Waymaker: Simulation Instructor Resources: Tips To Encourage Student Use of Simulations

Waymaker: Simulation Instructor Resources
Waymaker:
Simulation Instructor Resources
Tips to encourage student use of simulations
 These simulations can be used with no direct involvement or even set up from an instructor, but
they also are designed to provide a shared context for extended conversations.
 These simulations are not meant to be realistic. Nor are these simulations assessments. These
are more like interactive diagrams, often with levels and objectives.
 These simulations contain different models. Some interactions are microcosms, analogies, or
abstracted scenarios. In other cases, they are more similar to extended examples, or labs. Some
of the simulations are a bit more like quiz-show challenges.
 Often, students last answer appears in the upper left of the screen.
 Number pads/keyboards can completely control the simulation. The number correlates with the
student option.
 Play around. These simulations are short to encourage replay. Some humor and some Easter
eggs are there to be found.
 Students, players, people, and users are all terms used interchangeably.
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Please attribute to Clark Aldrich for Lumen Learning as the creator of this work.
Simulation Placement
Simulation Intro to Business Module Micro Module Macro Module Marketing Module
Demand for Food Trucks Economic Environment Supply and Demand Supply and Demand Pricing Strategies
Supply of Food Trucks Economic Environment Supply and Demand Supply and Demand
Food Truck and Changes in Equilibrium Economic Environment Supply and Demand Supply and Demand
Managing Food Truck Supply and Coming Fall 2016 Coming Fall 2016
Demand
Chair the Fed Financial Markets and
System
Link to Federal Reserve
SIM
Ethics Business Ethics Ethics and Social
Responsibility
The Rise of the Business Guru Accounting and Finance
Maximizing Utility Utility
Perfect Competition Maximizing Profit
International Trade Globalization, Trade and Globalization, Trade
Finance and Finance
Income Distribution Income Distribution
Ice Cream Magnate Marketing Function
Segmenting The Ice Cream Market Segmentation and

Targeting
Distribution Place: Distribution
Channels
IMC Hero Promotion: Integrated
Marketing
Communication (IMC)
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Simulation: Demand for Food Truck

Overview
Intro to Demand exposes the user to the basics of the demand curve. It uses a food truck with a line as a
microcosm.
In this situation, the player can raise or lower the cost of a drink, or have the sun come out or go behind
a cloud, to change demand and generate a standard demand curve.
The demand is visualized dynamically by the length of the people in line (with shadow highlights). The
traditional demand curve in the bottom right of the screen serves as a mini-map to reflect the situation,
with a yellow highlight showing the exact current position.
In this situation, different kinds of characters are waiting in line, and others are not. As the price goes
up, only the thirstiest and those with the most money remain.
The interface is very simple, and allows for the player to navigate towards to objective, stated clearly, to
find a situation where demand = 7, which is only achievable if the sun is out, and at a price of $1.50.
There are some other subtle elements as well regarding the differences of consumers. In the conditions
above, a female is dragging a male to get a drink. As the price goes up, the male decides it is not worth
it, leaving a thirsty but unhappy female still in line.
Instructor Tips and Tricks
 Temperature shifts the demand curve. For a mnemonic device, higher temperature moves the
curve to the right.
 To find the situation where the number of people in line equals seven, make sure the sun is out.
3
Simulation: Supply of Food Trucks

Overview
This simulation exposes students to the logic behind a basic supply curve, and why higher volume leads
to greater cost.
It puts the student in the situation of having to assemble enough food (through trucks and trailers) to
feed a growing number of people, with each addition of volume costing more.
 Level 1: Feed 30 people. Best solution: 1 truck.

 Level 2: Feed 40 people: Best solution: 1 truck, one trailer.
 Level 3: Feed 100 people. Best solution: 3 trucks, one trailer.
It also presents at the end, albeit in a non-interactive way, a shift of the supply curve to the left, with the
reduction of free parking from 1 to 0.
The learning is all implicit, not explicit.
 The “voice” of the onscreen character could be Jarvis, while the player could be Tony Stark.
4
Simulation: Food Truck and Changes in Equilibrium

