“The interesting aspect of the Ametros simulations is that they are so immersive. The simulations immerse students in environments where they feel as though they are working at a real organization and that there are real consequences for their actions.”
Duncan Koerber, Assistant Professor, Brock University
Tell us about yourself and your background.
My name is Duncan Koerber. I am an Assistant Professor at Brock University in the Communication, Popular Culture, and Film department. I have been teaching communication and writing courses to thousands of university students in Canada for over 14 years now. Prior to this, I worked for nearly 10 years in reporting and editing roles for the London Free Press, the Mississauga News, and the University of Toronto Medium.
My research areas are Crisis Communication theory, writing pedagogy, and media and journalism history. University of Toronto Press published my book, Crisis Communication in Canada, in 2017. Currently I am working on another book for UTP about the social media crisis.
Tell us about the course you taught and the Ametros experience you used?
I have used the Ametros simulation in two of my courses. The first year course is called Introduction to Communication in business. In this introductory course, students learn the theory of business communication, and they also get a taste of marketing, public relations and other topics as well. Typically, this course includes a lot of traditional assignments like creating business documents. However, I also included the Ametros Business Communication and Persuasion simulations, to provide students with hands-on experience.
Crisis Communication is the other course I teach in the fourth year. This course also has the regular quizzes, reports, and presentations. However, I have included the Ametros Crisis Communication simulation, where students experience the challenges inherent to working through a crisis. These simulations provide students the chance to put what they are learning in class into practice.
Did you receive any feedback from your students that you are able to share with us?
At the end of each course, students write anonymous evaluations of the course. The simulation has consistently received favorable feedback from both first-year students and the fourth-year students, making it one of the course’s highlights. The majority of students feel that the simulations are so unique unlike a typical assignment. Additionally, they mention how memorable the simulation was and how it gave them the chance to put what they had learned in the course into practice.
What teaching tips would you share with other instructors?
Try to incorporate a simulation somewhere in your course. It excites the students and gets them working more actively by changing the routine of the course a bit. The interesting aspect of simulations is that they are so immersive. I have had students who were worried about their artificial intelligence boss or manager giving them negative feedback which shows that the simulations immerse students in environments where they feel as though they are working at a real organization and that there are real consequences for their actions. Adding an experiential layer to the course will definitely improve the effectiveness of a student’s learning process.