Strengthening study skills by using ERPsim as a new tool within the Pupils' academy of serious gaming

Companies are currently calling for more and more graduates with good management and planning skills. But, studies show that rising student numbers lead to a high dropout rate. Thus, strengthening the study skills of the students plays a key role in reducing this dropout rate and should be a key objective of every education system. In particular, universities have the power to improve the study skills of pupils at an early stage through the designed programs and measures. With the Pupils' Academy Serious Gaming, the Department of Computer Science at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has introduced an instrument to promote the study skills. This initiative aimed primarily at pupils of upper vocational schools (UVS). In addition to the study skills, thus the ability of more application-oriented knowledge transfer objectives and playful introduction to an important enterprise software can be achieved. This paper presents the Pupils' Academy based on the online SAP ERP Simulation Game ERPsim as an example of how the enterprise software SAP ERP is successfully applied to strengthen study skills. In addition, the pupils learn how to deal with the SAP platform and train skills like decision making, analysis, strategy development, data processing and presentation. The positive impact on study skills is evidenced with the help of a self-assessment by means of an IT-based survey carried out by the participating students. These examinations include the activities related to the two study skills time management and teamwork.