15 minutes – Warm-up & Concept Framing
Mini-lecture, demo, or case study connecting the week's SIMbook/Project to business use.
E.g., “Today we’ll look at how Excel functions help businesses plan a product launch.”
20 minutes – Active Application
Group activity or hands-on challenge using the concepts from SIMnet.
Examples:
Excel Challenge: Budget for a fictional startup and find errors.
Word Design Sprint: Redesign a resume with formatting and graphics.
Access Puzzle: Match tables to queries for a retail inventory system
10 minutes – Peer Collaboration or Learning Assistant Lead
Your Learning Assistant can run peer-help or pair work time while you circulate.
Use Poll Everywhere, Kahoot, or sticky notes for quick checks of understanding.
5 minutes – Reflect + Prepare
Quick discussion or form: What did you learn? What still confuses you?
Highlight what to focus on before next week’s assignment.
Student Success Tips
“Tool in Action” Showcases
Local professionals (via video or in-person) briefly showing how they use Excel, Access, etc.
"Business Problem of the Week"
Realistic challenges that students solve using software tools, connected to different majors.
Template Hack Sessions
How to modify business templates (e.g., invoices, flyers, databases) for specific industries.
Design Your Dream Job Toolkit
Build a portfolio of tools relevant to a field students care about (e.g., Excel model for marketing analysis, Word doc for internal comms, Access DB for operations).
Mini “Tech & Ethics” Debates
Once a month, use discussion time (AI, privacy, surveillance) to host a quick think-pair-share or debate.