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DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 137 165

SO 009 878

AUTHOR

Roberts, Nancy

TITLE

Simulation Gaming: A Critical Review.

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DESCRIPTORS

Affective Objectives; Cognitive Objectives; *Computer

Assisted Instruction; Data Analysis; Decision Making

Skills; Educational Experiments; *Educational Games;

Educational History; Educational Trends; Elementary

Secondary Education; *Evaluation; *Knowledge Level;

*Literature Reviews; Role Playing; *Simulation;

Student Attitudes

ABSTRACT

The review of the empirical literature on simulation

gaming categorizes positive, negative, and contradictory aspects of

gaming as an educational tool as revealed by the research. The

review, which concentrates on simulation games for elementary and

secondary school students, is presented in seven sections. Section I

presents a brief history of gaming. Section II assesses

data in

recent gaming literature on learning versus interest

in role playing.

The importance of background knowledge and abilities that

students

nring to games is discussed in section III, followed by

identification of the problems and positive aspects of role playing

in sections IV and V. Problem areas include lack of role

involvement,

boredom, and the similarity of all simulation games. Positive aspects

include the changed role of the teacher, the socialization process

that occurs during the game, and the ability of games to teach

complex problems in the classroom. Section IV discusses computerized

games, the contribution of computers to gaming,

and the increased

sense of efficacy experienced by students

using computerized games.

The last section summarizes the literature on gaming by

listing the

positive aspects of gaming, the major drawbacks, and the benefits

which result from the new computerized games of strategy. References

are included. (Author/DB)

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SIMULATION GAMING:

A CRITICAL REVIEW

Nancy Roberts

Lesley College

Graduate School of Education

and

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sloan School of Management

SIMULATION GAMING:

A CRITICAL REVIEW

Educational gaming has moved from an initial

novelty stage

to the point where simulation games are now

purposefully included

in the structural framework of most new curricula.

During this

developmental period some researchers have begun to measure

the

impact and usefulness of simulation gaming as an

educational tool.

This review attempts to categorize and evaluate gaming

research as

well as to suggest directions for productive future

research.

The

focus is upon simulation games generally used to

bolster understandings

of life for elementary and secondary school

students.

The major

distinguishing features of simulation games are:

(1) the games are

played over time, but time is accelerated.

For example, students

may relive one hundred years of

history in an hour; and (2) game

players need not live with the consequences of their

decisions

made during game play because indeed the

simulation is just a

game.

These games are therefore different from games

designed to

strengthen skills.

This review will not treat simulation training

games such as those used in graduate

business education.

Brief History

Gaming as a training device goes back to the

fifteenth

century Europe when chess was often used

to train military officers.

By the nineteenth century, the military had moved from

the chess

board to terrain maps, using wooden blocks instead

of chessmen.

By World War Two, all the powers were using war games.

Germany

held serious joint military and political games

each year, participated

in by representatives of the army, government,

business, the arms

industry and the propaganda ministry.

-2-

The American Management Association

introduced a business

game at its meeting in

1957..

It was a very simple game

built on

the principles of the war games.

Yet,

the response by participating

executives and educators was

so enthusiastic that a

proliferation of games appeared

very quickly...

Two-thirds of the graduate schools

business soon adonted the games or

developed their own as

part of the standard curriculum

(Inbar and Stoll, 1972, p.

39).

Since that time gaming has spread

into all levels of the

social

sciences, both as a vehicle

for studying social phenomena as

well

as an educational

tool.

Despite this rapid spread of

experimental, educational and

commercial games, little

empirical data exists as to

the effectiveness

of simulation gamins as A

teaching device.

Further, almost all the

published studies in the educational

literature that report attempts

at measurina the effectiveness

of gaming have used

role-playing

games.

In role-playing games

the.players assume roles of

other

people.

The quality of play of these games

often depends upon the

ability of the players to understand

their assumed roles.

In recent

years some non-role-playing

simulation gamea have been

developed and

tested.

These games focus on

decision-making (or

strategies), for

solving problems or achieving

desirable objectives.

In these

games the players need

not assume the roles of other

people.

