This article evaluated the impact of a four-lesson science module on the attitudes of secondary school students. This science module (on cancer and modern biotechnology) utilises several design principles, related to a social constructivist perspective on learning. The expectation was that the module would help students become more articulate in…

This paper explores and discusses arguments for the use of virtual environments and interactive avatars in supporting the achievement of student learning goals within conventional educational contexts. It describes and evaluates arguments promoted by some authors (eg, van den Brekel, 2007; Deuchar & Nodder, 2003; Dickey, 2003; Facer, 2004; de…

As it happens in other fields of engineering, blended learning is widely used to teach process control topics. In this paper, the inclusion of a reactive element--a Fuzzy Logic based controller--is proposed for a blended learning approach in an introductory control engineering course. This controller has been designed in order to regulate the…

An interactive simulation program was developed for use in teaching students how to handle public relations problems. The program user is placed in the role of assistant newsletter editor, facing a series of decision-making situations. Each choice the user makes affects the subsequent reality created by the program, which is designed to provide…

OsmoBeaker is a CD-ROM designed to enhance the learning of diffusion and osmosis by presenting interactive experimentation to the student. The software provides several computer simulations that take the student through different scenarios with cells, having different concentrations of solutes in them.

A discussion of how to construct simulation games for all subject areas in a systematic manner. (HB)

Speech delivered at the Conference on Research in Medical Education, 79th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges (Houston, Texas, November 1, 1968).

Georgia Educational Models (GEM) will proceed to utilize computers and simulation to their fullest cost effectiveness potential simultaneously in operation and in research, while avoiding both the restrictions and duplications which come from doctrinaire insistence on maintaining an artificial separation between management and research uses of…

This manual contains 1) a one-page discussion of the development in 1966 of "Policy Negotiation Simulation," a game which simulates the collective bargaining negotiations between school board and teachers' representatives; 2) description of the subsequent use of the Policy Negotiation Simulation as "a simulation for building…

The Director's Manual is an important part of any simulation game. This paper provides an outline that will help the game designer prepare a well-organized and effective manual. Six sections that should be in the manual are discussed: the overview of the game, preparing for the game session, the game session, debriefing the game (the post game…

A simulated planning conference used both informed experts (simulating state planners and societal groups) and "Monte Carlo" procedures (simulating random events) to identify some possible futures for the state of Connecticut and to examine rational planning behavior patterns. In the simulation the participants were divided into two…

There are three essential principles that must be met before an activity can be called a game: (1) competition, (2) abstraction, and (3) power. Elements within the principles are varied to give each game a particular style and value. (Author/STS)

Two approaches are described with their philosophic implications: building a model as preliminary to simulation game design, and discovering a model after the game has been developed. A third alternative presented attempts to span the chasm created by the first two and integrate both design processes. (VT)

Using a single set of resource materials built around a given scenario, a number of simulation projects of different types, designed for teaching a wide range of subjects, can be developed. The Pumped Storage Multi-Project Pack is described. (Author/STS)

Redefines some of the central concepts related to simulation in relation to two perspectives, i.e., representation and reality. Highlights include discussions of systems, models, rules, simulators, simulation, role play, and games. Error consequence and the nature of rules and strategy are discussed to draw distinctions between various concepts.…