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Computer Games and Simulations for Investigation and Education >> Content Detail



Calendar / Schedule



Calendar

WEEK #TOPICS
1Introduction and Overview of the Course

Game Brainstorming and Categorization: Initial Game Definition

Participatory Simulations Introduction - Live Long and Prosper

Game Exercise: Responses
2What is a Simulation? What is a Game?

Activity - Finding happiness on a checkerboard:
What defines a game? a simulation? a model?
What makes a game educational?

The Modding Revolution
3Exploring "Educational" Simulation and Games

Introduction to Edutainment Simulations:
Civilization® III
SimCityTM 4
Roller Coaster Tycoon® 3
Rise of Nations®
Chemicus/Physicus
ZoombinisTM

Poster Presentation 
4Edutainment in the Classroom

Mayor for a Day - SimCityTM

SimCityTM in the Classroom Links:
Urban Planning
Almost the Real World
What Do Game Designers Know about Scaffolding
Uses and Subversions of SimCityTM
SimCity™ 3000 Teaching Guide

What do you learn through these environments?

How can curriculum determine the learning experience?

See Pictures of Q&A from Class
5Video Games - Board Games

Edutainment Wrap-up and Gee Readings Discussion. (Please read Gee book and Squire papers.)

Intro to Board Games Activity (see description weeks 6-8)

Study on Transfer

Zoombinis™ Study: Brainstorming Educational Board Game 
6Designing and Developing Games to Teach (and Participatory Simulations)

Activity - Designing a board game:
What are the issues in designing an educational game?
How do we solve these issues?

Network Participatory Simulation

Participatory Simulations - Understanding Systems from the Inside 
7Designing and Developing Games to Teach

Critique and Feedback on Initial Board Game Ideas

Special Guest - Steffen Walz
8-9Designing and Developing Games to Teach - Presentations

Board Game Preparation and Testing

Readings Discussion

Board Game Presentations - 20 minutes of playable game
10-11Simulation and Game Design - Adventures in Modeling

What is a simulation?

Overview of Simulation Environments:
Agent Based (StarLogo, AgentSheets, Stagecast) vs. Aggregate (Stella, Vensim, ModelBuilder)
Programming vs. Equations vs. Visual
General Purpose vs. Specific Domain

Adventures in Modeling - Exploring Complex Dynamic Systems with StarLogo:
The next three weeks will be dedicated to developing simulations or games with StarLogo TNG, a brand new simulation environment under development.

Activities and Participatory Simulations

Evaluating Models: Good Models and Bad Models - What defines a "good model?"
Idea Models - How much detail/reality need to go into a model?
12Simulation Design - Adventures in Modeling

Begin Final Models

Introduction to Instructional Design
13Educational Research - How do people learn from simulations?

Introduction to Educational Research

Muzzylane
14Final Project Presentations

 








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