Episode 62 What is a Simulation?

What is a Simulation?

Hi and welcome to Experience Points by University XP. On Experience Points we explore different ways we can learn from games. I’m your host Dave Eng from games-based learning by University XP. Find out more at www.universityxp.com

On today’s episode we’ll answer the question: “What is a Simulation?”

Simulations and games are mediums that players, designers, academics, and professionals often talk about. Some simulations are games like The Sims and Sim City. Whereas other simulations are more serious. Simulations find their way into our daily lives in several ways. But, we can also use them for teaching, training, learning, and development.

But what is a simulation and how are they similar to games? How can we create, use, and adapt simulations from gaming? How can we use simulations for teaching and learning?

This episode will answer the question “what is a simulation?” In addition, the connection between games and simulations will be outlined and discussed. The role that simulations play in teaching and learning will be covered as well as some of the biggest benefits of using simulations for education.

Steps for applying and using simulations for learning will be outlined.  In addition, adapting simulations for an established class or course will also be discussed. This episode ends with some common issues using simulations as well as some of the best outcomes to prioritize when applying simulations for teaching and learning.

Simulations can run the gamut of being either extensively complex or incredible simple. Simulations are often used to represent, or at least replicate, a complex reality. Computer simulations are meant to re-create and replicate this complex reality as an experiment to determine the outcome of some event or activity. But in the end, even the most complex simulations serve as tools for understanding systems and events.

That means that simulations are only re-creations. They are not a reality, but instead encompass both the “magic circle” and the ludolgical agreement of gaming.  Simulations are used as a type of model that often blurs the boundaries between the real and the imagined. Through this process, simulations are representations and creations that correspond to the elements of what it’s trying to represent.

You could call simulations a reflection or image of the system that it’s trying to replicate. Unlike a mirror, simulations have multiple grades of fidelity. There can be very high fidelity simulations like those used for training commercial airline pilots. But, you could also use very rudimentary simulations that represent the action of a simple machine like a lever.

No matter what the application, simulations are meant to create a mental model. This is a representation of a real world activity that we can then change, shape, augment, and experiment with so that we can better process it mentally. Due to this need, simulations can take on many different forms. Simulations can be games that represent reality. We can play with simulations. We can also learn from simulations by playing them like games.

Players and individuals interact with simulations and games in a variety of different contexts. Some of those are through physical, social, or cultural, dimensions. This means that both games and simulations can exist in multiple modalities and through multiple methods. We can play table top games, console games, PC games, and mobile games. The same can be said for simulations. Simulations can be complex like flight simulators or they can be as basic as a role-playing exercise.

Both games and simulations possess the ability to develop cognitive functions through different modalities. This is perhaps where simulations and games promote their greatest strength: engagement. This engagement comes from the interactive nature of both games and simulations. Unlike, narratives and stories, games are meant to be interacted with. Likewise, learners can do the same with simulations in a context and setting of choice by the educator.

Sometimes gaming and simulations diverge from an educational purpose by disconnecting game elements in a serious simulation. That is why educators must be certain to link learning objectives through simulation activities. Thereby reinforcing the proper skills needed to successfully complete the activity. As such, high fidelity simulators are able to re-create real world events in order to prepare their players for those eventualities.

This agency offered to players is something necessary for them to maintain engagement in the simulation through their actions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the practice of player “modding” games in order to interact and experiment with the game world on a deeper level.

Simulations allow students to engage and interact with learning material and scenarios. But, what other aspects of simulations aid in student learning? One of those benefits come with the ability for students to change and manipulate the situation. This agency offered by simulations provides a powerful tool by which students can better understand and create meaning from the connection between concepts.

This is compared to actually engaging in the work that a simulation re-creates. For some purposes this could be cost prohibitive.  For example: actually working on an off-shore oil rig to experience what living there is like. Rather, simulations provide an often more cost effective solution to replicating the same outcomes that would otherwise have been difficult to achieve.

In addition, schools, institutions, colleges, and universities already host and provide opportunities for students to use simulations and games for learning. This ranges in everything from student run clubs to more complex labs and other facilities.

Teachers, professors, and instructors are the ones in charge of using simulations for teaching and learning. They do so in order to provide students with those interesting choices and the ability for them to engage in the content and the work. Likewise, corporate training and education programs can capitalize on users’ abilities to make decisions for both training and assessment of performance.

