Peer Review

Inn or Out - Yield Management Simulation | Centre for Teaching Excellence

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Oct 31, 2023 by Business

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

The Inn or Out Yield Management Simulator is a game which teaches yield management. Students assume the role of a hotel manager in charge of room bookings and check-in. Throughout the game, students will be prompted with guests with various profiles and the amount they will be willing to pay. Students will then have to decide whether to accept or reject the booking. At the end of the game, students will be rewarded for efficiently utilizing the allocated room and penalized for overbooking and empty rooms.

The app is in project stage. In order to gain access to the app, an email must be sent to cte@smu.edu.sg.

Type of Material:

Simulation

Recommended Uses:

individual game, in-class practice exercise

Technical Requirements:

Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome

Identify Major Learning Goals:

Learners will practice pricing hotel rooms in a way that maximizes revenue while considering factors such as occupancy levels and advance bookings.
Students will efficiently utilize the allocated room without overbooking and or leaving empty rooms.

Target Student Population:

Students in business, management, organizational behavior and development upper divison college and graduate school courses would be interested in the learning material.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

introductory economics and finance courses

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The game is a clear demonstration of yield management.
There is an explanation at the end of the game of the outcomes which resulted because of the choices that students made throughout the game.

Concerns:

The game is not supported by research and requires instructor-provided inputs.
An explanation of yield management is needed before playing in order to place the game into context.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The relationship between traveler booking behavior, occupancy and rate is demonstrated. It is a scenario-based game so a lot can be learned in a short time by studying the outcomes of the choices that students make.
The game can be used to measure student performance.
The teaching-learning goals and consequent uses are easy to identify via this simulation game;
This simulation game approach increases the potential for student learning and promotes conceptual understanding.

Concerns:

Monitoring of learning progress and pitfalls are unclear
Too performance-oriented, i.e. learning is lost in 'work'
Pre-requisite knowledge is not identified.
Concepts are not progressively reinforced.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

Clear and accurate instructions for use.
The simulation game site has a clear and consistent layout and appears easy to navigate.
The game is engaging, interactive, and visually appealing.

Concerns:

Not able to assess if the game meets accessibility requirements, if the app can be used on multiple types of mobile devices and platforms, or if the app runs effectively without the internet.
Need to test run the simulation game to ensure it is in working order

Other Issues and Comments:

COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:

In response to the comments above about Content Quality and Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool, the instructor briefs the students on the methodologies involved prior to playing the game in class. After the game, a review of the concepts are also covered in a classroom debrief. Please see the Powerpoint presentation attached in the main material page that could be served as supplementary materials to support these concerns.

Regarding accessibility as brought up in Ease of Use section, the app requires an internet connection as students would need to play it in real-time, with the instructors monitoring these overall results. As such, an offline version of the game would not be feasible.

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