Instructor Guide — GoVenture Entrepreneur

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Instructor Guide — GoVenture Entrepreneur

Document Link —

http://bit.ly/instructoren⁠

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👈1. Start Here!

Instructors — get started quickly by watching videos or step-by-step directions (or both):

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📽️ Watch Videos

1️⃣ Watch this 2-minute video on how to create your instructor account and get started. This video is for Online Subscriptions not Perpetual or SUITE Licenses.

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Create your account at

PlayGoVenture.com⁠

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2️⃣ Watch this 6-minute video to discover GoVenture Entrepreneur and the many resources available for you and your students.

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Video demo of Lemonade Stand

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Video demo of Kiosk Business

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Video demo of Full Business

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3️⃣ Watch this 12-minute video to discover how to set up GoVenture Entrepreneur for your course and review student assessment options.

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4️⃣ Watch this 5-minute video for thoughts on your role as an instructor and coach when using simulation-based learning.

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5️⃣ See section 3.3 for how to onboard your students using a slide deck that is already prepared for you.

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📋 Step-by-Step Directions

These directions are for Online Subscriptions, not Perpetual or SUITE Licenses.

Watch the videos above

Create your Instructor Account at

PlayGoVenture.com⁠

— you only need to do this once.

Create a Microlearning collection Over 140 microlearning modules introduce business concepts using video, knowledge checks, and quizzes.

Create a Group to keep student performance results separated by class, school, region, or any other grouping that you prefer.

If you want to play the game click Play as a Student in the Groups menu.

Student Accounts

K-12 Teachers: Use your GoVenture website to generate usernames for each of your students under Manage Students and give Usernames to your students. See section 3.3 for more details and a Slide Deck you can use to onboard your students.

College and Nonprofit Instructors: Contact MediaSpark to purchase Subscription Keys, or direct your students to purchase their own Keys. See section 3.3 for more details and a Slide Deck and Syllabus you can use to onboard your students.

Give students your Group Number and describe your expectations for them.

Monitor student Performance Reports using your instructor dashboard.

Review the Upgrade Log to be aware of any new features and modifications being made to the program —

view document⁠

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Details for all the steps above are described further in this document.

🌐 Online Subscription Versus Perpetual or SUITE License

The features available to you depend on the type of license that you have, as follows:

Online Subscription plays from the cloud in a browser on computers, Chromebooks, and tablets. Deliver your curriculum in person, online, or at a distance. All features described in this document are available with this version.

Perpetual or SUITE version is installed and plays on Windows and Macintosh computers in your school or organization. This version does not have an instructor website, Microlearning, or the option to adjust simulation settings. There are no student login accounts. Students save their progress on their computers and manually submit reports to the instructor.

Comparison Table

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GV Comparison Chart 2021-08-11_12-01-40.jpg

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2. List of Resources

This section provides a summary of the resources available.

See §Resources In Detail for more information.

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Product Description

GoVenture Entrepreneur is the most realistic small business startup and operations simulation in the world. Start with a lemonade stand, level up to a kiosk, food truck, and full business then build a regional franchise from the ground up. Ideal for players of all ages and levels.

GoVenture Entrepreneur can be used to enhance your current course or training or to build an entirely new course — everything instructors and students need is included to meet or exceed national and regional learning standards.

To find out more about GoVenture and other educational games and simulations, visit

GoVenture.net⁠

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Instructor Guide and Website

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This document you are reading now and a free instructor website for monitoring and assessing student performance. Also includes a

Curriculum Guide⁠

with scope and sequence options.

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Business Simulation

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Highly realistic small business startup and operations simulation where students gain years of business experience in minutes.

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Microlearning & Skill Assessment

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Over 100 microlearning modules that introduce business concepts using video, knowledge checks, and quizzes.

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Learning & Activity Book

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Business Superhero is a 240-page book that helps students learn the fundamental concepts of business and entrepreneurship, including a glossary of over 100 terms. Provided as Adobe PDF. The Microlearning modules use the same content from this book.

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Lessons and Activities

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Over 50 lesson plans and activities designed to bring business education alive in the classroom. Provided in two Adobe PDF formats— a format for printing on paper and a format that can be completed with a computer, Chromebook, or tablet.

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Videos

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Videos to enhance student learning — curated from around the world.

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Assessment

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Multiple assessment options allow instructors to perfectly match their grading and performance preferences.

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Award Certificates

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Printable certificates for rewarding learner achievement.

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User Guide

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View User Guide⁠

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Global Leaderboards

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Student simulation results are automatically compared to the best in the world and may appear on the global leaderboards. See section 6.7 for details.

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This above provides a summary of the resources available.

See §Resources In Detail for more information.

