Stock Market Challenge

Introduction

Stock Market Challenge is a unique learning resource that uses the experience of live trading to create an exciting and competitive team activity.
This interactive, experiential learning tool assists the development of enterprise education, financial capability, work-related learning and key skills.
The resource fulfils students’ growing expectations of game-based learning and can be used for a range of classroom and whole year group activities.   It is particularly suitable for enterprise education activities across the 14-19 age range.

How the Game Works

Stock Market Challenge brings the unique intensity and excitement of a live trading floor to the classroom.  Imagine your students, working in teams, buying and selling as if they were on the floor of a real stock exchange.

Stock Market Challenge is a competitive, team-based game. Students in teams of 4, trade in nine fictitious companies and the US dollar through a week in the life of a market.

Teams have to analyse information from TV and radio news reports and a daily newspaper, and make their investment decisions accordingly.

As the clock ticks down to the end of the trading day, with prices changing frequently, the pressure is on the players to make the right investment decisions at the right time.

The Game

Each trading day lasts around 20 minutes in real time.  Each day has been set up as a discrete programme so that the game can be run within the timetable, over several lessons and as an off-timetable activity for larger groups.

The trading companies are imaginary, and the news scenario generic, so that the game can be adapted to suit different learning environments. 

There are four roles in the game: Finance Manager, Investment Analyst, Media Analyst and Floor Trader.  Each role requires a different set of skills, making the game ideal for mixed ability groups of students.

The fact that the game is simulated and time-pressured makes the learning experience more effective and enhances the development of skills such as team-working and communication.

Learning Objectives

Stock Market Challenge’s main purpose isn’t to teach students about the stock market, although it can be used as an enjoyable introduction to investment management.

Stock Market Challenge has been designed primarily as a learning gateway.  Its primary application is in the development of four cross-curricular areas: enterprise education, financial capability, work-related learning and the key skills, particularly team-working, problem-solving, communication and IT.

Learning in these areas is often most effective when it is activity-based, which is why experiential learning resources such as Stock Market Challenge are valuable.

Versions of the Game

Two versions of the game are licensed, the Classroom version, ideal for smaller groups, and the Enterprise version, designed for the whole cohort. This gives teachers the flexibility to run the game however they choose.

In the Classroom version, trades are made electronically and in the Enterprise version, the game interface is simplified and trades are made using paper materials provided as PDFs.

Register to run the Stock Market Challenge