Capital Plus allowed the students to see how pricing differences affect demand, and therefore the quantity of a particular item in stock. It also allowed the students to track revenue and profit while controlling their virtual business. This activity was engaging and the students had a chance to see supply and demand in a real world setting. It also empowered the students by giving them complete control of their own virtual business. A potential weakness of this program is that students may just follow the directions on the worksheet and invest no serious thought into the ideas presented. However, that its true for many worksheet assignments given out in any class. One other possible flaw is that it may give a false impression that demand is an easy thing to track.
Hungerford could have added tentative time-line for certain goals on his lesson plan, but given that fact that he was teaching at an alternative school where there was sporadic attendance, it may have not been necessary. I believed that the lesson plan needed a few in-depth discussion questions for the students. Things that probe deeper into the material and ask them why they saw what they saw. I also feel that the concept of gauging demand was oversimplified. Questions related to this process may have been helpful for the students as well. These questions could also be used to gauge student learning, along with the discussion and student websites.
When Hugnerford asked for short and long term goals for the student corporations he essentially was modeling good business practices. It also helped frame student thought on the subject, which aids in the retention of important concepts.
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