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3. Instructor & Student Accounts & Onboarding

Section 3.3 includes a Slide deck and Syllabus for instructors to use to onboard students.

3.1 Create Your Instructor Account

Once you have a Subscription Key, go to

PlayGoVenture.com⁠

and follow the links to CREATE ACCOUNT. Then log in using your username and password.

Review the instructor dashboard (website).

The instructor dashboard allows you to create Groups (see below), monitor student progress and performance, and play GoVenture as a student (so that you can experience GoVenture as a student does).

Screenshot of the Instructor Dashboard (website) with options for managing a Group

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3.2 Sharing Instructor Accounts

Instructors can share access to their accounts with other instructors or colleagues.

This allows you to view student progress and performance for students that are not under your own account. This can be helpful for co-teachers, substitute teachers, department leaders, and more.

View-only access or full access can be granted. View-only access allows viewing of everything in your account but no changes. Full access allows creation and editing of Groups, student accounts, and everything else the account owner can do.

There is no cost for this feature and any number of accounts can be shared.

To request this feature, both instructors must already have GoVenture accounts— they must both be instructor accounts not student accounts. Then contact us with the following information:

Email of the person whose account needs to be shared.

Email of the person who will have access to the account above — multiple people are possible.

If you want to grant Full access or View-only access.

3.3 Student Accounts

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Choose the type of account that applies to you (your type is displayed on your instructor dashboard as shown above):

3.3.1 Instructor Managed account — primarily for K-12 schools

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Watch the video above or follow the directions below to see how student accounts work.

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Use this slide deck⁠

to introduce GoVenture to students.

Instructor Managed subscriptions do not require students to create full accounts on GoVenture. Students do not have to disclose personally-identifiable information.

Instructors log in to GoVenture to create student accounts as they need them.

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When an instructor creates a student account, a unique USERNAME is generated for the student. The USERNAME is a multi-digit number that is automatically generated — the instructor cannot choose the number. Note that the instructor does not need to build or upload a roster or set student passwords.

The instructor provides the USERNAME to the student and directs the student to log in to the GoVenture website at PlayGoVenture.com. Students should not use the Create Account function.

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GoVenture will determine if this is a new USERNAME being used for the first time and prompt the student to set a PASSWORD and their name or student ID or pseudonym (if maximum privacy is preferred).

No personally identifiable information is required of students. But, it is important that students use a unique identifier that allows the instructor to know who they are for monitoring and grading purposes. Alternatively, the instructor can manually record student names with their assigned USERNAMES. NOTE: If you direct students to enter their full names, you may want to consider directing them to enter their last names first (such as "Smith John" or "Smith, John") so that your Performance Reports can be sorted by last name.

Once a student logs in to GoVenture, they have access to the User Guide, resources, and other help information. But, students need to join a GROUP Number to play the Simulation. Instructors must provide students a GROUP Number to join.

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Additional Information

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Use this spreadsheet⁠

to share usernames with students — click the link to view the document then choose FILE > DOWNLOAD for your own copy to edit.

The student uses their personal USERNAME and PASSWORD to log in to GoVenture.

Instructors can reset student PASSWORDS if needed.

Your school or District is assigned a maximum number of instructor accounts and student accounts that can be active at any one time (concurrently).

Instructors can DISABLE individual student accounts when they are no longer needed (such as at the end of the semester or year, or if a student drops out). Disabling a student account reduces the number of active student accounts, thereby providing room for another student account to be activated. Disabled accounts do not count towards the maximum number of concurrent accounts allowed. Disabling a student account retains all student progress and results, allowing the account to be activated again at any time.

Instructors can DELETE individual student accounts. Doing so permanently erases all student progress and results and the same student account cannot be activated again.

Instructors can EDIT student accounts.

A student account that is created by an instructor but never actually used by a student will not count towards the maximum number of student accounts allowed. (Used means a student has set a password.)

3.3.2 Learner Managed account — primarily for colleges, universities, nonprofits, and businesses

Students create and manage their own personal accounts using Subscription Keys.

Students can purchase their own Subscription Keys or organizations can purchase them for students.

Give students the Group number you want them to join and your student roster will build automatically as students join your Group.

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Use this Slide Deck⁠

or this

Syllabus⁠

to introduce GoVenture to students— copy this content into your own course content and customize it to fit your approach (do not give students links to this document).

3.3.3 Perpetual or SUITE Licenses

There are no instructor accounts and no student accounts— no logins.

The GoVenture software runs from the computer on which it is installed, not online.

Student progress is saved on the computer hard drive, shared network drive, or USB drive. Students must maintain access to the save file location in order to resume progress.

Students should choose SAVE LOCATIONS that are unique or private to them, so that only they can access their own save files.

How Saving Works

When a student launches GoVenture, they will be presented with this message:

Your progress will be stored in a save file in the folder that you choose on the local computer, network drive, or external drive.

