Sim Games & Apps 101

Sim Games & Apps Do you ever use games to encourage your students to participate? Do you have content that is difficult to simulate in class? Do you have scenarios that are unsafe to replicate in classroom? Do you have shy students who are more comfortable role-playing through a character or avatar? Have you ever considered sim games or apps?

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Sim games evolved out of traditional role plays, dramatizations, and even board games.

When a real-life scenario is too dangerous or too impractical, simulation (sim) games are a great way to explore risks in a safer environment. Sim games have a long history in aeronautical and military training. Students can play online games, then come to class to debrief. Alternatively, students can play real games in class, then debrief through online assignments based on the experiences of the game.

Variations None.

Examples Use your imagination. What kinds of games could your students play? What would be an appropriate game for your students? Only you know what would be authentic to your field of study, your curriculum, and your students. To get started, consider these ideas: Visual Arts •Colour mixing •Museum mystery •Art curation •Musical notation Health & Community Studies •Conflict dynamics •Pharmacy prescriptions •Forensic investigation •Emergency response Science & Technology •City planning •Environmental control •Natural disasters •Manufacturing management Business Administration •Monopoly •Stock market •Supply chain •Venture capital 76

Humanities & Social Sciences •Scrabble •Sudoku •Archaeology dig •Mythology heroes

Merits Not only are games interactive and fun, but they also reinforce learning. Games provide a safe and timely environment to take risks. Although students may initially experience failure at a level in a game, through trial and error - a kind of scientific inquiry - they use skills of critical thinking and creativity. Students may collaborate with other gamers or even researchers to solve problems. Gamers possess many job ready desired skills.

Safe. There are risks in real life that we cannot safely replicate in the classroom. As we play a game, we may encounter these risks, and we may fail. However, we do not suffer the consequences. In addition, shy students can play sheltered behind their avatar as they build confidence in their skills. Finally, gaming is fun which reinforces the emotional pleasure needed to enhance the learning environment (Jensen, 2005).

Timely. A sim game allows you to see the results of a choice even decades later.

Obviously, we would not be able to experience the long term results of real life actions within the span of an academic program. For example, in a scenario about global warming, city planning, natural disasters, and financial investments, we would need several years to see the long term impact. Further, the game gives the student immediate feedback on the consequences of their actions - pass or fail. This enhances the cycle of learning as students can reflect and retry until they master the game.

Reflection on Failure. Sim games provide a safe place to fail. Often times in a game, we do fail at a particular level. We reflect on what went wrong - “a kind of reverse projection or reflecting backwards” (Thomas & Brown, 2007). In this reflection, we imagine all the possibilities to master the challenge of the game. Through trial and error, we eventually do master the level and move forward in the game (Thomas & Brown, 2007).

Reinforces Learning. Worldwide, we spend 16 billion on games. Even though we fail at games 80% of the time, we keep playing until we reach our goal. Gaming re-enforces risktaking, problem-solving, and persistence (Overeem, 2014). Disciplinary knowledge construction (Foster, 2011; Prinsen & Overton, 2011), abstract concepts (Fisher, 2008), 77

critical thinking (Chow, Woodward, & Maes, 2010), empathy (Douglass, Henry, & Kostiwa, 2008), and engagement (Auman, 2011) all go up with sim games. Loyalist College saw an increase in student grade point average (GPA) with the use of a customs border simulation (Hudson & Degast-Kennedy, 2009).

Loyalist College

Border Patrol Sim

Interactive. Rather than sitting passively taking notes from lectures about real-world scenarios, students get to be active in a simulated experience. Students make choices and apply their content knowledge and experience. They role-play characters and situations from various perspectives.

Job Readiness. According to Brown and Thomas, the attributes gamers are ideal for the workplace. Gamers welcome assessment and review in order to improve. They value diverse teammates and contribute to the group as a whole. Not only do they “thrive on change” but they rise to the challenge to meet changing environments. Those who play sim games enjoy and seek creative solutions (2008).

Scientific Inquiry. Gamers use a kind of informal scientific method to analyze games.

They hypothesize a solution to a challenge in the game. Then, they generate predictions and even models. Finally, they test their theories, gather observations, and refine their strategy (Steinkuehler & Duncan, 2008; Thompson, 2008). While gamers may believe that they are simply “‘cheat[ing] the game’”, they are using the scientific method (Thompson, 2008).

Social Knowledge Construction. In massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), players learn from each other in user forums. Gamers post hypotheses, predictions, and models. Players test these scenarios in the game. Then, they reply to the forum with use evidence-based, systems based, and model-based reasoning (Steinkuehler & Duncan, 2008). Not only do they use a kind of scientific method but also a community of practice for knowledge building.

Crowdsourcing. In the same way that we have massively open online courses (MOOCs), we also have massively open online games referred to as massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) like the well-known World of Warcraft. For example, the US Military created open online war games to solve problems like piracy by opening the game to

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civilians so that the Office of Naval Research could track and adapt innovative strategies used by the players (Weinstein, 2011). Imagine your students playing games and contributing to research solutions at the same time! Kickstarter is a website that supports the fundraising of creative projects, including game design, which brings designers, gamers, and investors togethers.

