The International Simulation & Gaming
Yearbook
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The needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few
Peter Stuart
Disasters have been an unwelcomed companion of mankind since early times. There is nothing new in the concept of contingency planning for an impending disaster. The Bible contains one of the earliest recorded contingency plans:
'Make for yourself an ark out of wood of a resinous tree. You will make compartments in the ark and you must cover it inside with tar.'
Genesis 16: 14
Religious and cultural issues have always been important factors and in some quarters they are as valid and important in today's high-pressured society. With the dawn of a new millennium, are we experiencing the creation of a new supreme being identified as 'instant gratification'? Public expectation, driven by technological innovation, especially in the media sector, increases at a rapid pace. Within minutes of a disaster a highly technical and orchestrated news gathering operation swings into gear, with images, sounds and opinions flooding our intellect. With a touch of a button, or in some cases a click of a mouse, the public can access instant information, form instant opinions and pay homage to the new supreme being.
Lifestyles are changing, they are becoming more complex and more dynamic, with an increasing awareness of the social and economic issues that disasters can create or destroy.
As lifestyles change, so must our approach to disaster management, especially the way respective professionals are trained, educated and exercised. Traditional tactically based exercising and training for the blue light emergency services must continue in order to enhance efficiency skills. However, a fresh approach to exercises and training methods needs to be developed in order to address the needs of the ever-increasing integrated strategic level of disaster management, thus improving their collective effectiveness.
The needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few, especially at the strategic level of crisis management.
Being wise before the event: a training practitioner's view of emergencies
John Rolfe
This chapter examines the specific training requirements involved in preparing personnel to respond effectively in emergencies. It considers the range of training dimensions that are applicable and suggests a number of guidelines for improving the effectiveness of training.
BURNING BUSHES: a simulation in crisis management
Claude Bourles
The simulation game BURNING BUSHES is designed as a training tool for fire officers. It is intended as a complement to ground manoeuvres and to case studies for training in tactics for dealing with bush fires. In order to design it, the author sought advice from the trainers working for the Ecole Nationale Sup¾ rieure des Officiers Sapeurs Pompiers (Nainville Les Roches F-91750).
BURNING BUSHES is designed as an asymmetrical war game in which one side made up of units (the firemen) fights to prevent the fire from spreading. It is suitable for 2 to 20 participants and can last for between 1 and 6 hours.
A simulation for airline crisis management training
A Frank Taylor
Aircraft accidents are so rare that few people have had experience of dealing with them, yet to avoid a crisis becoming a catastrophe many people need to be aware of their own roles and of the roles of many others. Familiarization with the problems likely to be encountered after an accident is absolutely necessary and one form of training offered to provide this is a detailed table-top simulation. Such an airline crisis management simulation is described.
SPOONS: A flexible low-cost simulation of casualty handling after a disaster
John Rolfe
This short simulation sets out to represent some of the activities associated with managing the rescue and care of victims of a disaster. It aims to provide those participating with experience of the functions of victim recovery, classification, care, documentation and information management.
The simulation is designed to be operated with the minimum of sophisticated equipment and relies very much upon the interaction of the individuals taking part.
The core materials for the simulation, the use of which will he demonstrated in the presentation, are plastic spoons (representing the victims), packaging (representing the disaster site), cups (representing ambulances), trays (representing survivor reception centres and hospitals) and a range of forms used to record victim identity, location, injuries and treatment.
The demonstration will seek to show how the simulation can be used to introduce participants to the SURE (situation, understanding, response and execution) approach to situational awareness training. It will also use the simulation as the basis for exploring the 3F debriefing procedure (ie facts, feelings and future).
Surgical emergencies: a training game for student nurses
Graham Avery
This chapter describes an educational game that was devised for use by student nurses coming towards the end of their training. Although its focus is concerned with 'surgical emergencies', 1 will argue that the same format can be used in a variety of settings and whenever a large body of factual information needs to be imparted in a short space of time. Traditionally, such information is presented to the students in lecture form: this method is efficient in that it requires less time and ensures that all the students receive the same material together. What it cannot do, however, is ensure that learning takes place, for it cannot guarantee that the students are paying attention to what is being said, let alone that they will be able to remember it. In consequence, this game is an acknowledgement that students learn best when they discover information for themselves. They are allowed a strong measure of control over their own education, but the teacher remains secure in the knowledge that the major learning points are put across.
Evaluation of the game has been very positive to date. Interestingly enough, although its primary objective was to transmit information in a light-hearted way, it has produced a number of side-effects, all of which can be of value to the nurse working in a clinical area.
MEXICO CITY: a simulation game for use in environmental education
Benjamin Pozos
While working at the Natural History Museum of Mexico in 1990, there was an opportunity to design a course on air pollution in Mexico City as part of a programme of environmental education. With the support of a Mexican bank a course was prepared and used with teenage participants. This chapter describes the development and use of a board game as the initial stimulus material for the course.
