ICONS Project & Creating Simulations for Classroom Use

1. ICONS Project & Creating Simulations for Classroom Use Beth Blake and Kathie Young Institute for Instructional Technology University of Maryland June 24, 2004

2. Overview • What are simulations? • The ICONS example • Using simulations to achieve educational goals • Simulation design criteria • ICONS Simulation Builder

3. What is a simulation? • Active and experiential learning tool • Laboratory allowing students to test and apply textbook theories • Students assigned roles and expected to achieve goals in the face of obstacles • Outcome dependent upon interaction of players

4. Advantages of Simulations • Allow students to use and develop different skills than in a traditional classroom • Engage students with different learning styles • Encourage critical thinking among students • Give added motivation and urgency to learning process • Are often considered fun

5. Disadvantages • Can be time-consuming, both for instructors and students • Require cooperation from students • May generate unpredictable outcomes

6. Goal of ICONS Simulations To enhance students’ understanding of the nature and dynamics of political processes and how decisions are made in the international and domestic political arenas

7. ICONS Background • ICONS has been conducting university and high school level international relations simulations since the 1980s. • Students in ICONS simulations take on the role of international diplomats and work to achieve multilateral agreements that address the interests of the country they represent. • ICONS participants are spread throughout the U.S. and around the world, and interact through ICONSnet, our web-delivered simulation application.

8. ICONSnet • Allows for • Intra-team messaging • Cross-team messaging • Proposal/agreement drafting and amending • Voting • Submitting private progress reports to a simulation monitor • Web-accessible

9. Online Simulations • Facilitates inclusion of a more diverse and dispersed collection of students • Expands the amount of time students can dedicate to the exercise • Encourages more exchanges and more nuanced discussions among participants • Empowers less vocal students • Challenges students’ writing skills • Provides teachers and students with a full transcript of the negotiations

10. Educational Outcomes Student participation leads to: • More realistic view of the workings of the international system • Enhanced awareness of the range of interests, concerns, and capabilities of countries within the international system • Greater sensitivity to cultural differences • Increased appreciation for connections among international issues

11. New ICONS Simulations • International Whaling Commission—negotiation • U.S. Senate—legislative processes • India/Pakistan Nuclear Confrontation—decision-making in a crisis • Nigerian Oil—globalization • Sudan—ethical decision-making • “Stealth Tank”—bureaucratic politics • Genetically Modified Organisms—role of science in policy decisions

12. Simulation Stages • Preparation—Introduction to the topic and any necessary research or familiarization with simulation materials • Interaction—The period of “game play” during which participants communicate and attempt to meet their goals • Debriefing—Guided reflection time after the interaction stage is over

13. Sim Design: Goals • Educational purpose • What are you trying to teach? • Why is a simulation a good way to do it? • Content vs. process • Role of research (i.e., degree of learning in the preparatory phase)

14. Sim Design: Structure • Real or fictional case • Level of complexity • Participants • Individual actors • Team actors • Decision-making process • Inter-team: Simulation closure? • Intra-team: Democratic or hierarchical?

15. Sim Design: Structure • Actions and the negotiation environment • Static environment (e.g., U.S. Senate) • Changeable environment (e.g., crisis) • Nature of outcomes • How does a simulation end? Can an actor end a simulation unilaterally? • What kinds of agreements can participants reach?

16. Sim Design: Structure • Constraints on participants • Limited resources • Priority rankings • Utility points

17. Sim Design: Limitations • Time • Technology

18. Simulation Builder • A tool to guide simulation developers through the design process • Serves to organize the many components required of a simulation • Simulations may be run face-to-face or on-line using ICONSnet. • Available free of charge at http://www.icons.umd.edu/simbuilder/

19. Evaluation Methods • Debriefing • Peer review • Journal/portfolio • Reflection paper • On participation • On outcome • On process • On connection to other class materials

20. For More Information bblake@umd.edu kyoung@gvpt.umd.edu icons@gvpt.umd.edu www.icons.umd.edu 301-405-4172