Evaluating the Educational Impact of the Game “Kietas riešutas”: A Survey-Based Analysis

The integration of management education with information technology tools, such as simulation games and business analysis platforms, is playing an increasingly important role in developing students’ decision-making skills as well as earn and acquire best business practices. It is particularly useful to test the didactic process effectiveness by the use of simulation game, i.e. to investigate the specificities of the use of the same software by teams from two countries. The analysis of the literature has shown that there are many cases where the same simulation tool is used by educationalists from different countries. The computer business game “Kietas riešutas” has been widely used in Lithuanian universities and colleges. The question naturally arises which aspects of the simulation game are perceived similarly by members of international teams and which are different. A questionnaire for students was developed for this purpose, on the basis of which the study was conducted. An additional questionnaire was used to investigate the relationship between the game and the uptake and usefulness of the game in computer science subjects for decision making. The paper compares the achievements obtained in the game, discusses the results of the simulation of international teams and the rationality of the decisions taken. The study showed that the business game not only helps to understand the purposeful use of information technology, but also motivates people to use it to achieve better game results.