Digital Media for Learning by Florence Martin & Anthony Karl Betrus

Author:Florence Martin & Anthony Karl Betrus
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030331207
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

It could be argued that simulations, by their very nature, lend themselves to complex problem solving, and that this is not always the case with games. This may indeed be true, nonetheless most games, and virtually all simulations involve this strategic combination of knowledge and skill to solve complex problems. For this reason, effective problem-based learning environments will in most cases have a number of simulations and games embedded within them.

The Formation of Narrative occurs in both instructional simulations and games through the players’ interaction with the digital environment. In general, games tend to lean toward a designer-constructed narrative, and simulations tend to lean toward user-constructed narrative. Yet these are just that: tendencies, and both simulations and games can have a wide range of narratives associated with them. That narrative can be explicitly laid out by the designer and revealed by the player. It can also be constructed by the player(s) through their interactions and choices, and it may or may not be related to what the designer intended. It can also be a “meta-narrative,” where the players have a story that wraps around the simulation or game itself (a story about playing). In most cases the narrative includes a combination of all of these, although it is the player constructed narratives that they “own” that are generally processed more deeply and remembered more than the designer’s explicit narrative (Betrus 2006).

Also embedded in both instructional simulations and games, and intimately connected to the narrative, is that the player is quite often playing the role of somebody other than who they actually are in real life. In the case of instructional games, this is often superficial, as in the case of a skin that changes their appearance but does not influence gameplay or their choices for interactions (note: in some cases skins do influence gameplay). In some games, however, the choice of character will influence which interactions are available in the game. In the case of an instructional simulation, it is quite often the case that the role the player chooses strongly influences what abilities and interactions are available to choose from. Simulations are especially suited to narrowly focusing on a role and the choices associated with it. In both simulations and games, role play helps the players to take ownership of the narrative. As was mentioned earlier, it is critical in instructional simulations and games for the facilitator to manage the narrative of the game throughout the briefing, gameplay, and debriefing. MicroSim’s Inhospital (Appendix B) is a good example of role play and taking ownership of the narrative.

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