How SBS Is Used in The Classroom
 SBS's primary charge is the development and presentation
of online simulations of sports teams and leagues for use in the
college classroom. SBS's products are not designed to replace textbooks
or, for that matter, the "in-class" experience. SBS's products,
all of which are available with one SBS World membership, are employed
to enhance the classroom experience.
The SBS World is online, and
is accessible via any Internet-ready computer, anywhere in the
world. You can become part of the SBS
World right from the computer you're using right now. All it takes
is a $12.50 membership fee. As SBS is designed for the classroom,
the rate goes down with the number of students in a membership
group. Once a part of the SBS World, there are various ways to
use SBS to enhance the classroom experience
Using the Oakland Baseball Simworld, students at the
University of San Francisco's Sport Management Program
played the role of imaginary management consultant,
trying different business strategies within the simulator, then writing a paper
on which strategy the "organization" should adopt. In this way, the simulator
was the testing ground for different subjects written about in the sports textbook,
from variable pricing to public bond financing for a new stadium. Students
grasp the ideas and concepts faster when SBS's simulators are employed as a
tool within the classroom.
SBS has developed sample class project descriptions for you to use in your
class, with minimal alternations. Just click here on "Oakland
Baseball Simworld" or here on "XFL
Simworld" to produce the sample class project documents. Each one consists
of an explanation of the simulator and what it does, as well as instructions
for operation, scoring, and registration. (These are .PDF files and require
the Acrobat Reader to View. Click here to
download the reader for free.)
Here are other ways the SBS World can be used in
your classroom:
1. Students can engage in a business
competition. In this, students work in groups, each developing
a strategy to use in the simulator and in isolation from the other
group. The students can run as many trials as they want to, but
the rounds of simulation runs are only to test their strategies,
not for the competition. Then, two lab competitions are held with
the professor's in-person supervision. Here, the highest score
counts. The professor takes the average of the group's scores and
the group with the highest average score wins; the student groups
can't alter their strategy from one round to the next round.
2. In an effort to understand how different stadium financing
strategies impact a baseball organization, the professor has students
try each financing approach, then write a paper on their effects
on the baseball organization. Representatives of local sports organizations
are invited to class to provide a "real world" perspective beyond
the simulator.
3. An economics professor wants her students to understand that
the real world of product price and demand is much more complex
than what's presented in the typical textbook. So, rather than
throw her students into the world of complex system equations,
she has them run simulations in the SBS World, changing ticket
prices and recording their effects on the organization's revenue,
with respect to real world variables like a terrible team or a
championship ballclub.
4. A labor economics professor wants students to understand how
employee negotiations impact the "bottom line" of a business. The
students use the Oakland Baseball Simworld within the SBS World,
and quickly learn that one can't just pick a salary for a baseball
player, and that at a certain point the player has more control
over salary than the organization.
5. A high school teacher wants her students to understand how
important TV ratings are to the success of a sports league, so
she holds a class competition using the XFL Simworld.
There are more examples that are variations on the five above. But from this,
it's clear that the SBS World can make the classroom experience more fun for
teacher and student alike.
SBS is also available to create specialized simulations for your
classroom needs. Please contact SBS with any curriculum assistance
or simulation development needs. |