Overview
This simulation follows the other two simulations of demand and supply, bringing the concepts
together. It allows the player to change some attributions of supply and demand in a microcosm of a
park which impact the price of lunch. The goal of the simulation is to make the price of lunch rise as
high as possible by setting variables the right way.
This simulation is discoverable. This means that the player can try different things and see an
immediate effect. When the high point is identified, the player can step through a market correction.
Note: In this scenario, raising the admission price of the park does not reduce the number of people at
the park, such as might occur at a family gathering or a local sports event.
 The conditions of the market correction can be dissected and discussed in more detail.
 The visual “levers” around park admission and truck parking align with the direction of the shift
of the demand and supply curve respectively.
 Some players will try everything, but with a little bit of thought, or even contained
experimentation of individual variables, the right answer can be found very quickly.
 Question for discussion: Why does charging the food trucks for parking raise the price of lunch?
The answer is five.
5
Simulation: Ethics
Overview
The simulation Ethics presents the player with five scenarios, playable in any order, that show how
ethics can play out in business settings, from one-on-one situations to major crises. The format is a
series of “Choose your own adventure” style scenarios. Because they are short, they encourage
replaying.
The point is also to expose students to a high level business context, including terms, in larger
organizations, and put forth jobs they may not have thought about.
 Encourage students to play out the wrong scenarios, as well as the right.
 These simulations are easy and intuitive to engage. These do not involve numbers, math, or
charts. They may appeal to some students that find much of the rest of the material too
abstracted.
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Simulation: The Rise of the Business Guru

Overview
The Rise of the Business Guru exposes the user to break-even analysis.
The simulation has four levels:
Level 1 Exposes the user to a very simple variable revenue/no expenses framework, and introduces
a basic graph.
Level 2 Exposes the user to a very simple, fixed cost break-even analysis.
Level 2a Presents and foreshadows a variable cost and fixed cost model. This level is optional.
Level 3 Introduces, in an interactive way, a variable cost structure.
Level 4 Introduces an interactive puzzle with both fixed and variable costs. After a bit of interactive
introduction, the user has to tweak a business model to meet the conditions of one of two
loans. When the student is tweaking and meets the requirements of the small venture fund,
the simulation alerts the student. The simulation will not alert the student to the
environmental loan, making it a bit harder.
The story is framed, tongue-in-cheek, by a sycophantic fan recounting the rise to power of someone,
called The Guru, who is played by the student.
This simulation, especially around Level 4, bridges lecture and practice.
 Level 3 shows two alternative funding models, buying T-shirts from a low-wage country or
made-in-the-US. The choice does not impact the simulation. But due to margins, there is a
tremendous difference between these two options ($1155 vs. $286). The player is invited to
compare the two, but not forced to. It may be worthwhile to point out the differences, and
figure out why.
 In Level 4, a bit of work and focus is required on the part of the student. Level 4 also starts
anticipating the kind of work a student would have to do on a real business plan.
 Don’t just bang around in Level 4. Think about every decision.
 In Level 4, go to dedicated Contribution Margin view often. This view also has the specifics for
the business loan as a reminder.
 Also in Level 4, meeting the requirements for the business loan is easier, in part because the
simulation tells you when you have. Meeting the requirements for the environmental loan is
harder because the simulation does not prompt the student when the conditions are achieved.
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Simulation: Maximizing Utility

Overview
This simulation focuses on marginal utility.
The first interaction is a microcosm that puts the player in the role of an animal making decisions around
the utility of various food and water options. This is followed by comprehensive interactive debriefing
of the first interaction. This includes an introduction to production possibility frontiers (although the
name is not used). It also focuses on the concept of the margin.
The simulation, in its examples, tries to show that this decision is critically important of allocations to the
survival of animal, person, or corporation.
The final part of the simulation takes the user through a more rigorous process that factors in price as
well as marginal utility. This simulation bridges lecture and practice, and is optional but highly
recommended.
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Simulation: Perfect Competition

Overview
This simulation allows students to bridge presentation and practice in the area of profit and losses with
the average cost curve. It expands upon the raspberry example from the previous page.
Part I strives to desensitize people who may be nervous around graphs to get the hang of how to read
them. It provides a series of “which is greater” challenges, each one being a bit harder than the one
before.
Part II has three levels that strive to help students understand how to read specific portions of a graph,
and understand their implications, based on the raspberry example from the previous page. As with the
Part I, it both requires attention but is very forgiving.
 Despite the subject matter, and the relative length, this is an easy simulation. It is more focused
on exposing the student to material in their context than requiring demonstrations. This also
makes it very easy to deploy.
 This simulation also has a lot of humor. Some students may see many ways they can lead to the
demise of their animals.
 The production possibility frontiers can be named and explored in more detail in extra-
simulation work.
 This simulation is of medium complexity. It feels a bit like an interactive lab. There is a lot of
humor in the fringes.
 In Part I, remind people that there are only 12 answers required, and each are binary.
 In Part II, there are two non-intuitive answers. For identifying profit in Part II-2, the correct
answer is no box (or, profit = 0).
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For Part II-3, where profit is negative, the answer is this:
 Part IIa is simply an interactive sandbox model of Part II. There is no need to recommend it, but
it is there if someone wants to further explore the model.
 It may be interesting (i.e. diagnostic) to watch how a student engages Part I. Some students
may get quite far and others may hit walls early on.
 Part I should provide a model where students essentially teach themselves. They should
discover things without being told, and infer rules. Even when answers are easy (and there are
often multiple clues to the answer), the opportunity to look at and try to read a chart, even
when some of the terms are unfamiliar, is valuable.
 The advanced levels are interesting and worth exploring for the intrepid. They are sudden death
with no ability to redo without replaying all of Part I.
10
Simulation: International Trade