Virtual realities: simulations as catalysts for policy development in higher education
Mantz Yorke, David McCormick and Tony Chapman
Apart from war gaming, relatively little use has been made of simulations as catalysts for the development of policy. Simulations have the potential to engender commitment and ownership in a way that typical policy making processes do not. This article reports, and comments on, four simulations oriented towards policy formation, and draws from them a topology which may be of assistance to others who seek to use simulations in this particular way.
Developing a European media simulation through new information and communication technologies: the TENSAL project
Danny Saunders and Tony Powell
During 1997, groups of students in France, Finland, Wales and Scotland came together in cyberspace to produce a European newspaper collaboratively. Utilising the Internet and video conferencing, they gathered stories and pictures from their locality, but with a wider interest which they sent to other groups for sub-editing. The resulting newspaper was published on the World Wide Web.
The project ran for 6 months and tested the boundaries of modern information technology and telecommunications. It also encompassed two important elections in France and the UK.
This chapter explores the academic reasoning behind the decision to run an international simulation in producing a newspaper. Specifically it has an introduction to simulation gaming research, followed by an investigation of a psychological matrix model and then looks at previous media simulations in more technologically challenged times. It then goes on to describe how the simulation was carried out, the various newspaper and magazine formats employed, the technical problems encountered and overall student appreciation of the project.
The project was a pilot and this article aims to encourage others to run their own version of TENSAL in the future, and points out possible pitfalls.
A problem based approach to teaching construction management
Denny McGeorge
The earliest models of teaching, including the Socratic method, rely on the analysis of hypothetical situations involving solving problems or formulating strategies to discuss given situations. The principles of this approach have been embraced by problem based learning (PBL),
PBL has proved to be especially appropriate to vocational courses. It offers a solution to the potential dichotomy which can exist between the academic and vocational aspects of professions programs. The underlying rationale of the PBL approach is that students quickly develop a holistic view of the process and are continually made aware of how individual subject disciplines relate to the problem at hand. PBL can make a strong claim as being a self directed learning strategy which is superior to other forms of learning such as response stimulated learning or situation stimulated learning.
This chapter describes how the Department of Building at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales has developed a degree program in construction management using an integrated problem based learning approach,
Sports facility managementopoly
John Porteous
The overall purpose of the SPORTS FACILITY MANAGEMENTOPOLY game is for undergraduate students to apply and to put into practice their skills and knowledge of sport management. Individuals must work efficiently and effectively as members of a team to facilitate the various activities to be completed. The game attempts to be as realistic as possible, integrating marketing, financial, strategic and human resource issues into a sports facility environment.
The game also aims to get each member to recognize the responsibilities of not only the group, but also each individual member. Therefore, there is an emphasis on student development with regard to decision making, communication, leadership, planning and so on as part of a team.
How to cope with the complexities of a business game
Eugenics Bandanas, Irene Patasiene and Vytautas Skvernys
Running the management game HARD NUT with different groups of students, and using continuous analysis of the participants' responses, has enabled us to draw the following conclusions. The usefulness of the game depends on its ability to simulate real world situations. The important feature of a simulation business game is the number of changeable parameters. This chapter discusses what determines the number of parameters and draws upon the practical analysis of programme implementation, summarizing the experience of the authors of the models and auditing the number of different parameters. The results of a survey of students' assessments of the usefulness and complexity of the game are presented.
A Case Study in the diffusion of an educational process innovation: Computerized business gaming
Thomas F Burgess
Perspectives on innovation diffusion, drawn from the technological change literature, guide this investigation of the spread of business gaming software within the UK. Data from UK surveys and from secondary sources illustrate the overall diffusion of gaming software and its diffusion within and between academic and business organizations. Diffusion levels and rates in academia are estimated to be in excess of those for business. The UK diffusion processes are comparable with those in the USA. Factors contributing to the growth in business gaming are explored, along with determinants of organizational adoption including organization type, organization size and the presence of an innovation 'Champion'. The analysis highlights aspects underlying the diffusion processes including the microcomputer's impact and the importance of in-house developed software.
In this chapter a technology innovation and diffusion perspective is used to view the historical and ongoing processes associated with the spread of a novel educational process. The chapter focuses on the diffusion of business gaming software throughout UK academia and business. Such software has been around for nearly 30 years since its first use in the USA and, therefore, offers the relatively unusual opportunity to study some long lived diffusion processes involving educational software.
A reconsideration of the concept of quality learning
Ronald Brech
Britain as a nation is besotted with 'badge engineering'. Give something a clever name and the substance is there. This nowadays applies to 'quality learning'. Yet what do we mean by 'learning' and by 'quality', which should be defined in relation to users' expectations? This is particularly relevant to business simulations, which are the only effective way of teaching business, since it relies heavily on experience. Yet how can we judge the learning of simulations and whether it matches up to the user's expectations? Has not SAGSET a role to play here?
