The Effects Of The Stock Market Gameâ© Simulation And Curriculum On The Financial Literacy Of High School Students

Abstract

The focus of this quantitative study was to measure the impact of the Stock Market Game© (SMG©) curriculum and simulation of the financially literacy of high school students. While previous research suggests that students who participate in a stock market simulation improve financial literacy, no previous study measured the impact of the accompanying stock market curriculum independently from the simulation. In this study, 73 students from a suburban high school in Georgia were randomly placed in either a curriculum only group or a curriculum plus simulation group. Students in the curriculum only group were taught the 24 Learning from the Market lessons of the SMG© curriculum, but they did not participate in the SMG© simulation. Students in the curriculum plus simulation group were taught the 24 Learning from the Market lessons, and they participated in a 10-week SMG© simulation. Both groups completed the Jump$tart Survey of Financial Literacy for High School Seniors pretest and posttest. The results of the groups were analyzed using an ANCOVA. The main finding of the study was that exposure to the SMG© curriculum and SMG© simulation game was associated with improvements in financial literacy, although, it was observed that neither of these groups had significantly greater improvement than did the other. The curriculum was roughly equal in effect to the combination of the curriculum and the simulation. Research recommendations included utilizing mediation and moderation models that include instruments to measure associated psychological constructs. Recommendations for practice included use of the SMG© curriculum and simulation because race, gender, socioeconomic status, job experience, or prior academic experience of the students had no bearing on the results; therefore, their use is appropriate to increase financial literacy of all students.