When you quit and restart this program, this same folder will be used to find the save file and resume your progress. Do not delete the save file or your progress will be lost. If you move the save file or folder, you will be prompted to choose the new location.

This save location will be stored in your Windows or macOS login profile. If this computer is shared by other people, you should choose a folder that is private to you. You should also log out of Windows or macOS when finished using the computer so that someone else does not use your save file.

If you play more than one GoVenture program, you will be prompted to choose a save location for each program. You may choose the same save location (separate save files will be created for each).

Technical Details — How to force GoVenture to prompt for a new save location

You do not need to follow these directions unless a student save file has been moved by mistake.

Quit GoVenture.

When a student selects a save location, GoVenture stores the path to this location in the appdata folder.

To find the appdata folder for the user that is currently logged in to Windows, open Windows File Explorer and type %appdata% in the address bar then press [enter].

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Find the folder with the same name as the GoVenture program you are using and double click it to open the folder.

Find and delete file Settings_x.x.x — the x.x.x will be the latest version number.

With the Settings file deleted, running GoVenture will prompt you to enter a new save location. If the save location you choose has a previously-saved simulation file, then GoVenture will resume that file.

4. Groups

4.1 Creating Groups

For students to begin playing the Simulation, the instructor must create a new Group number. Groups allow you to keep student performance results separated by class, school, region, or any other grouping that you prefer. Students can join multiple groups.

Use the Instructor Dashboard to create a Group. Instructors have the option to focus students on specific activities.

Follow the on-screen directions to choose your Group settings.

Copy the Group number (7-digit number) and share the Group number with your students so that they can connect with you.

Instructors can also use the Group Number to play as a student.

Students cannot play GoVenture until an instructor provides them with a Group number. You must give students a Group number. Students can log in to view the Learning & Activity Book and the User Guide before they receive a Group number. This allows you to get students set up with their login accounts in advance of having them do a specific activity.

Instructors can play GoVenture as a student by clicking PLAY AS A STUDENT. It is highly recommended that instructors play GoVenture for a few minutes to experience the options available in the program.

See additional information under 6.2 Types of Businesses & Products

4.2 Group Settings

When creating a Group, you must choose the business type to include — Lemonade Stand, Kiosk, or Full. See additional information under 6.2 Types of Businesses & Products

To have students play a different business type, create a new Group — do not edit an existing Group to change business type. (In the future, multiple business types will be allowed in the same Group).

When creating a Group, you have the option to include Microlearning — see details further in this document.

5. Microlearning

5.1 Microlearning Modules

GoVenture Entrepreneur is enhanced with over 140 microlearning modules that introduce business concepts using video and other media supported with knowledge checks and quizzes.

As students play the simulation they can choose to complete the microlearning modules (see more below).

Each module is only a few minutes in duration, ending with 2 or a few more multiple-choice quiz questions.

The entire set of microlearning modules includes nearly 5 hours of video plus 2 hours of review and quizzes.

Instructors can monitor the quiz results for each microlearning module through the Instructor Website.

Students earn 1 star for completing a microlearning module with 1 mistake made on the quiz questions for that module, or 2 stars if no mistakes made. 0 stars are earned otherwise.

2 stars are scored with 1 point while 1 star is 0.7 points.

5.2 Microlearning Collection

Use the Instructor Website to create a Microlearning Collection. Click Microlearning in the ACTIONS tile on the main dashboard page.

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A Microlearning Collection allows you to choose specific microlearning modules that you want to show or hide for your students. For example, you may want to show the Business Basic modules and hide the Accounting modules. You can also choose to show individual modules as optional or required, and you can grade students based on their scores.

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Completion percentage and scores shown in the Performance Report are based on the modules set to be visible or required (you choose). Hidden modules will not be included. For example, if you set 50 modules visible and 100 hidden, students will only be scored on the 50 so a student completing all 50 will earn a 100% completion percentage.

Setting a module to be Required will show an icon next to the module to identify it as required. Prior to December 2022, this had no effect on the completion percentage or score— this was simply a visual marker. As of December 2022, instructors can choose their preferred scoring method.

To view a microlearning module, go to the screen shown above and click the orange number link.

You can change the selected microlearning modules at any time, allowing you to add or remove modules during play. If you do make a change, student Performance Reports will be updated automatically the next time a student plays one virtual day in the simulation. This triggers a save which updates the Performance Reports. Alternatively, students can click the SAVE button under MENU.

A list of all topics covered is included at the end of this document.

5.3 Assigning to a Group

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Once you have created a Microlearning Collection, you can assign it to one or more Groups (under Group Settings). Instructors have the option to create different Microlearning Collections for different groups of students.

