Teaching discrete event simulation to business students: The alpha and omega

Managers of businesses worldwide are only beginning to realize the economic and improved decision-making value of discrete-event simulation. In order to accelerate the rate at which business managers employ simulation, such a course needs to be taught to more business students than is currently being done. This, in turn, implies the need for an improvement in the teaching of simulation to beginners, so that these fledglings will encourage fellow students to take a course in simulation because it provides business value, practicality, and promotes the idea that simulation is fun. The manner in which simulation is introduced during the first week of class as well as how the course is summed up during the last week of class are, perhaps, the most critical points in student learning. This paper, therefore, focuses on activities that the author uses during the first and last weeks of his simulation courses for business students.