Research in Support of Simulation

1. Research in Support of Simulation BY: Peter Knepp and Mike Murphy

2. What is simulation? • A simulation is a form of experential learning. • Simulations are instructional scenarios where the learner is placed in a “world” defined by the teacher. • They represent a reality within which students interact. • The teacher controls the parameters of this “world” and uses it to achieve the desired instructional results. • Simulations are in a way, a lab experiment where the students themselves are the test subjects. They experience the reality of the scenario and gather meaning from it.

3. Advantages • Simulations give students the ability to move around and be actively engaged in lessons. • They encourage transfer and critical thinking rather than rote learning. • They appeal to both visual and kinesthetic learners. • They immediately grab the attention of all the students in the class

4. Disadvantages • Assessment is more complex than some traditional teaching methods • The time needed to set up and complete some simulations can be too much for standard class periods • They have to be age appropriate. Sometimes younger students take simulations in class as a time to misbehave and lose control.

5. Simulation and IPT • Everything students hear or see enters the sensory registers but not everything reaches the memory. • Attention and perception from students is needed to transfer material to short term memory. • Short term memory only holds a limited amount of information. Some information is either deleted or moves into a student’s long term memory.

6. Simulation and IPT • One way to ensure that transfer is made into the long term memory is for students to encode the information and visualize what it is they are learning. • One of the best ways to accomplish this is to have students themselves perform what it is they are trying to learn.

7. Empirical Studies • Enhances students’ understanding, allowing better application and relation of material than in a group not participating in simulation • (Van derMeij, 2011) • Recognizably greater learning demonstrated by those using simulations because of active, rather than passive, learning of skills • (Sitzmann, 2011)

8. Applications in the History Classroom • California Teachers’ Curriculum Institute’s History Alive! Program explores history by having students participate in a press conference as individuals who played pivotal roles in history • (Alvarez, 2008)

9. Applications in the History Classroom • Students admit that they enjoy “being part of history” and that they can “better visualize what things were like”. • New teachers are widely encouraged to use dynamic instructional methods like simulation but it can be difficult to do so because they have had little or no models during their teacher education. • (Maloy, 2010)

10. Some Shortcomings of Simulation • Games and simulations are helpful, addressing several formerly neglected learning styles, but they are not for everyone and they work best when supplemented with peer collaboration and facilitator intervention • (Chatterjee, 2011) • Students who do not yet possess enough knowledge to play their parts well and students who overact can lead to distractions and setbacks. • (Maloy, 2010)

11. The Educational Value of Video Games • In a study at Northern Kentucky University, students simulate developing a civilization, building diplomatic relations, developing trade relations, and establishing military and peace alliances by playing Civilization. • (Weir, 2011)

12. Simulation Activity • The Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British regulars on March 5, 1770. It was the culmination of tensions in the American colonies that had been growing since Royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts. • Imagine you are a citizen of Boston on the night of March 5th, 1770. • You are amongst a crowd of people heckling British Red Coats and throwing whatever you can find at them while shouting insults. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcDoN-KEiKQ&feature=related

13. Simulation Activity • Break into two groups. One group will be defending the British Red Coats, the other group will be defending the Boston citizens. • Hold a mock trial to decide who is actually to blame for the events of that night. • After the trial come together as a class and discuss the event. Talk about John Adams’ involvement in the trial and how the event shaped the American Revolution. • Discuss how this event would be different in modern times with the advancement in instant media and national opinion.

14. Works Cited • Alvarez P (2008). Students Play the Notables: Testing a Simulation Exercise. History Teacher. 41(2), 179-197. • Chatterjee S (2011). Peer Collaboration, Facilitator Intervention, and Learning Styles in Computer Game-Based Learning: Initial Findings From an Empirical Study. Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning. , 683-690. • http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/strats/simul/index.html • Jaeger, A. (2010). American revolution. Retrieved from www.people.westminstercollege.edu/students/amj0312/eportfolio_spring/documents/unit plans/AmericanRevUnitPlan.pdf • Maloy R (2010). Student-Centered Teaching Methods in the History Classroom: Ideas, Issues, and Insights for New Teachers.. Social Studies Research & Practice. 5(3), 46-61. • Sitzmann T (2011). A Meta‐Analytic Examination of the Instructional Effectiveness of Computer‐Based Simulation Games. Personnel Psychology. 64(2), 489-528. • Van derMeij J (2011). The Effects of Directive Self-Explanation Prompts to Support Active Processing of Multiple Representations in a Simulation-Based Learning Environment.. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 27(5), 411-423. • Weir K (2011). Simulating History to Understand International Politics. Simulation & Gaming. 42(4), 441-461.