You can choose to assign the same Microlearning Collection to multiple Groups. This allows students to continue their Microlearning as they move from one simulation to another, without having to repeat modules that were completed previously. For example, if a student completes module 1.1 in Group Lemonade Stand, this same module will appear completed in Group Kiosk and Group Full Business.

Note— When using the same Microlearning Collection across multiple Groups, use the Microlearning results from the Group in which students have most recently played. Microlearning results shown in Groups students stopped playing may only show the Microlearning results as of when the student stopped playing, even though they may have continued making progress under another Group.

5.4 Students Access and Grading

Students can access Microlearning while playing the simulation by using MENU > Microlearning as shown below.

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Students may also access Microlearning using a button that appears on their GoVenture dashboard before they launch the simulation. This button will appear after they have joined a Group Number and started playing the simulation.

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Below is a sample report that shows stars earned for each topic, total score, and percent complete.

Students earn 1 star for completing a microlearning module with 1 mistake made on the quiz questions for that module, or 2 stars if no mistakes made. 0 stars are earned otherwise.

2 stars are scored with 1 point while 1 star is 0.7 points.

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More information on using Microlearning in assessment is available further in this document.

Important Notes:

If you make a change to a Microlearning Collection, your students will not see the change until they do one of these actions:

Refresh GoVenture (refresh the Internet browser while playing the simulation or doing Microlearning).

The feature below was improved in June 2022 to assure student results are always updated—

To make sure your instructor dashboard displays the most recent Microlearning results, direct your students to take one of these actions:

While playing the simulation game, click MENU then SAVE.

Advance the simulation game by one simulated day — reports are automatically updated after a student completes each simulated day in the business simulation (If a student completes Microlearning modules but does not return to continue playing the business simulation, your instructor dashboard will not update with the latest results until they do or save the simulation game).

6. Gameplay

6.1 Basic and Advanced Versions

GoVenture Entrepreneur is available in two versions: BASIC and ADVANCED.

The BASIC version has a lower price and includes the Lemonade Stand and Kiosk businesses but does not progress past the kiosk business to the Full business —

video demo of Full business⁠

All included resources are the same in both versions.

6.2 Types of Businesses & Products

Students are able to choose from a number of business types listed below. Instructors can restrict students to specific business types using Group settings.

Lemonade Stand

Kiosk

Ice Cream

Tacos

Hot Dogs

Popcorn & Snacks

Clothing

Costume Jewelry

Electronics

Full Business

Business Type

Level

Description

Sell

Unique Features

Ice-Cream Parlor

Easy

Quick service restaurant that sells ice-cream sundaes, cones, and bars. Similar to Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry’s, Dairy Queen, and others.

3 Products 5 Inventory Items

Similar to Kiosk business with only a few products but with the advanced features of Full Business. This is a good practice or entry-level simulation.

Department Store

Moderate

Retail store that sells clothing, jewelry, housewares, toys, electronics, sporting goods, and more. Similar to Walmart, Target, and others.

31 Products (identical Inventory Items)

Retail businesses have many products but they do not require any type of assembly or combination of inventory items and they do not degrade in quality over time. This makes inventory management important but easier than food businesses.

Cosmetics Boutique

Moderate

Retail store that sells makeup, personal-care products, and more. Similar to L'Oréal, Clinique, and others.

31 Products (identical Inventory Items)

Fitness Gym

Moderate

Fitness gym that offers membership services for fitness classes and equipment. Customers pay a membership fee and may also purchase products. Similar to Planet Fitness, LA Fitness, and others.

4 Fitness Classes (services), 5 Fitness Equipment (services), 3 Products (same Inventory Items)

Membership-based pricing for all services. Some services require the business to purchase equipment while others require employees with the proper skill. Product sales are optional, so there is little inventory management.

Automotive Shop

Moderate

Retail store and garage that offers automotive repair services and sells automotive parts. Similar to Midas, Meineke, and others.

30 Products and 13 Services

Employees are needed to offer automotive repair services but all only require one skill. Any employee can provide all services. Additional employees are needed as the business grows. Specialized skills and equipment are not required to offer the services.

Automotive Center

Difficult

Retail store and garage with specialized equipment and skills that offers automotive repair services and sells automotive parts.

8 Products and 6 Services

Employees with specialized skills are needed to offer specific automotive repair services. Multiple employee with varying skills are needed as the business grows. Specialized equipment is needed to offer certain services. The Automotive Center is more difficult than the Automotive Shop because of the extra focus needed to manage employee skills and specialized equipment.

Casual Restaurant

Difficult

Fast casual restaurant that sells hamburgers, wraps, salads, breakfast, desserts, and more. Similar to quick-service McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s or fast casual like Five Guys and Shake Shack.