This has great outcomes for industries as those who are trained using simulations also perform better on subsequent simulated tests and tasks. Though, the use and wider application of simulations for teaching and learning expand for more than just replicating a real-world scenario. Rather, a simulation includes and addresses other factors of student development including physical, cultural, and social dimensions.

The wide variety of ways that simulations address these different dimensions only add to the benefits of using simulations in teaching and learning.

In general, simulations are often cheaper to run and implement than their real life counterparts. This is perhaps most evident in flight simulators used to train pilots as the cost for one simulator is more efficient than using and servicing several planes over the course of their lifespan.

In addition, simulations also remove the elements of risk from the situation. This applies to flight simulators as well as other simulators that re-create what it’s like to interact with potentially dangerous animals or play with the investments of billions of dollars. Because simulations are re-creations of real life elements, they can also be paused when real life cannot. This provides instructors with the ability to review, assess, and debrief actions as they occur in the environment.

This feeds into the ability for simulations to be a hands-on activity where students need to take an active and exploratory role in learning rather than just passive observers and listeners.  Thus, students are able to develop a deeper interest in the subject matter rather than consuming information as declarative knowledge. Instead, they engage in an active process of creating knowledge through their involvement.

More in-depth simulations are also tailored for students the same way that a game’s engagement curve reacts to players’ competencies and abilities. However, simulations can be controlled by an instructor to address the needs of one student as well as the outcomes of the entire class.

Simulations also empower students to take on responsible roles through their involvement.  Through their engagement, play, and experimentation in the simulation they find ways to succeed and develop problem solving competencies.

When using simulations for teaching and learning, it’s important to note that most of the structure and engagement of simulations is based on the decisions and agency of the learner. This is compared to traditional forms of education where the pace is dictated by the educator. This means that most educators need to give up total control of how content will be covered and experienced when using simulations for teaching.

However, simulations are an incredibly flexible teaching approach that can be used for almost any discipline. This flexibility does have a downside as simulations could be difficult to use in practice because they are so malleable.

That means that simulations success or failure stems from how the educator chooses to use and implement it in practice. Simulations can be used for teaching and learning; but they can also be used as a measurement or assessment tool that is linked to targeted competencies, learning outcomes, or specific and measurable objectives.

This is due to the fact that simulations create scenario based environments where students and users interact and apply previously learned knowledge and experiment with the outcomes and results. Such experimentation forms the basis from which student learning occurs. In simulations, students aren’t given knowledge. Instead, they form their own knowledge experientially through engagement with the simulation.

This is most evident in medical simulations. Here, the simulation accurately and thoroughly re-creates situations and scenarios where medical students need to apply and implement concepts in practice.  Like other instructional and game design choices: a simulation is a tool.  The tool’s application and intended outcomes is what dictates the success or failure of the simulation for students.

Using simulations for teaching and learning is like using any other tool to aid students to achieve understanding and mastery. However, unlike other options, simulations are not a fixed experience. Rather, students must continue to engage and “play” with them in order to receive feedback. Such feedback forms the basis of knowledge creation and mastery.

This knowledge creation is part of the engagement process of simulations. When students and users engage in the simulation they are performing multiple activities.

Some of those activities include gathering data, modeling a scenario, sharing with other classmates or teammates, and creating socialized knowledge construction. In turn, students can be evaluated based on these activities as they relate to the course outcomes and goal. This is when instructors can use simulations as an assessment to determine if students are making good progress towards those goals.

Instructors using simulations must prepare in advance for how they intend to use it; how it’ll be evaluated; and how it fits into the overall structure of students’ learning.  Simulations are powerful tools. That means that they should be used for students to gain factual knowledge, but also a deeper understanding of the content as a whole.

Perhaps the most critical role that instructors have to play in creating and using simulations is forming the connections between the students, the content, and their own teaching practice. Instructors serve as the “guides” in the learning experience. Particularly as it relates to knowledge construction in debriefing activities and determining how connections are made between the experience of the simulation and the learning goals of the class.

This period of reflection should be included as part of the assessment to determine students’ mastery of material and how they have interpreted and “made meaning” from the experience. This post-simulation discussion serves as a critical time for students to reflect on the results of the experience as well as to process the steps leading them to their current state.

