business game. The generic skills most valued were information and decision-making, and leadership. Regarding the specific skills, the most valued were management skills and the least valued, skills related to planning and the acquisition of theoretical knowledge. However, significant differences were found between students in different cultural contexts and education systems in the case of certain specific managerial skills. Practical implications: This finding suggests that the students’ perception of how a business game helps them acquire specific managerial skills is influenced by cultural aspects and previous exposure to experiential learning, which determine that the teachers’ role and the teaching process should be adapted to the students’ learning model. Originality/value: With this study, a better knowledge about the students’ perception of this e-learning method is obtained, not just considering a specific educational environment, but comparing opinions of students from different cultural contexts, which adds value to the analyses developed.Peer Reviewe

SIMBA: a simulator for business education and research

Business simulators are used for decision-making since different scenarios can be evaluated without risk. They are also used in business management education. The main goal of this paper is to introduce SIMBA (SIMulator for Business Administration), a new simulator that serves as a web-based platform for business education, permitting both classroom and distance education. This paper also adds a research aspect in business intelligence because SIMBA can be used as a fieldwork tool for the development and evaluation of intelligent agents. The simulator creates a more complex competitive environment in which intelligent agents play the role of business decision makers.This work has been partially sponsored by a regional project CCG08-UC3M/TIC-4141 of the Comunidad de Madrid, a national project TIN2008-06701-C03-03 of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of Spain and a contract with Simuladores Empresariales S.L.Publicad

Simulation games as tools for integrative dynamic learning: The case of the management course at the University of Algarve

Today, in order to people or organizations survive in a changing environment it is essential to adapt. Learning provided to people is a key feature for an active response since it implies acquiring knowledge, skills and competencies to cope successfully with different circumstances. Literature has focused on how digital games support education because simulators represent dynamic models of real situations; so, their goal is to ensure that the player denotes his decisions consequences. When teaching certain skills through these games, a reflection stage is crucial to evaluate the experiences gathered during the simulation and promote knowledge appliance by participants into the real world. Due to its multiple scientific contributions, gaming can overlap a valid solution to prepare learners understanding regarding complex contexts. This research denotes an ongoing PhD research about the characteristics of a management course unit (at the University of Algarve, Portugal) that explores a business simulator- Cesim Global Challenge- for learning purposes, as well as the effectiveness of an integrative approach (new learning environments) on students’ engagement and dynamic learning outcomes. From the earlier empirical data is understandable game-based learning advantages and disadvantages within Management and Entrepreneurship courses

Implementation of business simulation games as learning tool: an example from University of Algarve

Game-based learning environments in education are a valuable asset, as well as their potential benefits are unquestionable (Guillén-Nieto & Aleson-Carbonell, 2012). Yet, recent studies concerning academic achievement have reported contradictory or ambiguous findings. It is also interesting that empirical studies devoted to Management courses are not abundant and focus on: single unit courses (e.g., Edelheim & Ueda, 2007), units with low levels of interdisciplinarity (e.g., Pasin & Giroux, 2011), non-longitudinal studies (e.g., Sørensen, 2011) or games usability (e.g., Blažič et al., 2012). Therefore, the leading Author produced the following research query: can GBL (Cesim Global Challenge) be a useful and productive tool to support Management students for effective learning towards complex contexts while enhances engagement? A case study approach will be used (University of Algarve)

Managerial simulators as significant learning tools

Managerial simulators promote an active learning in several scenarios that recreate real situations where business areas as management, finance, human resources and marketing are involved. In addition, strategic decisions are integrated as an important basis for decision making .With these simulators, individuals are in a constant process of learning and practice in a dynamic context, developing entrepreneurial skills learned.Abstract 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Objectives 1.1.1 General objective 1.2.1 Specific objectives 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK8 2.1 Background 2.2 Digital Natives… 2.3 The Simulation 2.4 Management Simulator Tycoon 2.5 Management 2.6 Human Resources 2.7 Financial Management 2.8 Marketing 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Investigation Method 3.2 Type of study 3.3 Participants 4 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS 4.1 Survey and Coding Frame 5 CODING FRAME OF AIRPORT AND CEME 5.1 Airport analysis 5.2 CEME analysis 6 CONCLUSIONS 7 RECOMMENDATIONS 8 REFERENCES 9 APPENDIXPregradoProfesional en Lenguas ModernasLenguas Moderna

Business game to promote learning in higher education

[EN] The current renewal of teaching methodologies that underlie the process of construction of the EHEA aims to give students a greater role in their learning, to encourage collaborative work and to develop teaching materials that facilitate autonomous work. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide evidence of the influence of the use of business game in the improvement of the teaching-learning process. In order to carry out the study, a questionnaire was drawn up, based on the generic competences included in the Tuning Project and the Participants students of the Faculty of Economics. Results suggest that business game in the classroom motivate students to use different theoretical frameworks to analyze problems and make decisions, fostering teamwork, leadership and creativity, all of which are skills and abilities of an executive..Tamarit-Aznar, M.; Urquidi-Martín, A. (2022). Business game to promote learning in higher education. En Proceedings INNODOCT/21. International Conference on Innovation, Documentation and Education. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 155-162. https://doi.org/10.4995/INN2021.2021.1345615516