Listed below are the top-10 reasons why MARS Simulations provide an exceptional classroom experience for both professor and student. In spite of the pedagogical benefits that simulations provide, there has been a historical reluctance to use simulations because of the concomitant installation and compatibility issues as well as the administrative burden they required. Those roadblocks are a thing of the past. Using a MARS Simulation is likely to be the easiest, least time-consuming major pedagogical tool you will ever use.
Top Ten Reasons For Exceptional Class Experience
10. World-Class Customer Support: Adopters of MARS Simulations receive unparalleled customer support. The author of the simulation and other members of the MARS team are available to answer questions and help users become comfortable with the simulation and its classroom use. When you adopt, you become part of the MARS family. There is no publisher in America that provides the level of customer care that you will experience with MARS Simulations.
9. Convenient Access: MARS Simulations are Internet-based, making them among the easiest simulations to access on the market. There are no simulation installation or maintenance requirements. All that our simulations require is Internet access, an Internet browser, and a password. Faculty passwords are available upon email request to Dr. Robert W. Cook at robert.cook@shootformars.com.
8. Extremely Low Administrative Time Requirements: Unlike many other simulations on the market, all that is required to run a MARS Simulation decision period is a single click of the "Run Simulation" button. Students input their own decisions and obtain their results over the Internet. There are no data transfer issues. Professorial time to run a simulation decision period is literally, just seconds.
7. Ease of Professorial Use: MARS Simulations are extremely easy to use. They require no expertise in computers or the Internet to implement in class. Professors, who have never used a simulation before, find the learning curve for administering MARS simulations to be practically nonexistent.
6. Ease of Student Use: Students input their decisions directly into a decision form and obtain their results over the Internet. Movement around their reports and forms is very intuitive. Students appreciate how easy it is to interact with the MARS simulations.
5. Time and Location Flexibility: Students and professors can interact with a MARS Simulation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from any location on earth where there is Internet access. Students can make decisions in the classroom, computer lab, dormitory, apartment, at home, or wherever it suits them. Professors can run the simulation from the classroom, office, home, or even from their hotel room while out of town attending a conference. This aspect makes MARS simulations particularly suitable for distance learning courses - even across time zones.
4. Class Size Flexibility. Because of the ease of administration, it is as easy to run multiple simulations as it is to run one. From mass sections to small seminars, MARS simulations can be easily adapted to fit any class size. Where multiple concurrent simulations are required to accommodate large classes, they can be grouped and run simultaneously with a single mouse click.
3. No Equipment Compatibility or Operating System Problems: Because our simulations reside on a server on the Internet, adopters of MARS simulations are relieved of dealing with equipment or operating system compatibility issues. The simulation is never out of sync with school or student equipment. Computer technical issues are virtually nonexistent.
2. Reliability: While no Internet service provider is up 100% of the time, our service provider was selected based on a record of outstanding service availability. Our simulations are available over 99% of the time. That availability is in the top-tier of industry performance.
1. World-Class Product: We have put a great deal of thought, and care, into the creation of our simulations. They benefit from 30 years teaching experience with the use of academic simulations in the classroom. From mainframe-based, to microcomputer-based, to Internet- based, we have experienced the evolution of business simulation games. That vast experience has resulted in the creation of world-class simulations that you can depend on to meet the educational needs of both student and professor!