Finally, instructors should continue to monitor students closely as they engage and interact with a simulation. Remember: the simulation’s main purpose is to aid students in reaching the class’s learning outcomes. Carefully monitoring the simulations, and tailoring aspects to reach these outcomes, is in the instructor’s best interests.

However, instructors may see simulations as something they can add to a course they are already teaching.  Instructors for these established courses should look to simulations as a way for them to augment what they are already doing.

When considering simulations for established courses, instructors should determine when and where, in their course sequences and curriculum, the simulation should take place. It doesn’t do any good to include a simulation for a course that includes concepts that haven’t been covered by other material yet.

Another concept to consider is where students can benefit from experiencing the simulation. For instance: where is it best for students to explore a concept, apply a theory, or experiment within the controlled environment? In addition, instructors should determine if the simulation is something that should take place in real time, over the course of a single session, or over a longer period of time and across several different sessions.

One of the biggest considerations for instructors to make is to determine the investment into the simulation. Will it take away significant time, energy, and resources, to implement, run, and assess? If so, is it worth it to include a simulation for teaching and learning? Finally, instructors need to turn to their students to determine if they are ready for an application as engaging and demanding as a simulation. If so, how should the students prepare to experience this activity?

No matter how you choose to use simulations for teaching and learning, there will inherently be some drawbacks and other considerations for their use.  One of them is the amount of time and resources needed to create, develop, and test them. This could be a worthy pursuit when simulations are used for assessment of learning. However, simulations aren’t the simplest forms of verifying that students have achieved the goals that you’ve set for them.

Some simulations are so well done, engaging, and applicable that students can become lost in the activity. This is particularly relevant when it comes to games-based learning and students’ involvement in the games related aspect of the class. The game or simulation could become so engaging that students forget about the educational purpose of the activity and concentrate on just the game. This is particularly relevant for any simulations or games that involve competition: as the competition could come to replace learning as the dominant outcome of the activity.

Comparatively, instructors could see simulations as the only way to engage with their students. Because of this, the lack of simulation use might be a missing element in the engagement plan for their course.  Lastly, the nature of simulations and their connection to games means that there is a danger that the subject matter might be treated too lightly, thus trivializing what could be incredibly important concepts. This could include anything including sensitive and traumatizing historical events.

Simulations can be really applicable and helpful tools for teaching and learning. That is revealed in much of the outcomes for using simulations for this purpose. Simulations allow students to assume the roles of other people in other situations in order to gain deeper insight into their experiences.

However, using simulations on their own, without considering how it is used as an educational tool could be a shortcoming. This is because without adequate time spent to discuss and review the outcomes and process of learning through simulations; instructors run the risk of oversimplifying larger concepts through this approach.

Instead, instructors should focus on the process through which students use simulations in the development of skills that they apply outside of the classroom. This is where simulations really excel. They can be used to challenge and engage the learner in their desire to explore more based on the content included in the simulation.

At its basic level, simulations also provide an opportunity for knowledge acquisition of declarative - factual - knowledge about the content provided by the instructor. This is an under utilization of simulations as a whole, but can often serve as a way to introduce the student to content and concepts before exploring a more experiential path.

In addition, simulations provide students with avenues and outlets for practicing skills not directly tied to the content being provided. These involve interpersonal communication, decision making, collaboration, and project management.

Overall, simulations are meant to provide a method for encouraging and developing an active feedback loop of engagement with students. This is a key aspect of games-based learning where students are provided the agency to accomplish objectives on their own terms. This agency and freedom to make decisions and benefit from the successes - and consequences - of those decisions are what make games - and simulations - effective tools for student engagement.

This episode addressed and answered the question “what is a simulation?’ In addition, the connection between playing games and simulations were outlined and discussed. The role that simulations play in teaching and learning were covered in addition to some of the biggest benefits afforded to simulations for education. Steps were included on applying and using simulations for learning in both new and established courses. This episode ended with some common issues using simulations as well as some of the best outcomes to prioritize when using simulations for teaching and learning.

I hope you found this episode useful. If you’d like to learn more, then a great place to start is with my free course on gamification. You can sign up for it at www.universityxp.com/gamification You can also get a full transcript of this episode including links to references in the description or show notes. Thanks for joining me!

Again, I’m your host Dave Eng from games-based learning by University XP. On Experience Points we explore different ways we can learn from games. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing.

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