The number of games, simulations, and multi-user virtual environments designed to promote learning, engagement with subject matter, or intended to contextualize learning has been steadily increasing over the past decade. While the use of these digital designs in educational settings has begun to show promise for improving learning, motivation, and…

This book is provided as a guide, encouragement and handbook for faculty to introduce digital media in language they can understand and provide strategies and activities they can quickly assimilate into their teaching. The authors are excited that more people will be able to benefit from the powerful help and guidance contained in this book. This…

Through repeated practice under conditions similar to those in real-world settings, simulator training prepares an individual to maintain effective performance under stressful work conditions. Interfaces offering high fidelity and immersion can more closely reproduce real-world experiences and are generally believed to result in better learning…

A report on the findings of an evaluation of the use of computer simulation packages in secondary schools. (Author)

Covering instructional simulation systems, this bibliography attempts to list the latest available references, and includes references not only to simulation but to other pertinent topics (such as instructional systems design, computer-assisted instruction, and programed instruction) that might help the reader design his own simulation system. The…

Experiments focused on (a) how a subject directs his attention and explores the problem environment created by the task to be learned, and (b) how the subject's learning process can be facilitated by CAI systems. In all experiments, the subject interacted with an automaton responsible for controlling the experimental environment. The automaton was…

This paper discusses some of the problems of evaluating educational games and simulations, and illustrates them with examples taken from the author's experiences with an economic policy game. (VT)

Describes the development of two interactive computer simulations which were fully integrated with other course materials. The simulations illustrate the effects of various real and monetary "demand shocks" on aggregate income, interest rates, and components of spending and economic output. Includes an evaluation of the simulations'…

Reviews "The U.S. Constitution Then and Now," a two-unit program using the integrated database and word processing capabilities of AppleWorks. For grades 7-12, the units simulate the constitutional convention and the principles of free speech and privacy. Concludes that with adequate time, the program can provide a potentially powerful…

Results of the two surveys (combined n = 145) show that historians are using computers for word processing, research, and teaching support. Only a third of the respondents indicated they were using computers in the classroom, however. The most frequently reported classroom uses were student projects, simulations, and tutorials. (JDH)

By using CITY MODEL, a computer simulation of an urban environment, an undergraduate class can study, simultaneously, aspects of the urban system itself, the art of computer simulation, and the very general problem of "modeling" social systems. (Authors/JA)

Reports results of a controlled experiment to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of a learning process that takes place in a dynamic computer-based simulation, done with and without recording and accessing the history of the learning process. Discusses findings with respect to the self-learning process and using simulators in electronic…

System Dynamics is a well formulated methodology for analyzing the components of a system including causeeffect relationships and their underlying mathematics and logic, time delays, and feedback loops. It began in the business and manufacturing world, but is now affecting education and many other disciplines. Having inspired by successful policy…