Designing manual games for classroom use - an examination of some useful paradigms
Henry Ellington, Joannie Fowlie and Monica Gordon
This chapter describes a simple - and highly practical - approach to the design of manual games for use in the classroom. It offers an alternative to the traditional algorithmic approach to such design, showing how it is possible to produce extremely effective educational games simply by looking at the range of board games, card games and other manual games that are in common use and seeing if any of these might be converted into a classroom game of some sort. The chapter examines some of the main paradigms on which board, card and other manual 'fun' games are based and suggests how each of these might be used for educational purposes; it also presents detailed illustrative case studies, largely drawn from the authors' own experience of game design. The chapter ends by presenting some general guidelines on how to make effective use of the approach.
Once more with feeling - identification, representation and the affective aspects of role play in experience-based education
Kate Collier
Because role play has the potential to mirror 'real life' so precisely, participants can identify strongly with the roles they adopt. This sometimes leads to the triggering of strong emotions that can be hard for both the participant and facilitator to deal with during a training/teaching session. Most facilitators do not see their role as being that of a therapist, and this can be a deterrent to using role play techniques.
This chapter will argue that the emphasis on identification in role play, and the need for the technique to mirror workplace contexts or real life situations, has devalued this approach to learning. It is therefore necessary to examine the potential of representational techniques and the use of symbolic form to help distance participants from the role play situation, so they can reflect more critically on their experience.
I will explore some of the uses of representation in theatre and drama-in-education in order to see whether their techniques can inform and further develop role play theory and practice.
Social psychological applications of educational simulations
Adam Joinson
Educational simulation is often taken to mean learning through simulated games such as SIMCITY (for example, Turkle, 1997). In this chapter, the use of Internet based simulations of lectures, seminars and coursework is discussed. In particular, the use of such simulations for the teaching of social psychology courses is outlined and evaluated. Finally, the use of communications and information technology in teaching per se is discussed.
Simulation-game design as a communication process
Benita Cox and Peter Saunders
Much of the literature on computerized simulation and game design has focused on the role of simulations and games as educational instruments. Whilst meeting educational objectives is clearly a major reason for using simulation-games, in many instances the motivation behind their use is not only as a means of meeting pedagogic objectives but also to facilitate group dynamics and communication, both within groups and between tutor and participants. This chapter attempts to provide a different focus on simulation-game design by approaching it from the perspective of designing both a communication process as well as an educational one. The result of taking such an approach is that the theoretical underpinning is extended to incorporate a broader field of academic study and identifies a range of issues which need to be addressed at the planning, encoding, delivery and feedback stages of simulation-game design.
The use of simulation in operations management: a survey
Jim Freeman and Janet Burdon
Computer simulation remains a popular choice for analysing problems in operations management. A survey of applications publicized in the literature over the past ten years yields important insights into recent activity and experience. More general findings indicate a widening gulf between mainstream simulation practice and corresponding systems potential.
The Great International Management Games Competition 1995-97
Elizabeth Christopher
The idea for an international games competition began at ISAGA 94, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA). It was the 1994 location for the annual conference of the International Simulation and Games Association.
Every year since 1970 - in a different country each year - ISAGA has brought together a worldwide and growing membership. Shared interests in simulation and gaming have made ISAGA an internationally unifying agency. It is interdisciplinary and devoted to academic and applied issues in the fast expanding fields of simulation, computerized simulation, gaming, modelling, role play and active experiential learning as well as related research methodologies.
In 1995, from this background, the idea evolved of an international competition to find the material for a multicultural, management training games manual that would enable game users everywhere in the world to conduct a rich range of simulations, using only relatively inexpensive, standard and widely available materials.
Rules were that the language was to be English; all entries would state learning objectives related to some aspect of management training; all materials would be easily available from any large store; the number and type of participants would be identified, also the time required to play the relevant game, and how to play and debrief it.
The Japan Foundation for the Fusion of Science and Technology (FOST) generously offered to fund the project. Through its representative, Professor Kiroshi Arai, the Foundation offered prize money. The project was administered by Professor Dennis Meadows, director of the Institute for Policy and Social Science Research at the University of New Hampshire (USA). The collator of all entries was Dr Elizabeth Christopher, of the Centre for Cultural Risk Research, Charles Sturt University, New South Wales, Australia.
Protecting your ideas for games and simulations
Baudouin Knaapen
This chapter examines how designers of training games and simulations can safeguard their work from being copied or misused by others. The advice presented is focused on the problems that can be experienced by individuals and small organizations, and ways by which ideas, names and products can be protected.
The chapter aims to be precise but not country specific. The author's own experience is in the Benelux, but the general rules of product protection are the same and the aim is to help designers get the best return from their efforts.
| Copyright 2000 SAGSET | Last Updated 15/03/00 |