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Form of workJob Description
Educational Game Research Assistant
Estimated Time: 3-5 hours a week during Spring Semester
Pay: $20/hour
Supervisor: Prof Stephen Brand, Entrepreneurship
This position is to support the further development of the Venture Creation Game that is supported by an approved Teaching Innovation Fund grant. The New Venture Design Game, powered by the Business Model Canvas, introduces a series of unexpected changes and disruptions as teams craft new ventures using this ubiquitous tool for building a team's vision for company strategy and ways of testing assumptions. Participant businesses start to emerge based on the random selection of a few objects/things and target markets. The use of objects and things has participants include items like bicycles, sneakers, ovens, etc. These objects are used as prompts to create forced connections directing them to think creatively how these would be part of their product mix. As this exercise is focused on learning how to use the canvas, the fictional addition of "things" moves them from a real venture to this created venture. This randomness allows learners to focus on how to design a company from the ground up. In this ~90 min game, introductions of acquisitions, brand changes, management changes, infusion of cash and unplanned disasters force the teams to rethink how changes, more than years of planning, are the norm for entrepreneurs.
This role is to be instrumental in working with the sponsoring faculty member to help move this project forward. Some of the responsibilities include:
One of the most important activities in the project is to explain the learning goals and approaches using accepted pedagogical theories and foundations for experiential learning and teaching. Identifying the theoretical grounding will allow for publication in educational journals leading to wider distribution and use as it justifies the learning methods embedded in this experience.
Characteristics for Candidates
Educational Game Research Assistant
Estimated Time: 3-5 hours a week during Spring Semester
Pay: $20/hour
Supervisor: Prof Stephen Brand, Entrepreneurship
This position is to support the further development of the Venture Creation Game that is supported by an approved Teaching Innovation Fund grant. The New Venture Design Game, powered by the Business Model Canvas, introduces a series of unexpected changes and disruptions as teams craft new ventures using this ubiquitous tool for building a team's vision for company strategy and ways of testing assumptions. Participant businesses start to emerge based on the random selection of a few objects/things and target markets. The use of objects and things has participants include items like bicycles, sneakers, ovens, etc. These objects are used as prompts to create forced connections directing them to think creatively how these would be part of their product mix. As this exercise is focused on learning how to use the canvas, the fictional addition of "things" moves them from a real venture to this created venture. This randomness allows learners to focus on how to design a company from the ground up. In this ~90 min game, introductions of acquisitions, brand changes, management changes, infusion of cash and unplanned disasters force the teams to rethink how changes, more than years of planning, are the norm for entrepreneurs.
This role is to be instrumental in working with the sponsoring faculty member to help move this project forward. Some of the responsibilities include:
- Finding and reviewing research in education, motivation, experiential learning, and game theory to provide the theoretical underpinnings that justify the game's design
- Reviewing other approaches to teaching the business model canvas for comparisons
- Preparing to test the model in different settings - academic, accelerators, and possibly the corporate sector - most tests will be run during the summer and fall - depending on progress, the person in this role could help run tests in Spring 2024 to validate tweaks in the program implementation.
- Helping to design the tools that allow the game to be implemented by other program leaders and faculty at Babson and elsewhere.
- Collaboratively working on refining the game design based on data collected and new ways of thinking.
- Other activities to help move the project forward include production of game prompt mini videos, a simple informational web site, a program game kit for others to use.
One of the most important activities in the project is to explain the learning goals and approaches using accepted pedagogical theories and foundations for experiential learning and teaching. Identifying the theoretical grounding will allow for publication in educational journals leading to wider distribution and use as it justifies the learning methods embedded in this experience.
Characteristics for Candidates
- Curious
- Thorough
- Detail oriented
- Action oriented
- Proactive
- Positive
- Resourceful
