Discusses the "Exercise in Hard Choices," a simulation published by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), that requires students to make decisions on some of the most significant and controversial budget options facing the U.S. Congress and president. Reports on the simulation's classroom success, stating that it…

A classroom exercise is described that simulates the everyday interactions within a French apartment house. The cultural, linguistic, and affective benefits of the activity are discussed. (MSE)

Classroom simulation of a hotel is proposed as a motivating method for functional language learning. Related activities and exercises are outlined. (MSE)

Describes a class activity demonstrating the reality of revolution to introductory political science students. Student "plants" rebel against a teacher's "injustice," overthrow the teacher when he calls on a higher authority, and mobilize the class to sign a petition. Follow-up discussion covers elements required for revolution. (LS)

Presents a world climate simulation game in which students demonstrate knowledge of the Koppen System of Climate Classification, ability to read and interpret a climograph, and ability to locate places by means of longitude and latitude coordinates in an effort to locate a ring of spies who have planted a bomb in an unidentified city. Clues and…

Focuses upon classroom presentation of issues related to the Fourth Amendment of U.S. Constitution. Presents a description of a drug test case simulation (D. Hess); a case involving drug testing in the public sector which is to be heard by the Supreme Court (L. Mandell); and other teaching strategies (D. Hess). Provides a guide for finding Supreme…

Hearing-impaired high school students created a simulated world where sign language was the dominant mode of communication, and role-played such careers as doctors, bankers, and police officers. Hearing students were invited to visit this simulated world and found how inaccessible various facilities and services were to people without sign…

The stability of psychometric "g," the general factor of intelligence, is investigated in simulated correlation matrices and in typical empirical data from a large battery of mental tests. "G" is robust and almost invariant across methods of analysis. A reasonable strategy for estimating "g" is suggested. (SLD)

A dynamic simulation model, using census data, was used to examine child health policy initiatives for the prevention of mental retardation. Results suggested that reducing the proportion of children living in poverty would be more effective in reducing the incidence of mental retardation than medical interventions to improve outcomes for low…

The power of the nonparametric person-fit statistic, U3, is investigated through simulations as a function of item characteristics, test characteristics, person characteristics, and the group to which examinees belong. Results suggest conditions under which relatively short tests can be used for person-fit analysis. (SLD)

Discusses the design and use of simulations and games in education based on personal experiences over a period of 20 years and offers insights relating to design techniques, participant reactions, alternative approaches to learning, the impact of experiential approaches, the importance of debriefing, cross-cultural communication, and therapeutic…

Several models of information integration are developed and analyzed in the context of a prototypical pattern-recognition task. Evaluation, integration, and decision-making processes are specified for each. Simulations and predictions are carried out to provide a measure of identifiability or extent to which they can be distinguished from one…

Describes a simulation exercise designed to help students understand the objections of U.S. colonists to the Stamp Act and other taxes. Includes a sample handout, instructions for the teacher in carrying out the simulation, and questions to compare students' and colonists' about feelings being assessed fees unfairly. (DK)

The Game of Institutional Long-Term Care helps health care students learn to solve patient-management problems in nursing homes by (1) teaching problem solving and identification of goals and motivations of decision makers; (2) teaching negotiation, compromise, and cooperation; and (3) exposing students to the feelings and frustrations involved in…

Discusses ways to simulate a probability problem of interest to middle school students in which students calculate the average number of packets of trading cards purchased to obtain a complete set of cards. Simulations utilize a spinner, a table of random numbers, and a computer. Includes the BASIC program utilized in the simulation. (MDH)