Challenges Some students may not value games as an appropriate way to learn. Finding an appropriate game for your curriculum may be daunting. Even more, finding a high quality game may be extremely difficult. Although you can build your own game to fit your course, this can be a lengthy time-consuming commitment. On the other hand, gaming has many valuable rewards.

Perception. Games are fun. They are hobbies. They are rewards for being good. However, traditional learners expect note taking, reading, and content memorization for recall tests.

Students and administrators alike may perceive gaming as just fun and not learning.

Quality. While there are some fantastic games available, there are some that are very low quality. As you explore games that fit your curriculum, watch for appropriateness with age, avatar image and dress, language, and violence. Also, avoid gender, racial, religious, and cultural stereotypes. You can build your own games, but may encounter the same challenges of creating high quality animations. Look for and create games with platforms that work on a variety of devices, have good help and support features, accessibility options, and networking potential. Make sure the games come from reputable organizations.

Instructional Design Use a backwards design approach. First, start with your learning outcomes. Second, create your assessments. Third, plan your instructional activities. Finally, choose a technology to enhance the lesson.

Design. Consider your curriculum; look carefully at your accreditation standards, graduate attributes, program learning outcomes, course learning outcomes, and lesson learning outcomes. Will a sim game fulfill the learning outcomes? How will you prepare students to play a game? What technologies will you and your students need to learn in order to play a game? Will a sim game enhance the learning experience?

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Develop. Browse the Internet for authentic sim games and apps. With games like SimCity, players learn about the real world by building fictitious communities. Likewise, The Stock Market Game is an inter-school competition about how to handle money in everyday life.

Knowledge Matters has a ProSim Restaurant simulation game as well as five Virtual Business simulation games for accounting, retailing, restaurant, fashion, hotel, personal finance, sports and entertainment, and management geared for high school students. To learn about disaster relief in foreign aid situations, students can play the Red Cross Emergency Response Unit sim game. Just like sim games there are all kinds of education and gaming apps available for Apple, Microsoft, and Android devices.

Create your own game to meet your curricular needs. Games tell a story about a character on a journey and all of the conflicts s/he has to resolve along the way. You will need avatars for your characters. You will need a game board design or map. You will need to storyboard or flow chart the journey, levels, choices that the students will complete. You will need points, rewards, badges to encourage and celebrate student achievement in the game. As a project, students could create a game or app for their classmates to play.

Deliver. Decide what students will do before, during, and after the game. Before the game, students might read an article, listen to a podcast, or watch a video. During the game, students will have tasks and challenges to complete. After the project, students might reflect on the connection of the game to the course outcomes Adobe InDesign through a paper, presentation, or podcast. The game should be authentic, active, and applied.

SecondLife

Technology Unity 3-D

TheAppBuilder

Use simple digital board games and educational apps. Build simple trivia games for review with PowerPoint templates for quiz shows, like Jeopardy and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, by using hypertext, hyperlinks, and action buttons. Create simple apps and games using Adobe InDesign; shareware like TheAppBuilder, AppMakr, or ShoutEm. Design a full fledged simulation game with software like SecondLife, or Unity 3-D.

AppMakr

References ShoutEm

Auman, C. (2011). Using simulation games to increase student and instructor engagement. College Teaching, 59, p.154-161.

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Chow, A.F., Woodford, K.C., & Maes, J. (2010). Deal or No Deal: Using games to improve student learning, retention and decision-making. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 42(2), p.259-264.

Douglass, C., Henry, B.W., & Kostiwa, I.M. (2008). An aging game simulation activity for allied health students. Educational gerontology, 34, p.124-135.

Fisher, E.M. (2008). USA stratified Monopoly: A simulation game about social class stratification. Teaching Sociology, 36(3), p.272-282.

Foster, A.N. (2011). The process of learning in a simulation strategy game: Disciplinary knowledge construction. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 45(1), p.1-27.

Hudson, K. & Degast-Kennedy, K. (2009, April). Canadian border simulation at Loyalist College. Journal of Virtual Worlds 2(1), p.1-11.

Overeem, R. (2014). Game-based learning in Desire2Learn. Proceedings from the Lambton College Mobile Summit 2014, Lambton College, Sarnia, ON. Prinsen, G. & Overton, J. (2011). Policy, personalities and pedagogy: The use of simulation games to teach and learn about development policy. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 35(2), p.281-297.

Steinkuehler, C. & Duncan, S. (2008). Scientific habits of mind in virtual worlds. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17(6), p.530-543.

Thomas, D. & Brown, J.S. (2008, February 14). The gamer disposition [Blog post]. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/2008/02/the-gamer-disposition/ Thomas, D. & Brown, J.S. (2007). Why virtual worlds can matter [working paper]. Institute for Network Culture, University of Southern California.

Thompson, C. (2008, September 8). How video games blind us with science. Wired.

Retrieved from http://archive.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/ 2008/09/gamesfrontiers_0908

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VWDC. (2008, May 02). Second Life Loyalist College Canadian Border Simulation [YouTube] [01:32]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/PCUWcpVPtMM Weinstein, M. (2011). Focus on games & simulations: Trends+technologies+case studies.

Training, 48(6), p.51-58.

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Paula Ogg © 2020 Photography by Jonathan Eger