Role-Plavina Games:

Learning versus Interest

Some researchers working with

non-simulation, skill building

games, such as

&mations, have found significant

increases in

learning in their studies

(Allen and Ross, 1974).

In contrast,

while simulation games

usually produce increaaed interest

and

enthusiasm for the subject studied, researchers

generally agree that

simulation gaming does not produce a significant

increase in knowledge

over other teaching methods.

In 1966

Cherryhoimes, reviewing six

research studies, concluded,

students report more interest in simulation

activities

than in more conventional classroom exercises

ibui

students do not learn significantly more facts or

principles by participation in a simulation...activity

(pp. 5-6).

That same year Robinson reported on his own

experiment.

split three college-level international relations

classes into

two groups each.

One group studied the course by the case

method,

the other used the Inter-Nation Simulation

developed under the

direction of Harold Guetzkow.

Robinson found no difference in

learning between the two methods; however, he found

the simulation

to be more interesting and more involving for the students.

Boocock (1967), reporting on an experiment for high-school

students using her Life-Career Game, stressed the

enthusiasm

shown by the players as well as the fact that those who

played

the game learned what the game tried to teach.

While Wing -(1968),

reporting on the results of an experiment involving

two computer

role-playing games for sixth graders, found no

significant difference

in know1ed2e gained, but found the same

information could be

learned by the student in about half as mach time.

In 1971, Fletcher, testing two games in conjunction with

the

Education Development Center's "Man, a Course of

Study" unit, concluded,

The data from this study clearly indicate that the games

were successful as teaching devices.

The test questions

measured a variety of kinds of knowledge which

related to

the game experience, and on all of these kinds of questions

the students di-d well(p. 264).

Again in 1971, Livingston attempted to demonstrate that

gaming improves a student's learning of companion fac'Gual knowledge

because of increased motivation.

He used the game Trade and Develop

as an aid in teaching economic geography to junior high

school

and high ochool students.

He repeated the study three times.

The experimental group played the game, followed by the experimental

and control group together doing the learning exercise.

nis results

showed no significant difference between the experimental and

control groups in any one of the three studies.

Livingston

therefore concluded:

The implications of these results for the use of Simulation

games in schools seems clear:

A simulation_game cannot

be expected to improve students' learning of factual material

or audio-visual materials.

The conclusion does not follow,

however, that simulation games are without educational value

(p. 20).

Livingstem further noted that

the teachers who administered these experiments in their

classes all reported that their students were enthusiastic

about the game and seemed to be learning from it; yet these

experiemnts failed to show an advantage in the tests for

students who had played the game (p.

20).

In 1972, Chortier designed a study to test the hypothesis

that subjects who participate in a simulation game with a

discussion component will demonstrate.higher learning outcomes

at the cognitive and affective levels than will subjects

participating in simulation'.without discussion, discussion

without simulation, or neither (individual

study) (p. 214).

Chartier tested this hypothesis by administering an achievement

test following Bloom's six level cognitive taxonoty.

He found

no significant difference in cognitive level among the three

experimental groups.

However, he did find a significant increase

in the affective domain and therefore concluded that

subjects who participate in a simulation game with discussion.

will express more satisfaction with learning than will

subjects participating in simulation without discussion,

discussion without simulation, or neither (individual

study)

(p. 214).

Ahern, summarizing the gaming literature until 1968, could

not find a quantitative study on the usefulness of gaming as a

learning device.

However, Ahern concludes that despite the lack

of statistical evidence of effectiveness gaming has grown rapidly

in popularity.

The use of.games is spreading to almost every educational

area, from post graduate through grade school in education,

from president through machine operator in industry, and from

administrator through clerk typist in government.

That

gaming 1..s enjoying this growth ...is due in large measure to

the "belief" in rather than "proof of" its ability and

versatility.to fulfill many diverse training requirements

(p. 25).

Later, in 1972, Schran and Kmmpf attempted to assess the

state of the art in environmental gaming.

'They found very little

published material on gaming and concluded:

that this lack of attention to the basic underpinnings of

gaming is a main reason for much of the widespread uncertainty

and confusion found in this field by the authors and others

(p. 465).

They further concluded that "the validation of the general

appropriateness of gaming techniques remains on the level of

subjective evaluation and thus still open to scientific proof"

(p. 472).

