Using login data to monitor student involvement in a business simulation game

•I tested the relationships between two types of student login data and student involvement.•Student login consistency and frequency were positively correlated with student involvement.•Student login consistency was a stronger correlate of student involvement.

While student involvement in business simulation games is critical to student learning and performance in the games, monitoring student involvement levels in the simulation activities remains a challenge for those who teach strategic management with the games. This study examined and tested whether student login frequency and consistency might serve as valid proxy measures of student involvement in the game activities, using data collected from 219 undergraduate business students who had participated in a business simulation game (Capstone). It was found that student login consistency had a stronger relationship with student involvement than student login frequency did, thereby representing a better measure of student involvement in the games. Research and pedagogical implications from these findings are discussed.