Tobias Endress, Anton Pussep and Markus Schief
This study aims to investigate an integrated approach that stimulates engagement and interaction in the online learning environment. A simulation game was developed to support the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate an integrated approach that stimulates engagement and interaction in the online learning environment. A simulation game was developed to support the specific learning objectives (LOs) of the lecture and give students the opportunity to apply relevant practical skills (management and group decision-making). The simulation is designed to engage students, facilitate group work in teams and actively apply the knowledge from the lectures.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative research methods and a pilot version of the simulation game in an actual classroom setting were used. The primary LO was to apply decision-making in groups and experience the consequences of decisions on business success. The students were assigned randomly to five groups representing different competing companies.
Findings
This study revealed that a simulation game with a reduced scope can facilitate interaction and participation in online lectures. It demonstrated that it is possible to obtain the main benefits of simulation-based learning with a simple game that consists of few decision variables and requires minimal training.
Research limitations/implications
There are limitations to this pilot study, some of which need to be address in future research. One limitation is the small number of participants (21). Another limitation is that all participants were from a class at an Asian university. While adding to existing research that focused primarily on Anglo-America and Europe, this study’s approach should be evaluated with more subjects from varying cultural backgrounds to validate the findings. The evaluation could be improved with more participants but also additional questions to measure how and why this study’s approach benefits learning success. E.g. it should be explored what component of decision-making or group learning was most significant. With this, it would also be interesting to explore incremental learning and learning across groups along the study duration.
Practical implications
The simulation game can be used in business education. Students enjoyed the interaction with their peers and the instructor. The students stated that it was a good learning experience for them and they made good learning progress.
Originality/value
The prototype demonstrated the general feasibility and the smooth handling of the practical application and integration in online lectures. The aim to develop a serious simulation game for online classes was achieved. It was possible to obtain the main benefits of simulation-based learning with a simple game that consists of few decision variables and therefore requires minimal training and time.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to present the results of experiments with groups making online group stock price predictions and include the research process and a summary of the preliminary…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the results of experiments with groups making online group stock price predictions and include the research process and a summary of the preliminary results. The overall objectives of the study are to assess the effect of individual and remote group decision-making approaches to stock price predictions, to assess whether a learning effect exists through the feedback loop of an e-Delphi process and to identify the underlying key mechanisms of the individual and of the group that influence the decision-making process.
Design/methodology/approach
The experiments consist of a pilot and a main run. The main run was performed with three lay groups (totaling 49 participants) and two expert groups (totaling ten financial analysts and other stock market professionals). The groups were benchmarked with actual market prices as well as with each other, over ten e-Delphi cycles (ten weeks). Each participant in the experiment was asked to provide an estimation of the movement (up or down) for one-week, one-month and three-month future periods for each share, as well as to enter a stock price prediction for a three-month period.
Findings
Although the pilot run has provided some indications that in certain situations and with careful group design, stock price predictions can be superior to the predictions of experts, the main experiment indicated a more differentiated picture and provided some information about the underlying decision-making process.
Originality/value
The paper presents influence factors and measures the impact of the group decision-making process of Internet communities focusing on stock trading, based on predicting share prices.