Applying a business simulation game in a flipped classroom to enhance engagement, learning achievement, and higher-order thinking skills

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Cart

Business simulation games (BSGs) are associated with skills development, while flipped classrooms are recognized for promoting student-centered learning through engagement. This quasiexperimental study examines BSG use in a flipped classroom for student engagement, learning achievement, and higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in an undergraduate entrepreneurship course. Data from 48 business-university students were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results show positive effects on behavioral and cognitive engagement, improved learning achievement, and strengthened HOTS including problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and rationale for simulation and business simulation games

Gap in existing research on engagement in different contexts

Purpose and context of this study

Computers & Education 183 (2022) 104494 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers & Education journal [homepage:](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compedu)[ www.elsevier.com/locate/compedu](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compedu) | Applying a business simulation game in a flipped classroom to enhance engagement, learning achievement, and higher-order thinking skills | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Yueh-Min Huang a, Lusia Maryani Silitonga b, Ting-Ting Wu b, *
a Department of Engineering Science, National Cheng Kung University, No.1, University Road, Tainan City, 701, Taiwan, ROC
b Graduate School of Technological and Vocational Education, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, No. 123, Sec. 3, University Rd., Douliou, Yunlin, 64002, Taiwan, ROC | | | | | A R T I C L E I N F O | | A B S T R A C T | | | Keywords: Games Simulations
Cooperative/collaborative learning Teaching/learning strategies Improving classroom teaching | | Engagement forecasts positive education outcomes such as learning and skills development. Business simulation games (BSGs) are linked to skills development, and the flipped classroom is acknowledged as a successful approach for encouraging student-centered learning through engagement. This study investigated the impact of BSGs in a flipped classroom on student engagement, learning achievement, and higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). A quasiexperimental design was employed in an undergraduate entrepreneurship course. The sample consisted of 48 students in a business university. The flipped classroom was designed for both the control and experimental groups, but the instructional material was implemented using a BSG with the experimental group. The results of quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that the use of the BSG had positive impacts on behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and learning achievement and improved HOTS such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity. | | 1. Introduction The rapid advancement of information technology has transformed our lives. Students grew up surrounded by media environments such as videos, consoles, and computer games (Williams, 2011). These games engage players in enjoyable activities. Learning in simulation games is based on theory and applications that need to be applied by students to improve their learning engagement and achievement by involving themselves in real situations (Matute & Melero, 2016; Mawhirter & Garofalo, 2016). A simulation is a unique and creative tool to increase students’ interest in learning. Capable of providing both learners and their teacher with a tool that facilitates active problem-solving, simulation games are considered a practical approach to knowledge acquisition (Matute & Melero, 2016; Pasin & Giroux, 2011). However, despite the increased use of simulation games in teaching/learning activities, insight into the use of such games in different contexts is lacking (Loon et al., 2015). This may cause hesitancy to integrate simulation games into curricula; moreover, answers to how and why learning occurs in different contexts remain elusive (Wu et al., 2012). Researchers have described the benefits of using business simulation games (BSGs) for the manipulation of learning content and the monitoring of the results of such manipulations to help students understand real-world experience and practice (Fox et al., 2018; * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [danytingting@gmail.com](danytingting@gmail.com) (T.-T. Wu). [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104494](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104494) Received 25 June 2021; Received in revised form 9 January 2022; Accepted 5 March 2022 Available online 8 March 2022 0360-1315/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Mayer et al., 2014; Zulfiqar et al., 2019). The most common methods allow players to operate a business without risk (Buil et al., 2020; Matute & Melero, 2016) and enhan

FAQs

What learning approach does the study focus on?

The study focuses on integrating a business simulation game into a flipped classroom to support student-centered learning through engagement.

How was the business simulation game implemented in the experiment?

Both control and experimental groups used a flipped classroom design, but only the experimental group received instruction materials implemented with a business simulation game.

What improvements did the study find from using the business simulation game?

Using the business simulation game positively affected behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and learning achievement, and it improved higher-order thinking skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Cart