13 Products 17 Inventory Items

These food businesses are difficult because most products require multiple inventory items (ingredients) and those items degrade in quality quickly. Proper inventory management is needed to succeed.

Sandwich Restaurant

Difficult

Quick service restaurant that sells sandwiches, soup, and more. Similar to Subway, Quiznos, and others.

13 Products 17 Inventory Items

These food businesses are difficult because most products require multiple inventory items (ingredients) and those items degrade in quality quickly. Proper inventory management is needed to succeed.

Mexican Restaurant

Difficult

Fast casual restaurant that sells tacos, nachos, quesadillas, deserts, and more. Similar to Chipotle, Taco Bell, and others.

13 Products 17 Inventory Items

These food businesses are difficult because most products require multiple inventory items (ingredients) and those items degrade in quality quickly. Proper inventory management is needed to succeed.

Pizzeria

Difficult

Fast casual restaurant that sells pizzas, chicken wings, salads, and more. Similar to Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and others.

13 Products 16 Inventory Items

These food businesses are difficult because most products require multiple inventory items (ingredients) and those items degrade in quality quickly. Proper inventory management is needed to succeed.

Cafe

Difficult

Quick service restaurant that sells coffee, tea, smoothies, pastries, and more. Similar to Starbucks, Duncan, Tim Hortons, and others.

13 Products 15 Inventory Items

These food businesses are difficult because most products require multiple inventory items (ingredients) and those items degrade in quality quickly. Proper inventory management is needed to succeed.

More new business types coming soon

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6.3 Tutorials

Watch the Video Tutorials.

An in-game tutorial appears that walks students through the simulation.

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View User Guide⁠

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6.4 Saving and Resuming Simulations

Online Version

Student simulation progress is automatically saved online. Students can quit and resume their simulations at any time. Students will automatically continue from where they stopped playing.

If Internet problems arise and saving cannot be done automatically, students will be alerted with a warning message and an option to try saving again.

Offline Version

Coming in the future.

6.5 Resetting a Simulation

A student can play multiple Simulation by using different GROUP numbers (if the instructor provides multiple Group numbers).

To allow a student to restart a Simulation within the same GROUP number, use the RESET STUDENT option. Resetting a student will delete all progress and performance data for that student, allowing the student to start over. Note that Simulations will always have different results. A GROUP setting can be set to allow students the ability to reset their own simulations.

If you want to allow a student to play another Simulation without deleting the results of their current Simulation, consider creating a new GROUP. Groups allow you to keep student performance results separated by class, school, region, or any other grouping that you prefer.

6.6 Online and Offline Versions

GoVenture Entrepreneur is available as ONLINE and OFFLINE versions.

The ONLINE version requires the Internet and can be played from anywhere in the world using a computer, Chromebook, or tablet.

The OFFLINE version does not require the Internet and can only be played on designated Windows or Macintosh computers (only). This version does not include the following:

Microlearning

Instructor dashboard — students must manually submit their Performance Reports to the instructor by printing on paper or saving as PDF.

Groups and any settings that allow the instructor to control the simulation.

Global leaderboards— players can view the leaderboard but not appear on them.

The ONLINE and OFFLINE versions are not directly compatible and your license identifies the version you have available.

6.7 Global & Group Leaderboards

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Student simulation results are automatically compared to the best in the world and may appear on the global leaderboards.

Leaderboards are public but student names remain hidden to maintain privacy.

Students will see their own names on the leaderboard when they are logged in to GoVenture, like this …

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Students will be notified that they appear on the leaderboards on their student dashboard, like this ...

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Instructors can see their own students who are on the leaderboards by viewing the student Performance Reports.

Leaderboard rankings are available for Profit, Revenue, Profit Margin, Skill Score, and Days Played.

Leaderboards are updated once per day at the time shown on the leaderboards.

Players can only appear once for the same business type and must play at least 60 simulation days.

A high score can only remain on the leaderboard for up to 6 months. This assures that there will always be new opportunities to appear on the leaderboards.

Results from Entrepreneur Basic and Advanced are included and intermingled.

View and share the leaderboards with this link —

https://playgoventure.com/leaderboards/entrepreneur⁠

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Group Leaderboard

In Group Settings, instructors can choose to make Group results visible to students. This allows students to compare their performance against each other.

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To maintain student privacy, names are not shown on the Leaderboard — but be aware that since the leaderboard is for a specific group of students, it is likely that students may share or discover who they each are.

Students can view their Group Leaderboard by choosing their Group Number in the Group dropdown (shown below) on the Global Leaderboard website. Note that Group Numbers only appear in the Group dropdown if the instructor chooses this option in Group Settings (as shown above).

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7. Individual and Team Play

GoVenture Entrepreneur is designed for each student to play on their own, but team play and collaboration can be added using the methods below.

