The last week of January I gave a talk at a conference where I urged a group of teachers to consider ways to introduce simulations into their classroom as a means of engaging students. These simulations do not have to be computer programs because any time that you take kids, ask them to solve a real-life question, and make sure that their product is viewed by a third party, you are simulating what they will be called on to do in the “real world” some day.
This week, I was constantly asking myself two questions:
- If students are trying to simulate functions that they will be asked to complete one day, then why are we still asking them to accomplish this using information that is dated and, in some cases, obsolete?
- How can we be calling these activities “simulations” if we are isolating the content and information that is readily accessible to students in one course?
I am going to be answering these two questions in the next couple days via individual posts, but I wanted to give everyone some time to think and comment on them. Of course there are the obvious answers to the questions, but the more that I sit and ponder, the more convoluted my thinking on the topic becomes.
I think simulations are a huge piece of the puzzle to creating a classroom that is engaging for kids. In many cases, they attempt to provide relevance to an antiquated curriculum, and a lot of times they fail at accomplishing this task regardless of concerted efforts by the teacher.
I challenge you to think along with me on this topic. In addition, please be sure to share the thoughts that you come up with especially, if you have more thought-provoking questions on the topic. Be sure to leave those in the comments below so that everyone can think about them as well, and I promise to dedicate a post to each question so that we can have concentrated analysis of it.
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Hi Aaron,
This is a topic that interests me deeply. You may be interested in a couple of posts I wrote on the topic:
http://www.learninggeneralist.com/search/label/simulation
Sumeet
Sumeet,
Thanks a lot! I’ll check them out.
Aaron,
To me, the great value of a classroom is that it allows one to limit the amount of information with which students work to manageable proportions. A simulation is not the actual thing, but a model that uses elements of the actual task in such a way that the inputs and outputs can be examined to allow for discussion and learning. All of us (students and teachers alike) are awash in information, but few of us have, or are allowed to develop, the skills necessary to evaluate, make sense of, and learn from it. A good simulation sets up a framework where this can be done – where students and teachers can experience, discuss, make sense of and learn from what transpires. Once students have mastered the skills to take on expanded information, the simulation (or one of its successors) can be expanded to incorporate more.
Bill,
I feel the same way about the use of simulation and how its expansion stimulates thinking and learning (not to mention engagement). What I am concerned about though is whether the content is suitable for the simulation. For instance, we can always kids to “make a museum” or “create a website for a company,” but do these activities allow for kids to combine multiple content areas and make attempts at predicting situations in the future? Are teachers emphasizing that students think about these ideas as they prepare simulations? As important as knowing the past is, if students are unable to make that knowledge applicable to the future or assess the present then it’s all for naught. Thanks for engaging in this conversation with me. It has really gotten me thinking recently.
Thanks again!
When I taught social studies, I tried to structure the simulations in which I asked students to participate in such a way that they had to think first as individuals, second as small group participants, and lastly as a class. I usually selected topics and activities that contained ethical dilemmas (but not always), and found that these almost guaranteed student engagement and buy in.
Here are links to three examples that I’ve posted on my web site.
1) http://www.classroomtools.com/tough.htm (civic engagement)
2) http://www.classroomtools.com/dearabby.htm (engaging historical characters)
3) http://www.classroomtools.com/eye_news.htm (simulating TV news production using historical situations)