How effective is simulation in teaching/learning process?
Why use simulations? Simulations promote the use of critical and evaluative thinking. Because they are ambiguous or open-ended, they encourage students to contemplate the implications of a scenario. The situation feels real, and thus leads students to engage with the activity more enthusiastically and interactively.
Simulation-based education is the pedagogical approach of providing students with the opportunity to practice learned skills in real-life situations. Educational simulation is a teaching method that tests participants' knowledge and skill levels by placing them in scenarios where they must actively solve problems.
They give the learner a chance to practice real-time responses and they are the closest thing to reality. Through simulations we can accurately illustrate real events, it's a faster and cheaper effective way to improve the leaner's skills and competences.
- Can be safer and cheaper than the real world.
- Able to test a product or system works before building it.
- Can use it to find unexpected problems.
- Able to explore 'what if…' questions.
- Can speed things up or slow them down to see changes over long or short periods of time.
- Study the behavior of a system without building it.
- Results are accurate in general, compared to analytical model.
- Help to find un-expected phenomenon, behavior of the system.
- Easy to perform ``What-If'' analysis.
Key characteristics of faculty therefore desired for an effective simulated learning experience should encompass personality, teaching ability, competence, interpersonal skills, evaluation methodology and integration of realism.
Classroom simulations motivate students by keeping them actively engaged in the learning process through requiring that problem solving and decision making skills be used to make the simulation run.
Learning outcomes include knowledge increase, self-confidence, satisfaction, and collaboration.
Games and simulations promote collaborative work as they allow students to reconstruct and co-construct knowledge, encouraging problem-solving through peer discussion and dialogue.
Three elements are necessary for effective simulations; preparation, active student participation, and post-simulation debrief.