INSTRUCTIONAL SIMULATIONS, pioneered by the military services, first became popular in the United States' school systems of the 1960s. Although the “back to basics” movement soon squelched their use, simulations today hold renewed interest with the current power and flexibility of computer technology. There exist two principal types of instructional simulations: “experiential” simulations and “symbolic” simulations. 

Simulations are similar to games in that they both transport the student to another world or environment where the student controls the action by applying a knowledge base. However, simulations differ from games in three important ways.

First, instead of merely trying to win (as in a game), a simulation participant takes on serious responsibilities, suffering or benefiting from his or her own decision-making.

Second, while travel through a game is linear (typically across a game board), a player's progression in a simulation is nonlinear, or branching. Each new set of problems or issues is a direct result of a participant's earlier decisions.

Third, while games are dictated by rules that are not necessarily realistic, simulations are governed by dynamic and authentic relationships among several variables.

An experiential simulation establishes a particular reality, then gives the participant a role within that reality. The student therefore becomes a functional component of an evolving situation. Experiential simulations allow students to learn and sharpen role-based problem-solving skills.

A symbolic simulation dynamically represents the behavior of some population, system, or set of processes. Here, the student is not a functional element of the evolving situation. From an external vantage point, the student conducts operations and manipulates variables lying within the simulation's population. Symbolic simulations allow students to discover and explain scientific relationships, predict events, and learn procedural skills. 

article prepared by John Weatherford
student, SDSU Dept. of Educational Technology