Engaging students with immersive simulations
Take an intro to business course that will capture your attention with Knowledge
Matters Simulation Courses.
Director of Student Experience for the College of Business
University of Central Arkansas
Louisa Moseley has a robust educational background, attaining an MBA with a concentration in Healthcare Management and a PhD in Business Administration Organizational Leadership. She returned to teach at her alma mater, the University of Central Arkansas, and among other roles is now the Director of Student Experience for the College of Business and teaches Intro to Business and Accounting.
Louisa Moseley reached out to Knowledge Matters in the fall of 2022 while researching potential simulation experiences to enhance her introductory classes. The simulations can be implemented in various ways, and Louisa has found success using one class per week to focus on group work in the simulations. After completing that simulation section as a group, students are individually quizzed on the different areas of business and asked to answer reflection questions.
Finding Career Direction
Louisa has found many benefits to supplementing her courses with Knowledge Matters simulations. Central among them is the ability to allow students to try out different business specialties in a low-stakes environment. She believes in supporting students in gravitating towards the roles they’re wired for, noting that the simulations give them a way to find and hone those skills.
“
If you didn’t like hiring people in the simulation, then HR probably isn’t for you. But if you really liked laying out the floor plan - then operations management might be something more that you’re interested in.
“- Louisa Moseley
She says the main feedback she’s heard from students is that they like gamified learning, as opposed to a textbook-only curriculum. The Management Simulation gives them an overview of the different functions, shining light on career directions they may find fulfilling.
Louisa Moseley
Fostering Accountability & Teamwork
Within the coursework Moseley also utilizes the Collaboration Simulations to further personalize her students’ experience. Within the Collaboration Simulation, each team member takes on a unique business role as they collectively brainstorm, strategize, and navigate challenges to plan, execute, and operate their business together. The pro-teamwork aspect of these simulations is important to Moseley, and Knowledge Matters has the tools to help her and her students hold everyone accountable to their work.
One of these featured tools is the sandbox setting. Before students dive into working with their group, they are expected to individually spend time in the sandbox setting, allowing them to get familiar with the platform and gain some practice with the features before they begin the simulation as a group. Once the team has started working, Moseley is able to view each student’s profile to see how much time they are actively spending using the program. She can set minimum time constraints to prompt students to read all the information and fully process it. This prevents them from gaming the system and cheating on the simulations.
That same feature also ensures that the work for group projects is evenly distributed. Moseley sets up groups of four to use the Collaboration Simulations; if a teammate isn’t doing their share of the workload, the other team members can dismiss them from the project. It’s this type of self-governance that empowers students to make the most of the simulation, while fostering team building and relationship management.
Collaboration Simulations
In the Management Collection of Case Simulations, students take charge of managing their own growing business while overseeing key aspects of the human resources process. Topics include:
• Recruiting, Resumes & Hiring
• Employee Supervision
• Pricing & Sales
• Risk Management & Insurance
Now more than ever, students need opportunities to develop interpersonal skills through collaboration, communication, and teamwork. By using the collaboration simulations within Case Simulation collections, you can foster these essential skills by running classroom team competitions—either inperson or remotely. Collaboration Simulations are now available at no additional cost for Case Simulation customers.
