Mayer, R.E. (Ed.) (2005). Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. New York: Cambridge. [Chapter 33]

Annotated Bibliography

In chapter 33 of Mayer's book there is a discussion of games, microworlds, and simulations. In a simulation, interaction is design or teacher directed.  The author discusses the challenge of designing simulations to best show what the underlying model is.  Simulations are built on a set of principles or rules and the learner interacts with the simulation within the confines of those rules.  To address this problem and to direct learners’ attention appropriately, sometimes a gaming aspect is introduced to a simulation where there is a goal that needs to be reached.  However, some studies have shown a disadvantage to games in that learners become so preoccupied with achieving a goal they do not focus on learning a task.  The author also discussed the impact of having students create games as a learning task for the creators as well as the game players.  In a microworld interaction can be directed by the learner.  The author suggests three goals are common to all microworlds, they offer a way to explore concepts and principles that underly complex system, they focus on qualitative understanding and they try to reduce the difference between learning and doing science.  Finally the author discusses the idea of design research as a method of study for these instructional formats.

My Thoughts

The difference between these types of interaction design seems to be a bit hazy.  It is clear that these are identifiable, however a simulation could have a gaming component and microworlds could have simulations etc.  The author actually discusses the benefits of each which would make it logical to assume that there would be advantages to further blurring the lines between these types of interaction and choosing to use each one when it is appropriate for the learning situation. 

In EEMIO we have made what seems to lean towards the label of a microworld with a lot of gaming components.  By adding the physical element there are aspects of a simulation involved or even a virtual world.  It seems best to use the appropriate elements for the learning situation instead of trying to classify or limit the design to one form or another.