GoVenture Instructor Guide
This instructor guide provides directions and suggestions for using GoVenture in a course or training program.
1. About GoVenture
2. Getting Started
3. Learning How to Play
4. Saving and Resuming Progress
5. Restarting a Simulation
6. Removing and Reassigning Student Accounts
7. Time Required
8. Performance Evaluation and Grading
9. Languge Skills
10. Competition and Awards
1. About GoVenture
GoVenture consists of the following resources:
Simulation
A highly interactive simulation game that enables students to directly experience personal financial literacy and investing. Instructors can assign students to play short activities or the full simulation. Instructors can also choose to have students play an investment-only simulation.
Learning Guide
A text guide with examples and figures that explains all the fundamental topics of personal financial literacy and investing. The Learning Guide can be viewed at any time by students and instructors. Direct links to specific topics are also included at the bottom of every screen in the simulation, making it easy for students to find support information while they play the simulation.
Activities
Printable Adobe PDF excercises that support the content in the Learning Guide. Activities are available at the bottom of each section in the Learning Guide. See the bottom of this Instructor Guide for a full list of Activities and the instructor versions.
Instructor Website
A website that enables instructors to manage GoVenture and their students.
Visit GoVentureLife.com to log in
2. Getting Started
For students to begin playing a 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.
Instructors have the option to focus students on specific individual activities, an investment-only simulation, or the full life and money simulation. This option is presented when you create a new GROUP. Options that are not turned ON will be visible but disabled to students who join the GROUP. Keeping options OFF helps avoid the possibility of students playing the wrong activity, or playing an activity sooner than planned by the instructor.
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 Guide and Tutorial Videos before they receive a Group number. This allows you to get students set up with their log in accounts in advance of having them do a specific activity.
Instructors and students should review the Tutorial resources. Instructors can play GoVenture as a student by clicking the PLAY button. It is highly recommended that instructors play GoVenture for a few minutes to experience the options available in the program.
To find out more about GoVenture and other educational games and simulations, visit www.GoVenture.net
3. Learning How to Play
Direct students to view the Tutorials.
When students first play GoVenture, an in-game tutorial will appear that will walk them through the main components of the simulation.
Students can receive additional information by clicking the LEARN button found at the bottom of the interface while playing GoVenture. Note that there is no printed User Guide.
ACTIVITIES are also available in the LEARNING GUIDE. Activities are designed to be printed and completed by students on paper (or other media directed by the instructor). Instructor versions of the ACTIVITIES (with answers) are available on the Instructor website.
4. Saving and Resuming Progress
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.
5. Restarting a Simulation
A student can only play any number of simulations at he same time by using different GROUP numbers.
To allow a student to restart the same simulation, 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.
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. Removing Students
Use the REMOVE STUDENT option to completely remove a student from a GROUP and delete all progress and data for that student. Removing a student is normally only done if a student has joined the wrong GROUP. Note that student accounts cannot be reassigned from one student to another.
7. Time Required
Students can take as much time as they want to make decisions in GoVenture. There is no clock or time limit, except that an investment or full life and money simulation will end after 20 simulated years.
How quickly a student will progress through the simulation will depend on how thoughtful their decisions are and the instructor’s requirement for progress. For example, the instructor may tell students that they must progress through 1 simulated year within the next 60 minutes, thereby providing students an average of 1 minute to make their decisions each simulated week.
Students should be provided at least 2 minutes of decision time for each virtual week, plus any additional time needed to periodically evaluate reports in more depth.
8. Performance Evaluation and Grading
GoVenture provides many metrics for measuring success.
All metrics are available to students through the simulation and detailed Performance Report. This same data is automatically made available (in real-time) to the instructor through the instructor website (there is no need for students to print or manually submit reports).
Additional Resources
Activities (Adobe PDF) - see section 11
Read and Write ACTIVITY Rubric and Listen and Speak ACTIVITY Rubric (Adobe PDF)
9. Language Skills
Using GoVenture to Develop Language Skills (Adobe PDF)
10. Competition and Awards
GoVenture allows you to hold competitions by comparing student performance results. Awarding prizes to the winners is always a great motivator. Prizes should be announced at the beginning of the competition, and could be simple inexpensive gifts or even extra marks.
11. Activity List
Activities are printable Adobe PDF excercises that support the content in the Learning Guide. Activities are available at the bottom of each section in the Learning Guide. The table below provides a summary list of each Activity. Each activity is numbered for easy reference.
