e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

15.1. The Case for Simulations and Games

A rash of conference presentations, books, and articles tout the use of simulations and games for learning. At the 2006 e-Learning Guild conference, over 12 percent of the presentations included the words "game" or "simulation" in their titles. Issenberg, McGaghie, Petrusa, Gordon, and Scalese (2005) report that 385 research studies on the use of high-fidelity medical simulations were published between 2000 and 2003.

Enthusiasts hope to leverage the popularity of entertainment games and simulations to improve learning outcomes. Some argue that the younger generation of "digital natives" raised on games and simulations have different neurological requirements for learning—requirements that demand highly ...