Making Learning FUN

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Although simulations are a primary tool for teaching subjects like flight lessons and disaster management, their use in theoretical subjects like business and entrepreneurship still boggles entrepreneurship educators. Recently, I had some interesting exchanges on the use of simulations in entrepreneurship education. 

Question 1 from entrepreneurship educator:

My students could not get up the “learning curve” fast enough in a single semester to make sense of the myriad interlinking functions of business operations. The simulation was wonderful and extremely detailed but — since students are in four or five classes — at the same time, mastering the software, understanding the breadth of inter-related dependencies and making sense of them in a timely manner is complicated.

The caveat I would add is that — I made the teams of students — 5 or 6 persons; and this may have added to the problem since some grasp what was happening and moved forward faster than his/ her peers resulting in stumbles, confusion and resignation.

I have not been able to resolve how I can make simulation more effective in the time span of a single semester.

My response to question 1:

Thanks for responding. Although I am an evangelical supporter of using simulations, especially for entrepreneurship education, it is important to recognize that there is a learning curve like any new software.

Since you have a short time frame, can you set access to the simulation as a prerequisite? I did it for one of my classes and it was portrayed as a ‘game’ that they needed to play. This really helped get them off the ground quickly.

One of the other things I have noticed is that using simulations as well continuing to deliver all the other lectures is a real tough task. Using simulations is about changing your role from that of a teacher to that of a facilitator. This does not mean that you are not still delivering on the learning outcomes, it just means that you are doing less work.

I don’t think the size of the teams particularly affect how students behave in the simulation, it is really just the amount of time they get to spend on the simulation.

The best way to get them to use the simulation is to fully commit to it and design your course around it rather than try and cram it in. If you cannot do this then it is likely that the simulation is not a really good fit for your course in the first place.

Hope this goes some way to helping you make a decision.

Their response back

I did all the things that you suggested. Since I do not have the option of pre-engaging the students, I cannot have them do a prerequisite to class entry. At a public university, I would have to get approval through the Board of Regents to make that part of the course requirements.

The last time I did this — it took 2 1/2 years to get approval for the entrepreneurship program. Since my Dean is not completely enamored with entrepreneurship as a “real” education program, every battle I have is a Don Quixote moment. I am continuously trying to improve it while treading on thin ice.

I do appreciate your suggestions but they have been tried for the most part and haven’t provided a comprehensive solution — yet.

Question 2 from entrepreneurship educator:

What happened to starting an actual business as part of entrepreneurial education? That’s what my dad did with me when I was 11 or 12 and probably how most (if not all) successful entrepreneurs started.

My response to question 2:

You are right – running an actual business is the best way to get started. However there are several people in the world who do not have the opportunity to get started in a real business because they have other challenges.

For the individuals who do get started in a business, a simulation offers the possibility to explore areas for expansion and diversification without the actual cost.

The significant opportunity of a simulation is that you can practice your ideas at no real cost and then benefit from that learning in the real world practice as an entrepreneur.

Their response back

Good thoughts Huzefa! I never thought of it really as a testing ground for existing entrepreneurs. When you think about Gregg Lichtenstein’s “entrepreneurial development system” (aka the entrepreneurial league system) this makes sense as each entrepreneur exists somewhere on the continuum of being inexperienced/low-efficacy to high experienced/high-efficacy. All the activities that move them along the continuum are needed. It makes me wonder about people like Mark Zuckerberg though (i.e. college student to major entrepreneur over a couple of years).

I decided to post these conversations because they represent almost 90% of the type of discussion that I have with entrepreneurship educators and hopefully my responses and the details will help others to find some answers by asking the right type of questions – Zef