GoVenture Case Study Economics Center for Education & Research University of Cincinnati Is entrepreneurship training the path to higher math scores?    By Peter Ross

Students playing computer games during class time is generally frowned upon – and in some cases, even breaches the school’s code of conduct. But a study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati may show that business education using computer simulations actually improves student math scores. 

Diane Breiner has a plan to improve the math scores of students in the greater Cincinnati area – and maybe everywhere. 

As the project leader for a research study by the Economics Center for Education & Research at the University of Cincinnati, Breiner thinks she can improve math scores by teaching personal finance and business skills to middle school students. 

Breiner’s three year EntrepriseMath study will follow this year’s grade six classes through their middle school years. Quarterly from now through 2011, Breiner will compare the standard math scores of her students at eight “test” schools, to the scores of their peers at 20 other “control” schools. If she’s right, Breiner’s test group should show a measurable improvement over their peers. 

“The idea is to motivate students”, says Breiner, “by showing them the relevance of math in their lives. I’m covering the Ohio math standards by teaching economics and personal finance skills.” 

The idea of motivating students by showing them the relevance of their learning is not especially new. The idea of using computer-generated business simulations to demonstrate the relevance of middle school math is – shall we say – a fresh take on the old wisdom. 

“School Administrators across the nation are very interested in the relevance and real life application of this study”, says Breiner, who can produce a lot of classroom photographs guaranteed to warm the heart of any educator: pictures showing row-upon-row of young teenagers happily engaged in, and totally focused upon, learning math. But Breiner also needs to show some hard results. “In this day and age, if you want to change the way things are done, you need data that supports gains in student achievement.” 

Her plan to boost student morale and math achievement involves, among other things, a cunning combination of current technologies: laptop computers and GoVenture business simulations to engage them in the economics of small business and personal finance. 

“For starters”, says Breiner, “the laptops are a learning tool that the students rarely, if ever, get to use. So they are intrigued by the opportunity to use one of their own. Secondly, students love to play computer games - and the GoVenture simulations look just like a game to them. They keep score by watching their money grow day-after-day as they make good decisions operating their [virtual] businesses. 

“In this component of EnterpriseMath I generally have four one-hour lessons a year with each class. I spend the first little while talking about business concepts, like supply and demand and entrepreneurship. Then I get the students to play GoVenture Lemonade Stand on their computers for 30 minutes.” 

Lemonade Stand is the simplest of the GoVenture simulations; the one with the fewest variables. Students begin by choosing a lemonade recipe. That in turn affects the amount of lemons and sugar they will need in inventory. They set their price – high enough to make a profit, but not so high as to scare away customers. And finally they have a weather forecast to help them predict the number of customers they might expect. 

“It doesn’t take long before you see them making the connection between the weather conditions and the number of customers coming to their lemonade stand”, say Breiner. “Soon you see them adjusting their prices and inventory levels based on the next day’s forecast.” 

Six weeks later, when they next get together, Breiner brings the same computers, but has her students play GoVenture Micro Business. In Micro Business, students own and operate a portable retail kiosk; an umbrella-cart that sells food, clothing, or electronics. The game is similar to Lemonade Stand in that students can monitor their customer traffic and bank balance as the (virtual) business days goes by. But Micro Business requires students to manage more variables, like employees, competition, an advertising budget, hours of operation, and a wider selection of items. 

“We talk some more about business decisions”, says Breiner, “Like how our selling price needs to be higher than the combined cost of goods sold – including the cost of employee wages and advertising. Then I have them play Micro Business for 30 minutes. I don’t emphasize the competition aspect with this grade – but the students always try to do their best.” 

In all likelihood, Breiner’s grade six students are oblivious to the pedagogical debate swirling about them or and the weight of School Administration’s decisions riding on their standardized math test scores in 2011. They just know that computer simulations present math in a way that is far more exciting – and authentic – than the learning they get from their textbooks and conventional learning methods. 

“I’m hopeful the math scores will confirm our observations”, says Breiner. “We’re seeing very high levels of student morale, motivation, and engagement in these test classes. That’s a good sign.”  §

For more information on the Economics Center for Education & Research at the University of Cincinnati, visit www.business.uc.edu/EconomicsCenter 

For more information on GoVenture educational games and simulations, including free videos demos and fully-working trial versions, visit www.goventure.net