Journal Article: Current Trends in Higher Education Technology: Simulation

In the article Current Trends in Higher Education Technology: Simulation, Andrea Damewood focuses on simulation technology as an educational tool. For the purposes of the article, Damewood uses the dictionary.com definition of simulation: a system representing or standing in for another system. Damewood focuses on simulations as they pertain to higher education nursing programs, but much of what she has to say can be used to discuss simulations for education in general. For example, simulations should have a high fidelity, or be highly realistic. With highly realistic simulations, the more real the learning experience while using the simulation, and the better the outcome for the student. This is because simulations are active learning experiences where students can apply what has been learned in class or lecture.  Simulations also produce a low-risk environment for students to explore and do their best to apply their content knowledge. The author also discusses how good simulations allow time for students to reflect on the learning experience and make additional meaning from what they have gone through. The learning theories that simulations touch on are experiential learning and social learning. In a simulation, students get to experience, first hand, a system that they may be using in their career. The social aspect of simulations is built in as students often collaborate with one another as they work through a simulation. According to Damewood, “we simulate to learn what we do not already know; to see situations from new angles; to learn from both our successes and our mistakes; and to experiment without risk to real people, environments, or property” (2016, p. 269).

I can definitely see where Damewood is coming from in her article. I have seen simulations as a technology trend in my own classroom, and have noticed the benefits of using simulations. Being a high school science teacher, we use simulated experiments all of the time. Programs like PhET are full of useful simulations that can make microscopic systems macroscopic. This idea of taking something so small that we cannot see it, like atoms, and blowing it up so students can interact with it is huge! Now students have an experience that they can draw to in order to make connections to what I have discussed in the notes. Going along with the article, I also like simulations in my chemistry classroom because of the low-risk factor associated with them. Not all chemistry experiments are appropriate to run in a high school classroom. With simulations, I can still give my students the experience of that experiment, while also taking out the associated danger.

Damewood, A. (2016). Current Trends in Higher Education Technology: Simulation. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 60(3), 268-271. doi:10.1007/s11528-016-0048-1