VCommerce

Participants

• CSDL: Mette Moffett
• Affiliates: University of Hawaii Connections Program, Michigan State University
  

Problem

In the modern internet economy,  entreprenurial skills are increasingly important for professional success and advancement. Traditional computer science curriculums do not provide students with a chance to experience entrepreneurial business development and to determine if this is an appropriate professional path for them to follow.

VCommerce research investigates how to design and evaluate an ecommerce simulation environment in order to better understand the process of teaching high tech entrepreneurship.

VCommerce was designed and implemented during Spring semester, 2000, and used in a graduate classroom setting consisting of approximately 50 students from both computer science and business school backgrounds. The students split into small teams and developed business plans and web sites, which were then visited by over 100 consumers. The consumers spent virtual dollars to buy goods and services, then invested virtually in the companies they believed to be the strongest. Results from this research indicate that both students in the classroom and visitors to the site learned about entrepreneurship and had a very positive impression of the experience.

VCommerce has been used in business school classes at Michigan State University.

Software

Publications

Status

Keywords