Overview
This is a fairly long simulation that is challenging in places conceptually.
This simulation takes players through several components of figuring out the logic of international trade.
It presents places to engage and learn about production possibility frontiers, opportunity costs, graph
views and chart views, comparative advantages, and absolute advantages.
The warm-up exercise is highly encouraged, and takes students through some of the thinking of
identifying relative advantage in a non-competitive setting of two housemates divvying up chores for an
upcoming party. It may provide the best microcosm for the model of international trade presented in
this book.
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The rest of the simulation explored different aspects of a trade between two fictional countries,
Coastland and New Vista. This simulation bridges lecture and practice.
 This is a dense simulation. The complexity of the material means that this simulation can be
engaged multiple times, and each time students can learn a bit more.
 Strongly encourage student to do the first warm-up exercise.
 The simulation does not cover how the trade price was determined between Coastland and New
Vista. The answer, 1 Crate of Glassware = 5 Boots, is exactly the half-way point between the
two opportunity costs for Glassware in terms of Boots (6 and 4), show in this part of the
simulation:
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Simulation: Income Distribution

Overview
Income distribution focuses on multiple aspects of what impacts how much a worker is worth from an
employer perspective.
 Players can engage the simulation from an employee perspective, first making hiring decisions
based on diminishing returns, then predicting some broader influences on salaries by outside
trends.
 Players can also engage the simulation as an employee, realizing the importance of education
and differentiation, and then also predicting broader influences of salaries of different issues
 Anyone who engages the simulation as an employee will be asked if they are sure they want to
be an employee. The answer to the question is a set of synonyms that serves as a predictable-
randomizer to differentiate between success and failure in a later higher risk job seeking option.
 This simulation, despite its length, is pretty simple, and so should not require much support.
 There are two, completely different sections, employer and employee. These have separate
interactive sections, and then separate questions at the end.
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 The simulation tees up several interesting conversations.

o The employee path also sets up, but does not address, discussions about education,
debt, and the role of public assistance.
o The employer path sets up issues around diminishing returns and capital.
 The simulation reinforces the past concept of marginality.
 Every employee you hire causes the next employee to ask for more. Every employee you don’t
hire causes the next employee to ask for less. The best way to play the employee is not hire the
first employee and then hire the next two.
14
Simulation: Ice Cream Magnate

Overview
The simulation gives players a chance to take a “great business idea”—in this case, ice cream—and play
around with the marketing mix for the business based on the individual four Ps of marketing.
 Players engage the simulation from an ice cream business owner’s perspective, deciding on each
of the four Ps individually to use to grow the business.
 If a player needs a refresher of the four Ps of marketing they can select the option to see the
definitions.
 This sim is meant to be played multiple times to discover the different results focusing on the
various four Ps.
 Encourage students to play out the wrong scenarios, as well as the right. This simulation, is of
medium length, is fairly simple, and so should not require much support.
o The sim offers individual marketing four Ps for focus, but could generate discussion
around real world approaches to addressing business marketing mix interactions.
o The two scenarios of chemical produced ice cream verses local quality dairy ingredients
up issues around company strategy and differentiation decisions.
15
Simulation: Segmenting The Ice Cream Market

Overview
The simulation sim gives players a chance to take the prior sim’s ice cream business, and as an
entrepreneur work on building the house-made ice cream business. The player explores how to use
segmentation, targeting, and the marketing mix to grow the business.
This is a longer sim, but the humor and layout encourage players to try various scenarios to reach the
goal of increasing average monthly revenues by 20%, this in turn unlocks a bonus level for additional
learning scenarios.
 The $500/month for the sign spinner gets various mediocre results.
 The $1000/month advertising in local paper is the path to unlock the bonus level.
o Choosing to target the food section of the paper unlocks the bonus level.
To be able to make the best segmentation decision in the the bonus level a player must understand the
variety of demographic information and use that knowledge to inform their segmentation marketing
choices to attain the 20% increased revenue goal.
Bonus Level
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The bonus level introduces a competitor and provides a player the opportunity to choose a combination
of segments with varying results. Using the previous demographic information learned from the
beginning of the sim, a player can make various choices to attempt to beat the new competition.
The combinations bringing about the best results are as follows for the bonus level:
 Selecting: Families + Focus more on Families = +36.15% revenue increase