None of these studies questioned that games do as well as

other methods in achieving learning; all, however,:raise doubts

as to whether gaming represents a superior technique.

One recent

study by Wylle, however, did report a significantly better contribu-

tion to cognitive learning from gaming,.

Wyllels experiment involved

teaching geographic knowledge paid skills..

He used a game called

Sailing with one group of children while using programmed instruction

with another group.

The fihdings of this experiment indicated that, immediately

after treatment, learning to answer questions related to

cognition of geographic information was accomplished at

least as effectively by "Sailing" asty a programed instruction

approach.

There was no significant difference in the mean

scores between students who played the game and students who

were taught by the programed text on the post-test measure

of total cognition of geographic information.

Two weeks

after treatment, however, students who played the game

scored significantly higher on the test measuring total

cognition of geographic information than students taught

by the program (1974, pp. 309-10).

Perhaps this finding preludes a new trend in gaming research

results.

.7-

Role-Playing Games:

Importance of BackFround Knowledge and'Ability

Guetzkow (1963) and Barringer and Waley

(1965), reporting on

their use of college level political games

(Inter-Nation Relations

and the M.I.T. Political-Military

Game.) all found that the knowledge

the student brought with him to the game was

critical.

Guetzkow

found, "seniors with an international relations course

background

seemed to profit from the experience more than

those without" (p. 37).

While Barringer' and Waley report, "in general, the

insights and

lessons provided by the gaming experience prove

to be dependent

largely upon the knowledge and preoccupationd

brought by the

iparticipants to the experience"

(p. 445).

Bagley's research with eight year olds indicated similar

conclusions.

Bagley used the game Gold Miners and

Merchants:

Simulation Game for his research, the purpose

of whith was to

"determine if sex and ability were important variables

in mediating

learning and retention of learning from a

simulation game" (1974, p.

290).

Bagley concluded that ability was of primary

importance while sex

was not an important factor

in learning resulting from game

play.

Fletcher's research with the games included in the

Education'

Development Center unit "Man, a Course of

Study", was able to

make a finer calibration of the influences

of ability on game'

learning.

Fletcher states that

Some kinds of-learning are linked to the quality of play,

while others are not.

For those kinds which are not linked

to quality of play the games are not

effective in overcoming

ability differences and teaching slow

students as well as

bright ones.

For those.kinds of learning linked to

quality

of play, games seem able to teach the

slower student as well

as the brighter.

It would tentatively appear that the common

claim that games can teach students who are

not reached by

ordinary instructional techniques is

true only of those

kinds of learning which are dependent on

quality of play

(1971, p. 286).

Ability, therefore, seems to be a factor

of consequence in

gaming research.' Exactly what role ability

plays in determining

the usefulness of games as an educational

technique is still unclear.

Role-Playing Games:

Problems

The literature had pointed out three

problem areas with

role-playing games.

First, a student must become adequately

involved in the character he plays

to make the game successful.

Some games are structured so this effect is

achieved while other

games tend to be less realistic.

Using the Inter-Nation Simulation,

Snyder states his most meaningful observation as

the

abundant evidence that participants take

simulations very

seriously indeed and are capable of complete

absorption,

so much so that contacts among

participants and thinking

about simulation are extended beyond the

laboratory (1963, p. 12).

Cohen, however, reports a contradictory finding.

Because of the

"instability and fundamental unreality of the game

world's power

structure

Ehe players found it very difficult to ac3 even remotely

as real-world politicians

do in making their institutions and

their

political machinery work (1962, pp.

373-4)..

Next, Zaltman points out,

a general problem in

simulation

games is that some roles...are necessary

for the functioning of

the game' but may be boring for the

players" (1972, p. 128).

This

comment has been made in regard to

almost every role-playing

game in the literature.

Finally, a third problem area in gaming is discussed by two

psychologists, Breznitz and Lieblich.

We have observed that while the phenomena which are simulated

are very diverse, their simulations are surprisingly more

similar.

After playing four or five simulation games, one

feels the difference Petween them blur and gradually vanisht

Some of the reasons for this situation are more obvious

than omhers.