If students are physically together, they can use one computer or tablet to play together using one student account login. GoVenture Entrepreneur treats them as one player. Teams of 2 or 3 are manageable in this way.

If students are at a distance or together, instructors can assign students to teams and grade students based on both their individual and combined team results. This encourages students to help each other to improve their collective performance, while maintaining individual student responsibility for their own personal performance and participation requirements. This same approach can be used for an entire class where a portion of a final grade can be based on the combined results of the entire class, thereby encouraging classmates to help underperformers.

For suggestions on how to add competition, see the Assessment section.

8. Instructor Settings

Instructors can control many settings in the business simulation. Log in to the instructor website to view all the settings available.

8.1 Play Limits

Instructors may optionally limit play to control student progress and allow you time to review performance results. Edit group settings at any time to adjust limits and allow students to continue playing.

Maximum Simulated Days To Play

Last Day Allowed to Play

Set this to stop students from progressing past a specific number of simulated days.

Set this to stop students from progressing past a specific calendar date.

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NOTE— the settings above are for Groups created prior to August 4, 2022. Newer Groups have settings similar to the above but with even more options. See Level-Up Settings for details.

WARNING — student simulations will only register new play limits when the simulation is refreshed or quit. This means if a student is currently playing live while you make a change, that change will not register for that student unless they refresh their browser or quit the simulation.

8.2 Business Level Settings

Instructors can choose which business levels students can play. It is highly recommended that first-time players start with Lemonade Stand and progress through the Kiosk business before playing the Full business. See additional information under 6.2 Types of Businesses & Products.

This is recommended regardless of the profile of your students (whether new to business or MBA graduates) because the simpler businesses serve as tutorials for the more advanced business. The Full business is very challenging.

You must set up separate Groups for each business level. Instructors can choose to have students play less time on the simpler business options using the Level-Up Settings below.

8.3 Level-Up Settings

To move students from Lemonade Stand to Kiosk to Full business, you must create separate Groups for each business level and then give students the Group Number for the level you want them to start playing.

Set a date deadline and achievement requirements for each level and then give out the next Group Number when that date arrives.

See below for more information.

Functionality for Groups Created On Or After August 4, 2022

Instructors can control which types of businesses students may choose for Kiosk and Full Business. This feature is useful if you want consistency or are hosting a competition and prefer that all students choose the same type of business. Running the same type of business is not required for hosting a competition but maximizes fairness. This is specifically important with Full business where there are businesses types with three levels of difficulty to choose from. Business types are described in section 6.2.

Instructors can control when students are allowed to level up in the simulation by choosing the amount of PROFIT or PLAY TIME a student needs to achieve before the advanced features are unlocked. The CALENDAR DATE feature can be used to pace students based on your preferred schedule.

For example, an instructor can set that a student must achieve $250 in Profit before being allowed to start their 2nd Lemonade Stand. Or, $250 Profit and have played a minimum of 30 Simulated Days. And not before the date of April 21.

More information is available when you edit Group settings, including a video description.

Players are required to pay theses costs to add a second location:

Lemonade Stand— $50 for second stand and $50 for third stand.

Kiosk— $3,000 for second kiosk and $8,000 for third kiosk.

Full Business— can only run one location (currently).

Functionality for Groups Created Prior to August 4, 2022

Lemonade Stand

Setting is fixed at $250 profit for the 2nd lemonade stand and $1,000 profit for the 3rd.

On average, it will take students 25 - 45 minutes to get to the 2nd stand and then another 25 - 45 minutes to get to the 3rd stand.

Kiosk

Setting is fixed at $4,000 profit for the 2nd kiosk and $10,000 for the 3rd.

On average, it will take students 45 - 90 minutes to get to the 2nd kiosk and then another 45 - 90 minutes to get to the 3rd kiosk (mobile truck).

Full

Full business only allows one location.

8.4 Accounting Options

8.4.1 Accrual or Cash Basis

Accounting in Lemonade Stand is cash basis.

Accounting in Kiosk business is accrual basis, but functions like cash basis. All payables are immediately paid from cash when incurred and receivables are immediately received in cash when earned.

Accounting in Full business is accrual basis. The player chooses when to pay payables. Receivables are automatically and immediately received in cash when earned.

8.4.2 Startup Costs as Assets

The Kiosk business includes purchase of a kiosk and costs for Startup Services, while the Full business includes leasehold costs and startup documents, services, and related costs. These costs are capitalized and appear as an asset on the Balance Sheet instead of an expense on the Income Statement. The asset account used is Property, Equipment, Startup.

This approach is intended to simplify business profit by not starting each business with negative profit. Full business starts with a small negative profit due to rent expense.

Depreciation and taxes are not currently used in the simulations.

