Instructional simulation

An instructional simulation, also called an educational simulation, is a simulation of some type of reality (system or environment) but which also includes instructional elements that help a learner explore, navigate or obtain more information about that system or environment that cannot generally be acquired from mere experimentation. Instructional simulations are typically goal oriented and focus learners on specific facts, concepts, or applications of the system or environment. Today, most universities make lifelong learning possible by offering a virtual learning environment (VLE). Not only can users access learning at different times in their lives, but they can also immerse themselves in learning without physically moving to a learning facility, or interact face to face with an instructor in real time. Such VLEs vary widely in interactivity and scope. For example, there are virtual classes, virtual labs, virtual programs, virtual library, virtual training, etc. Researchers have classified VLE in 4 types:

Simulations of one form or another have been used since the early 1900s as a method for training or training. The United States Defense Modeling and Simulation Coordination Office identifies three main types of simulation: live, virtual, and constructive. Live (live action) and virtual simulations are primarily used for training purposes, whereas a constructive simulation is used to view or predict outcomes like wargaming or stockmarket behavior. Each of these types is based on some reality and is intended to provide the user with a pseudo-experience without the danger, expense, or complexity of real life.

While simulations are used for learning and training purposes, noted authors, such as Clark Aldrich and Andy Gibbons (Model-Centered Instruction) suggest that simulations in and of themselves are not instructional. Rather, a simulation only becomes instructional when instructional elements are included that help expose the learner to key parts or concepts of the system or environment. For example, an F-16 simulator is not inherently instructional because it is primarily intended to replicate the F-16 cockpit behavior and the environments the aircraft operates within. The simulator may be used for training purposes, but it requires an instructor or some other external element to identify key learning aspects of the system to the learner.

In education, simulations have had their use under a number of different names. Ken Jones in the 1980s defined simulations as interactions between people such as role-playing. Others suggest that experiential learning activities like those found in team training or ropes courses are also simulations because they replicate the human decision-making processes groups may display, albeit in a very different environment. These can be considered instructional simulations because the effective use of these simulation types include using instructional elements to help learners focus on key behaviors, concepts or principles.

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