For instance, the obsession with quantification

turns everythAng into points:

status points, satisfaction

points, anxiety points - or, as in our simulation, censorship

points, tension points, and what-not points (1972, p. 80).

Role-PlayinF Games:

Positive Aspects

Despite problems associated with role-playing games, a number

of positive aspects result, including:

the shifted role of the

teacher; the socialization process that occurs during game play;

and the ability of games to teach complex problems in the classroom.

Charles Silberman (1970), as a result of his survey of schools

across the country, has strongly recommended that the role of the

teacher shift from the more traditional center spot in the classroom

to that of a learning facilitator.

Both Boocock and Inbar have

found that this shift takes place when games are used in the

classroom.

For example, Inbar (1972) observed that the teacher's

role changed from that of a judge to that of a coach.

Twelker made a similar observation.

After reviewing the lack

of conclusive research on gaming, Twelker ends his reflections

by saying:

The brightest side of simulation just might be its potential

for changing, not the student, but the teacher.

This writer

-10-

has seen teacher, bored and boring, become challenged with

th0 potential of simulation.

Their attitude toward students,

toward school, and towards themselves change.

Teachers "turned.

on" by simulation became instructional managers interested

not only in imparting information but with creating an instruc-

tional climate that challenges the student's will to learn

(1972, pp. 152-3).

Mead identified another positive aspect of games.

He dbserved

that games are a stage of development for the child.. He noted

that children move from play to games as they go through the

Process of socialization.

The game is then an illustration of the situation out

of which an organized personality arises.

In so far as the

child does not take the attitude of the other and allows

that attitude of the other to determine the thing he is

going to do with reference to a common end, he is becoming

an organic member of society.

The importance of the game is that it lies entirely

inside of the child's own experience, and the importance

of our modern type education is that it is brought as far

as possible within this realm

(1934, p. 154).

Not' only are children socialized towards adult roles via

game playing, as Mead suggests, but also games seem

to bring

the complex and faraway world problems to the concern and

understanding of students.

This has been noted by numerous

researchers.

Carlson finds that games "increase the confidence

of yourgpeople to deal with

real world problems that seem impossibly

remote from their own lives"(1971, p. 338)..

While Inbar reports

that the

telescoping of time and space can cause

the participants

in a simulation game to involve

themselves deeply in situations

which otherwise remain as remote from their

interest as from

their personal experience (1972, p.

148).

Boocock further notes, "the game appears to have

special

value for adolescents from culturally-deprived groups.

For them

the simulated environment supplies a kind of experience

lacking

in ther own actions

(1972, p. 184).

Coleman found,

the evidence

from use of games in the classroom

indicates that a much broader

Span of ability can be usefully encompassed

by simulation games"

(1968, p. 71).

Farran reports that they found games so

useful in their two

schools for underachievers, the North

Carolina Advancement School

and the Pennsylvania Advancement

School, that they are now designing

their total curriculum around games

(1967, pp. 10-11).

Finally,

Clark Abt, from his experience in designing

educational games,

states the same conclusions as Boocock,

Coleman, and Farran.

Abt

(1968) says that games can accommodate a wide range of

learning

abilities and agys.

Moreover, culturally deprived children

respond better to games than to

conventional teaching methods.

Perhaps some of the reasons for the ability

of games to

reach children with a variety of

backgrounis can be found in the

research on student attitudes.

Coleman's most significant finding

in his study of equality of

educational opportunity in the United

States was that the "pupil attitude factor

which appears to have

a stronger relationship to

adhievement than do all the 'school'

factors together is the extent to which an

individual feels that

-12-

he has some control over his own

destiny" (1966, p. 23).

Moreover,

Bbocock reports:

sociological studies of political behavior have

shown that

the people most likely to take an active part

in politics

are those with strong feelings of

political "potency" or

efficacy - who feel that their actions

(voting, working for a

political party, etc.) will have a desirable effect upon

their government (1968, p. 126).

Boocock goes on to speculate that a gaming

experience in the

classroom gives the students the confidence and

the feelings of

efficacy that should develop

active-oriented citizens.

A final observation about the

nature of feelings of efficacy

is that they can apparently occur

along with a realization

of the difficulties of decision-making in

complex social

situations...

