Although most high school students certainly know how to spend money, they often lack the fundamental economic skills needed to manage their own personal finances. One way of educating students on the subjects of business and economics involves the use of computer programs, which give the students an opportunity to experience real-life situations in simulated settings. At EXCEL Alternative High School in Marshalltown, Iowa, Mr. Chris Hungerford, the 9-12 grade business teacher, used this method in his classroom. Before assigning each student a virtual corporation, Mr. Hungerford first gave the class a tutorial in the computer program Capitalism Plus and taught them some of the key concepts of economics, such as supply and demand. Once the class was comfortable with these concepts, Mr. Hungerford gave each student the opportunity to create a corporation and compete in the virtual market. Mr. Hungerford also required each student to create a website for their corporation (which contained daily press releases and financial updates), and to use spreadsheets (to organize data and create charts/graphs). To perform these tasks the students were required to use programs such as Microsoft Front Page, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Capitalism Plus.
As I observed Mr. Hungerford’s constructivist class, I recognized several strengths that made this lesson a success. These include Mr. Hungerford’s hands-on approach (Capitalism Plus and other programs), relatable real-life examples (Playstation 2 discussion), pace, and ability to capture the students’ interest and attention. Instead of simply lecturing about this subject, Mr. Hungerford incorporated several forms of technology into the lesson (discussed in the previous paragraph), which allowed the students to gain knowledge and experience in a number of areas. Also, the pace at which he progressed through his lesson had a major impact on the students. By first using a tutorial on Capitalism Plus, Mr. Hungerford was able to slowly introduce his students to these new concepts (supply and demand, revenue, profit, quantity sold) through numerous examples, which allowed him to ask questions (“Do you think what we just did is true for the real world?”) and evaluate their understanding.
Even after carefully re-watching the video, I do not believe that there are many weaknesses in Mr. Hungerford’s lesson. Although he did an excellent job questioning his students and testing their knowledge on the subject, the only weakness that I noticed was the fact that he sometimes rushed the student or would answer a question (or correct a mistake on the computer) himself.
After re-reading Mr. Hungerford’s lesson and considering the content covered, I do not think that much more information, if any, should be added to this lesson. Yet, if more material was needed to “expand on student knowledge of business,” I believe that he should continue explaining common economic themes and possibly focus even more on the stock market.
Although Mr. Hungerford covered a lot of information in his lesson plan, no aspects of the lesson should be excluded. Each and every assignment that was given to his class had a purpose, and seemed to help with their understanding of the material and the development (or progression) of skills. It is important for these students to interact with each and every one of these programs, as they are used in almost every field of study.
By having each student declare the goals (both long and short term) of their individual corporations, Mr. Hungerford has encouraged his class to actually think like CEO’s and put themselves in that position. This helps to add a realistic feeling to the assignment, which might assist in motivating and capturing student interest. This might also improve student learning because it gives the students something to strive for and challenges them to work towards achieving it.
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