8.4.3 Automatic vs Manual Accounting

Lemonade Stand, Kiosk Business, and Full business, by default, all use automatic accounting where accounting transactions are automatically posted and reports are generated for students to view.

Kiosk business includes an option for Manual Accounting — this is selected in Group settings. With Manual Accounting, students are required to post double-entry accounting transactions as they happen. Students must immediately post each transaction correctly, otherwise they cannot continue playing.

Options to Show Hint and Show Answer are provided to assure that students will not get stuck. To deter students from using these help options too frequently, points are deducted from the Skill score each time a student uses Show Hint (minus 0.5 points) or Show Answer (minus 1.0 points). The table below appears in the student Performance Report when manual accounting is turned on.

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Manual Accounting provides students with meaningful practice and repetition to learn and understand accounting debits and credits as they apply to a business. Students also have access to a General Journal and other financial reports.

If you choose to use Manual Accounting, you should allow students to play the Kiosk business with Automatic Accounting before starting a new Kiosk Business with Manual Accounting.

The Accounting option can be changed between Automatic and Manual at any time by using Edit Group Settings. Note that if students have the simulation open when the change is made, they should be instructed to refresh their browsers or to quit and resume their simulations for the new settings to take effect.

Below are the Accounting window and the list of transactions that trigger it. If a student is operating multiple kiosks, only a single entry is made for all kiosks at the same time (not multiple entries for each kiosk).

Video of Manual Accounting in Kiosk business:

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view full screen⁠

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List of transactions

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TRANSACTION

TIMING

Startup Financing

Startup

Startup Services

Startup

Buy Kiosk

When purchased

Buy Inventory

When purchased

Pay Employees

End of day

Sales

End of day

Inventory Spoilage

End of day

Signage & Appearance

End of day purchased

Advertising

End of day purchased

Product Quality

End of day purchased

Mobile Kiosk Transportation

End of day moved

There are no rows in this table

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8.5 Report Visibility

Instructors can choose to hide specific reports so that students cannot see them when playing.

For example, you may hide the Balance Sheet and Income Statement and have students build their own from data in the General Ledger.

You will see this option in new Groups created on or after August 4, 2022.

9. Curriculum Guide

9.1 Scope and Sequence

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View

Curriculum Guide⁠

with scope and sequence options.

9.2 Time Required

Simulation Play

Play time will vary but a rough estimate is 1 hour to play 30 simulated business days. This applies to Lemonade Stand and Kiosk businesses. The Full Business is much more advanced and takes longer to play at 2 hours to play 30 simulated business days (although the first few days are played much slower as students set up and explore the various options).

Microlearning Modules

Up to 5 hours of video plus up to 2 hours of review and quizzes — based on topics the instructor chooses to include.

Printable Activities

Over 50 are included with each taking 20 to 40 minutes to complete.

Debriefs

Consider hosting live debrief discussions to review student performance and allow students to share their observations and best practices with their classmates.

9.3 Curriculum Time

An instructor using GoVenture should consider how much curriculum time is available and which learning outcomes need to be achieved. GoVenture covers all or nearly all educational standards for business and entrepreneurship. Satisfying hundreds of standards can take dozens of hours of time.

Instructors that will use GoVenture as the primary resource for a full curriculum will likely use all the available resources, particularly the comprehensive Microlearning module and related PDF Activities.

Instructors that only have a few hours of curriculum time for GoVenture, may focus primarily on the Simulation.

9.4 Possible Approaches

GoVenture is a comprehensive program designed to supplement and enhance your existing course, program, or curriculum. It has been specifically created to provide you with a broad and flexible range of options. You may choose to use GoVenture at the beginning of a course, at the end of a course, or throughout an entire term.

9.4.1 Using GoVenture at the Beginning of a Course

By using GoVenture at the beginning of a course, students immediately gain practical experience in the decisions that need to be made when running a business. This experience provides them with considerably more insight into what they need to learn and why, making them more likely to participate in class discussion and to ask insightful questions. Lectures and textbooks become instantly transformed into valued sources of information when connected to the realistic GoVenture experience.

9.4.2 Using GoVenture at the End of a Course

By using GoVenture at the end of a course, students can apply the knowledge, lessons, and techniques they have learned throughout your course to a highly realistic, simulated business setting. GoVenture provides students with the opportunity to gain experience and to make the important connection between business theory and practice.

9.4.3 Using GoVenture Throughout a Course

GoVenture is essentially a business laboratory where your students can go every week, or every day, to apply the information and concepts you are teaching in class. Throughout your course, students can continually use GoVenture to experience and experiment with the knowledge they are gaining.

Choosing what is right for you depends upon the amount of time you have available to include GoVenture in your curriculum, and your desire to use the many GoVenture resources that are available.