"Practicing" in a simulated environment gave

some players greater

confidence in their ability to control

social situations, at the same time they

acquired a more

realistic view of what the situation was like and saw

the

necessity for further learning about it

(1968, p. 129).

Burgess and Robinson came to the same kind of conclusion

as Boocock.

They state:

the content and play of games over many years may

operate

to modify certain dimensions of tho

personality of the indi-

vidual - his self-esteem, his self-ccnfidence and

feelings

of efficacy, which are known to be

important variables in

the political behavior of the adult

(1968, p. 247).

Coleman sums up several

researchers' thoughts on the ability

of gaming to teach the complexities of

society by stating:

-13

schools find it difficult to teach about the complexity

that characterizes modern society, with the result that students

have had little or no experience to prepare them for facing

a multitude of decisions and problems in adult

life.

The

games we and others have created present the

student with

an approximation of certain facets of modern society

that

he will have to face later (1971, p. 324).

More recent studies tend to back up these observations.

Livingston (1972) used the game Democracy, which focuses of the

process of

"log-rolling", to see if, after playing the game, the

students will be more tolerant of

"log-rolling", and to see if

the students' feelings of political efficacy would increase.

Livingston found a significant increase in tolerance for

"log-

rolling". in both classes playing the game.

However, he found

a significant increase in feelings of

political efficacy in only

one of the two classes.

In another recent study, Vogel attempted

"to determine, by

experimental means, whether differences in the method of teaching

civic government have any significant effect on the change of

the

attitude of political efficacy" (1973, p. 71).

Vogel used ten

classes of sixth graders for the study.

A unit on civic government

was taught to half the classes using the game Metro

Government

while the other five classes were taught the unit without the game.

Vogel reports that the attitude of political efficacy

"scores of

the experimental group were significantly higher than those

the control group after the

unit"

(p. 75).

These more current research studies are beginning to

establish

an empirical data base for the

early instincts of the pioneers

-14-

in the gaming field.

Computerized, Non-Role-Playing Games

Non-role-playing games stress strategy.

Chess is a classical

non-role-playing (but also non-simulation) game.

The essence of

chess is figuring out the best sequence of decisions

to try to

generate a successful outcome.

Non-role-playing games make no

demand on players to internalize

anotherls view of the world.

They demand only a focus on effective problem-solving, an

analytical

perspective toward the gamels objective.

Papert, although working in the area of

mathematics, brings

to focus the basic strengths

hypothesized for computerized, non-

role-playing games.

One might dream of having children learn

mathematics by

giving them a ship to sail the ocean, .a

sextant to fix

their position and a cargo to trade with

distant peoples.

A large part of our work is directed at

trying to make this

dream come true by creating mathematical

instruments more

manageable than ships and sextants, but

which still allow

the child to develop and exercise mathematical

arts in the

course of meaningful,

challenging and personally motivated

projects (1971, p. 3).

Ideally, children should learn about the problems of a

city,

a country or the world by

having them involved in the real-life

decisions of these areas.

But this kind of learning setting is

in the realm of dreams.

A computer game, developed from a

simulation

model built to include all the variables

considered important to

the real-life problems, becomes a tool

that is next best to the

reality itself.

This came then allows vaidents to test their own

-15-

theories about solving life's problems.

Computerized games avoid problems encountered over the_years

with man games or man-machine games.

Sanders, reviewing Inbar's

non-computerized Community Response game, concludes,

the more variables introduced, the more realistic the game

is likely to be but unfortunately also the more diffiCult

the game is to play.

"Community Response" is an example

in which realism is achieved at the expense of simplicity

and it takes a Philadelphia lawyer a couple of days to

figure

out the rules.

Many less complicated games seem artificial

(1968, p. 163).

Ahern points out how the computer avoids this

problem:

The advent of the high speed electronic computer

enormously

increased the calculations which could be incorporated

a game as well as freed the

participants from the stringent

limitations inherent in computations made by hand on a desk

calculator.

The computer has further contributed to the value of

gaming by providing the means whereby a great deal of

realistic

complexity can be incorporated into a game while keeping

the administration problems relatively simple.

The purpose

of the game is thus maintained in that the players are

allowed

to concentrate on the basic goals of actual deciaion making,

while the computer is relegated all of the clerical and

mathematical tasks (1968, p. 5).