 Selecting: People who are close to the shop + Also focus on families = +21.23% revenue increase
 Selecting: High income + Also focus on families = +15.97% revenue increase
 Selecting: Food lovers + Also focus on families = +14.46% revenue increase
 There are two, different sections, beginning and bonus levels. These have separate interactive
sections, then separate questions at the end.
o Discussing why some marketing mix approaches work well while others fall flat.
o The importance of understanding the impact on demographics for the marketing mix
and the consequences of not conducting enough research.
o Opportunities, tools and real life scenarios for researching markets, demographics, etc.
and how to understand what is needed for a variety of marketing scenarios.
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Simulation: Distribution
Overview
The simulation gives players a chance to take the prior sim’s ice cream business, and as an entrepreneur
work to building the house-made ice cream business. The player explores various scenarios using
different distribution channels to grow the business. As the owner, you are trying to grow the
company’s revenue as much as possible to garner a better offer from an investor by years’ end. This is a
longer sim, but encourages players to give it multiple tries.
This sim shows the interplay of decisions for the four Ps interact with the market and business by display
bars indicating the results of various player decisions. Each decision will shift the arrows in the various
bars up or down depending on the outcome.
When following the selection of manufacturing pints and distributing them through supermarkets the
player is shown a display of the distribution process and its various components. Each choice will affect
the distribution process and the player must discover the best set of circumstances to grow their
business.
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The combination which brings about the highest offer from the investment firm is:
 Selecting: Making pints, distributing through a supermarket, change the price by lowering the
price to the supermarket, and finally using a lean warehousing, just-in-time approach.
 Other options bring about the investor to pull the deal, be indifferent to the business or have
mild interest and offer a satisfactory deal at the end of the year.
 This simulation is lengthy and is meant to cause the student to have to grapple with a variety of
scenarios which will bring up distribution conversations.
o Possible more in-depth discussion about just-in-time distribution approach.
o Discovering the correct distribution mix based on the product or services of a business.
o The interaction of product quality as a differentiator and how the type of distribution
either emphasizes or changes the image of product quality in a consumer’s mind.
o The management of the various components in the distribution channel.
 This simulation also has a lot of humor. Some students may see many ways they can grow or
devastate their ice cream business.
 Encourage students to play out the wrong scenarios, as well as the right. These are indicted by
the level of investor interest; indifferent, mildly interested, and receiving the highest offer from
the investment firm.
 Each time a student fails to grow the business they are encouraged to try again. There is humor
about the investor as well if a student digs further.
 The sim is one of the most visually dynamic and will capture the interest of students even
though it is a longer, more complex sim.
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Simulation: IMC Hero

Overview
This simulation gives a player the opportunity to see what they can do with Integrated Marketing
Communications. In this simulation environment, a player can learn as much from the wrong choices as
the right ones. All simulations allow unlimited attempts so that you can gain experience applying the
concepts. This sim begins with past marketing campaign having been run with little money selling to
sports enthusiasts. Now with investor money, the player has new choices.
As the sim walks a player through the strategies of a marketing campaign and a series of opportunities
to either take or turn down different choices. The marketing strategy is based on their sports target
market and which market to target. Each of the choices presents a variety of ways to raise brand
awareness through a variety of offers. The goal is the adhere to the company’s target market while
growing the brand for investors.
 There are two, different sections, part one and part two. These have separate interactive
sections.
o Part one: First identify the target of the campaign, then decide on marketing approaches
o Part two: Make decisions about ten additional proposed marketing campaigns to grow
the company and keep investors happy.
 This sim is about exploring the variety of ways to market with various IMC approaches and how
to remain true to the market and discover additional aspects of the company’s target market.
 Have conversations with students about additional IMC coordination company’s need in today’s
world with the influence of international and technology changes.
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Waymaker: Simulation Instructor Resources

Tips to encourage student use of simulations

Segmenting The Ice Cream Market Segmentation and

Simulation: Demand for Food Truck

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Simulation: Supply of Food Trucks

 Level 1: Feed 30 people. Best solution: 1 truck.

The learning is all implicit, not explicit.

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Simulation: Food Truck and Changes in Equilibrium

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Simulation: The Rise of the Business Guru

The simulation has four levels:

Level 3 Introduces, in an interactive way, a variable cost structure.

This simulation, especially around Level 4, bridges lecture and practice.

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Simulation: Maximizing Utility

This simulation focuses on marginal utility.

Simulation: Perfect Competition

Instructor Tips and Tricks

For Part II-3, where profit is negative, the answer is this:

Simulation: International Trade

This is a fairly long simulation that is challenging in places conceptually.

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Simulation: Income Distribution

Instructor Tips and Tricks

 The simulation tees up several interesting conversations.

Simulation: Ice Cream Magnate

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Simulation: Segmenting The Ice Cream Market

 Selecting: Families + Focus more on Families = +36.15% revenue increase

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Instructor Tips and Tricks

Simulation: IMC Hero

Instructor Tips and Tricks

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