10. Assessment

GoVenture Entrepreneur includes multiple assessment options to choose from, enabling instructors to perfectly match their grading and performance preferences.

Watch this 12-minute video to discover how to set up GoVenture Entrepreneur for your course and review student assessment methods.

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view full screen⁠

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10.1 Assessment Methods

METHOD

DESCRIPTION

Simulation PARTICIPATION

Participation means playing and completing a set number of simulated business days in the game. On average, it takes 1 hour to play 30 simulated days. GoVenture play cannot be automated, meaning that students remain engaged by being required to continually make decisions in the simulation. Making poor decisions or avoiding decisions will lead to bankruptcy and require the student to start over. A student that has stayed in business for a few hundred business days demonstrates, at minimum, a satisfactory level of work and performance. Profitability and other metrics demonstrate the degree or level of business success achieved and can also be used for performance comparisons with other students.

Simulation SKILL

All key business metrics in the simulation are tracked and reported. Business metrics include Days in Business, Profit, Profit Margin, Cash, Revenue, Expenses, Assets & Liabilities, Equity, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Morale, Health, and more. See below for how SKILL is calculated. See further up in this document how team play can be assessed.

Competition

Compare student SKILL score or PROFIT with other students in the same class or cohort. Consider how the Global Leaderboards can be used to further motivate and reward students.

Microlearning

GoVenture is enhanced with over 100 microlearning modules that introduce business concepts using video and other media supported with knowledge checks and quizzes. Students earn 1 star for completing a microlearning module with 1 mistake made on the quiz questions for that module, or 2 stars if no mistakes made. 0 stars are earned otherwise. A student earning 2 stars on all microlearning modules (chosen by the instructor) will earn 100% while a student earning 1 star on all modules will earn 70%. A mix of stars will earn students a score in between 70% to 100%.

Student Experience

Report or Presentation

Instructors may choose to have students prepare written or oral presentations or reports on their experience playing the simulation. Encourages students to reflect on their simulation experience and what they learned, and then organize and present their thoughts. A report template is available in Google Slides, which you can download, edit, and send to students (using your school LMS or other method). The questions in this template are for the Full Business so you may need to remove some questions if your students only played Kiosk or Lemonade Stand.

Click here to view the template⁠

(do not share this link with students).

Activities

Printable activities can be assigned and graded.

Test Bank

Quiz questions aligned with the Business Learning & Activity Book are available to instructors as a Google document (upon request). The Test Bank should only be considered if the Microlearning module is not used.

There are no rows in this table

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NOTE: All report and data tables in GoVenture can be copied to a spreadsheet — this video shows you how:

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view full screen⁠

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10.2 Rubric Score & Sample Assessment Formula

Rubric Score — Group settings allow you to set a scoring formula, similar to the examples shown below. The Rubric Score will be automatically generated and appear on the Performance Reports available to instructors and students.

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It is recommended that 50% to 80% of a grade be applied to measurable activities that a student can achieve without having to demonstrate high performance. This assures that any student that is willing to put in the time and effort will achieve a reasonably good grade.

Including performance skill in the assessment rewards students who demonstrate more effort and better business results.

The sample formula below of 100% weighs 80% of the grade on Simulation Participation and Microlearning, with only 20% of the grade on Simulation Skill:

50%

Simulation Participation

20%

Simulation Skill

30%

Microlearning

There are no rows in this table

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The 30% Microlearning component can be replaced with the Student Experience Report or completion of Activities or other exercises.

If you do not want to use Microlearning, Student Experience Report, or other Activities, consider using this formula:

60%

Simulation Participation

40%

Simulation Skill

There are no rows in this table

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10.3 Adding Competition

An effective way to increase fun and performance is through competition. Use the Skill score, Net Profit, or other metric to rank students in the same group. Here is one possible measure:

Top 10% earn 10 points

Top 25% earn 7 points

Top 50% earn 5 points

Top 75% earn 3 points

All others earn 0 points

If you choose to award cash, gifts, or other prizes, we recommend that you choose a larger number of winners for small prizes, rather than a few winners of larger prizes. This will motivate a higher number of participants to do well, while also minimizing any perceived unfairness that could arise with a larger prize.

Consider how the Global or Group Leaderboards can be used to further motivate and reward students (see section 6.7).

The above are suggested examples — instructors should use their preferred assessment methods and weightings. Note that formulas like the above must be manually calculated by the instructor using a spreadsheet or other method.

10.4 Performance Report — Summary

Each of the three business levels is tracked and scored independently.

Each student in a Group is listed in summary tables for easy evaluation and comparison — see examples below.

Lemonade Stand Business

Player &

Business Name

Days Played

Number of Stands

Quantity Sold

Sales Revenue