See Performance Evaluation and Grading for language skill development and grading rubrics.
| LEARNING GUIDE SECTION |
ACTIVITY
|
| 1. You |
01D1 Define Key Terms | You 01K1 Knowledge Test | Setting Goals 01K2 Knowledge Test | Needs and Wants |
| 2. Your Personal Finances |
02D1 Define Key Terms | Your Personal Finances 02L1 Listen & Speak | Your Personal Finances 02R1 Read & Write | Compensation from Employment 02K1 Knowledge Test | Net Worth 02K2 Knowledge Test | Cash Flow & Income |
| 3. Your Assets |
03D1 Define Key Terms | Assets 03L1 Listen & Speak | Assets |
| 4. Your Liabilities |
04D1 Define Key Terms | Liabilities 04L1 Listen & Speak | Liabilities 04R1 Read & Write | Liabilities |
| 5. Your Lifestyle |
05D1 Define Key Terms | Your Lifestyle 05K1 Knowledge Test | Own vs Rent a Home 05K2 Knowledge Test | Own vs Lease a Car |
| 6. Managing Your Assets and Liabilities |
06D1 Define Key Terms | Managing Your Assets and Liabilities 06L1 Listen & Speak | Managing Your Assets and Liabilities 06R1 Read & Write | Managing Your Assets and Liabilities 06R2 Read & Write | Estate Planning Tools 06R3 Read & Write | Impact of Unplanned Spending 06K1 Knowledge Test | Charitable Giving 06K2 Knowledge Test | The Financial System 06K3 Knowledge Test | Retirement 06K4 Knowledge Test | Budget 06K5 Knowledge Test | Cash Management Tools |
| 7. Key Investment Concepts |
07D1 Define Key Terms | Key Investment Concepts 07L1 Listen & Speak | Key Investment Concepts 07R1 Read & Write | Key Investment Concepts |
| 8. Making Your Money Grow |
08D1 Define Key Terms | Making Your Money Grow 08L1 Listen & Speak | Making Your Money Grow 08R1 Read & Write | Making Your Money Grow |
| 9. The Investment Timetable |
09D1 Define Key Terms | The Investment Timetable 09L1 Listen & Speak | The Investment Timetable 09R1 Read & Write | The Investment Timetable |
| 10. Calculating the ROI |
10D1 Define Key Terms | Calculating the ROI 10L1 Listen & Speak | Calculating the ROI 10R1 Read & Write | Calculating the ROI |
| 11. Banking |
11D1 Define Key Terms | Banking 11L1 Listen & Speak | Banking 11R1 Read & Write | Evaluate Savings Options 11K1 Knowledge Test | Reconcile Bank Statement 11K2 Knowledge Test | Write Checks 11K3 Knowledge Test | Debit and Credit Cards |
| 12. Money Market Instruments |
12D1 Define Key Terms | Money Market Instruments
|
| 13. Bonds |
13D1 Define Key Terms | Bonds 13L1 Listen & Speak | Bonds |
| 14. Stocks |
14D1 Define Key Terms | Stocks 14L1 Listen & Speak | Stocks |
| 15. Mutual Funds |
15D1 Define Key Terms | Mutual Funds 15L1 Listen & Speak | Mutual Funds |
| 16. Other Equity Investments |
16D1 Define Key Terms | Other Equity Investments
|
| 17. Annuities and Tyeps of Life Insurance as Investments | 17D1 Define Key Terms | Annuities and Types of Life Insurance as Investments |
| 18. Insuring and Protecting |
18D1 Define Key Terms | Insuring and Protecting 18R1 Read & Write | Apply Risk Management Strategies 18K1 Knowledge Test | Consumer Protection 18K2 Knowledge Test | Automobile Insurance 18K3 Knowledge Test | Types, Benefits, Costs of Insurance |
| 19. Credit and Borrowing |
19D1 Define Key Terms | Credit and Borrowing 19L1 Listen & Speak | Bankruptcy 19R1 Read & Write | Costs of Borrowing 19K1 Knowledge Test | Credit Worthiness 19K2 Knowledge Test | Credit Decisions 19K3 Knowledge Test | Credit Report and Score 19K4 Knowledge Test | Alternative Methods of Payment |
| 20. Education and Training |
20D1 Define Key Terms | Education and Training 20K1 Knowledge Test | Paying for a Postsecondary Education 20K2 Knowledge Test | Comparing the Costs of Education |
| 21. Taxes |
21D1 Define Key Terms | Taxes 22D1 Define Key Terms | Managing a Paycheck and Taxes
22K1 Knowledge Test | Analysing a Pay Stub |
| 22. Managing a Paycheck and Taxes |
22D1 Define Key Terms | Managing a Paycheck and Taxes 22K1 Knowledge Test | Analysing a Pay Stub |
|
23. Playing the Simulation
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