Finally, Clayton and Rosenbloom point out another

strength

of computerized, non-role-playing games:

We believe that the fruitful path is to choose games which

.16-

emphasize strateay and structure, rather than personal roles.

Moreover, if children play against "nature" rather than

against other children, feedback can be specifiable and

immediate (that is, the children compete against each other,

but direct interaction is with "nature") (1968, p.

92).

A pilot studey was done With a sixth grade class in Lexington,

Massachusetts, using a computerized, non-role-playing game having

the characteristics described above.

The game, called the World

Game,, was adapted from the World3 simulation model developed

under the leadership of Dennis Meadows (1973) at M.I.T.

The model

was built to better understand, from a world perspective, the

relationships among population growth, food, natural resources,

industrial products and pollution levels.

The purpose of the

study was to test the playability of the World 3 Game for a

larger study.

However, the results of this pilot study are worth

noting.

The main focus of the World

Game was structure; that is,

understanding the interrelationships amonR the variables listed

above.

The students acted as decision teams whose objective

was to play against

"nature", in the form of a computer model,

to create.a liveable world over the next one hundred years.

The

teams analyzed the situation they faced, reached their decisions,

and then tested their decisions on a computerized simulation

model representing the world.

The results of the teams' decisions

were fed back to them by the computer in graphic form.

The study hypothesized that the particular ability of role-

playing games to increase the students' feelings of control over

their future would be retained even though roles were being

-17-

eliminated.

This sense of efficacy was measured by a pre end

post-test based on Coleman's (1966) questions and Coopersmith's

(1967) Self-Esteem Inventory.

The pre-test was administered,

and the game was started in the first class session.

For the next

two weeks, during a one hour session each week, the game was played.

In the fourth week the final game runs were discussed by the class

and the post-test was administered.

A total of four hours over a

four week period was spent with the class.

The test scores

showed a significant increase, at the .05 level, in the students'

sense of control over their futures.

This small_ study suggests that the positive aspects of

role-playing games were maintained by this.computerized, non-role-

playing game, while some of the negative aspects as revealed by

the literature, were eliminated.

Critique

The empirical literature on educational simulation gaming,

based largely on research using role-playinsc games, indicates a

number of positive aspects of gaming:

1. Students learn at ?east as much at the cognitive level

from games as from other methods of instruction.

2. Interest and enjoyment is higher in learning situations

Using games.

3. The teacher's classroom role tends to shift from a center-

front focus to a learning facilitatobr.

4. Games provide children with opportunities to try out

other roles in life and to experiment with problems they have

not yet encountered.

These exercises appear to give children

more of a sense of control over their futures, which seems

to be

-18-

a crucial factor in school success.

A contradiction brought out in the

empirical-studies is the

claim that ability and background knowledge are important

variables

in successful game play while at the same time other authors

claim

games enable reaching children of all abilities and

background.

Two major drawbacks have also been noted that are specific

to role-playing games:

1. In games requiring role-playing, the players sometimes

succeed in becoming absorbed in their roles and sometimes do not.

When players cannot empathize with their assigned roles in the

games, success is lessened.

Games often have passive role require-

ments which players usually find boring.

2. Role-playins games tend towards similar design

character-

istics so that after playing several games the structural

differences

amOng them blur.

A new and potentially productive area of educational

gaming

is emerging that might be labelled

"computerized games of strategy".

The main benefits resulting from these new kinds of games

are:

1. Computerized games of strategy eliminate the

problems

noted above as occurring in role-playing, board games.

2. Computerized games of strategy maintain the key

strengths

of games, especially gaming's ability to increase the

students'

. ,

sense of control over their future.

Games seem able to create

this sense of efficacy by bringing real world problems into the

classroom and allowing the students the opportunities to practice

making real-world decisions.

The empirical research indicates

a correlation between this sense of

efficacy and school success.

Games, in their variety of forms, have become a standard

-19-

part of new curricula, especially in the

social sciences.

This

critical review indicates that it is incumbent upon

designers

and developers of curricula using games

to evaluate and build

upon this underlying base of

empirical findings.

-20-

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