http://www.cardiacscience.com/assets/003/5281.pdf AED manual
BY STEVE
Definition: Simulations
“Simulation” is the general term for creating a false image. In criminal law, “Simulation is the act of simulating or assuming an appearance that is feigned or not true. It implies the assumption of a false appearance. Criminal simulation is a feigned or fictitious transaction to effect a fraud” (USLegal.com). In the area of training and education, the primary focus of this article, simulation is understood to give the user a way of practicing and learning through active interaction.
A leading authority in the creating of simulations, Clark Aldrich, describes the emerging “culture of interactivity.” He observes that “computer games are becoming more popular than movies, and social networking is becoming more compelling than magazines” (p. 5). He advocates new skills for teachers to help students learn faster. Aldrich defines simulations as “serious games that are closer in application to movies or magazines that try to influence students’ behavior in the real world” (2009, p. 15).
Experts on simulations point out that human beings naturally use simulations to learn about new situations and reduce stress that arises from new challenges.
“We simulate shaking hands with the person we are scheduled to meet and we plan different things we might say,” writes Aldrich, adding examples of athletes who “see” a track or route in their heads, drivers who try to remember which side of the car has the gasoline tank’s cap, and nervous applicants who go through role plays to cover expected questions at an upcoming interview. While we often associate the word “simulation” with aircraft simulators or other equipment, scientists use “thought experiments” (such as Einstain’s “riding a light beam” exercise to describe his theory of relativity), which are another form of simulation.
Of particular interest to educators is the role of simulations in schools. When a teacher uses a game to introduce a new topic, that’s a simulation, though not dependent on technology. A Wikipedia article lists 28 categories of simulation, including military, healthcare and educational settings.
Strengths of Simulations
Aldrich gives an example of how highly interactive virtual environments (HIVEs) deliver better results than less stimulating learning situations. Students took tests before and after working with a simulation called “Supercharged” (aimed at teaching students about the electromagnetism), while a control group participated in an interactive lecture. The control group improved their understanding by 15 percent, while the students who used the simulation boosted their scores 28 percent.
Weaknesses are quickly apparent:
a) Cost of purchase and/or development (not enough computers)
b) Cost of training teachers and students\
c) Cost of obsolescence
d) Stability of the simulator (viruses,
e) Inflexibility (an instructor can change her lecture to match a new textbook, but a simulator might be
f) The opportunity cost of frozen resources, which might not be used more than once a year. What else could be purchased for the money invested in the simulation?
Some of the costs can be shared by other institutions. Classes that might use the simulator in the beginning of the year, while others could cover that chapter and use the simulator later in the year.
Effectiveness of Simulations
Aldrich offers three reasons why HIVEs (complex simulations) work better than the most interactive and stimulating lecturer.
Games serve as learning tools. Students are more likely to be engaged the knowledge being transmitted has a context.
Emotional involvement: “Only if we have an emotional stake in the content does our brain release the chemicals in the amygdale and hippocampus necessary for memory,” explains Aldrich (quoting a study by Ledoux 1998).
When we are actively engaged in learning (instead of passively receiving information from a lecture), we develop skills. The classic study cited by Aldrich (Held and Hein 1963) involved a pair of cats, one placed in a cage on wheels that was pulled around by a second cat (connected by a leash to the mobile cage). The active cat developed normal depth perception, while the passive kitten did not. (Aldrich did not indicate what happened to that passive kitten -- did it ever gain depth perception when released from the cage?)
References
Held, R. & Hein, A. (1963). “Movement-Produced Stimulation in the Development of Visually Guided Behavior” Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 56 no. 5 (1963) 872-6. An image of the experiment was retrieved at http://www.goes.com/hovancik/exp/kit_caro.htm
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EDG 9200-Post 6 Michelle
Simulations have been used for the purpose of ascertaining unknown information about a possible future event. A set of known variable or circumstances are used to simulate an actual event in order to study the effects of those variables, all within a protected environment. The use of simulations has been applied to many disciplines for decades from the field of: education, to healthcare, and Emergency Response. Without simulations people would be ill prepared to meet the challenges of unknown situations that lie ahead. Simulations are a way to teach and prepare individuals to act under a simulated “real life” conditions, without the fear of personal danger.
John Dewey, the father of the experiential education movement and a prominent American Philosopher discussed the relationship between experience and learning in his well-known book Experience and Education published in 1938” (http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1963/Experiential-Education.html#ixzz12H6tw5p0). Dewey believed that learning was an active process and students would learn best from real-life tasks and challenges. From his work the use of classroom simulations was born. Within classroom simulations teachers create the scenarios for the students to engage in that will best fit the learning objectives. The types of simulations can include, but are not limited to; role playing, game simulations, and simulated trials. A strengthen of use of Simulations in the classroom is that students learn by actively engaging in the activity. By experiencing these hands on activities the students gain knowledge about the subject matter utilizing all three learning styles; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. This author has yet to find a weakness for the use of simulations to increase student learning and achievement. The future for the use of classroom simulations is bright, as simulations are used to teach future pilots to fly, surgeons to practice surgery, and public health officials how to respond to emergency situations.
The Health care profession has used computer simulators to train doctors to treat “simulated” patients. These programs are designed to provide information about the patient’s condition such as electrocardiogram results, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. Doctors are able to determine virtual treatment plans from this data. There are now programs that allow surgeons to practice surgery. Having simulated practice, the surgeons are better prepared to perform the actual surgery. Better prepared surgeons and doctors means higher success rate, which translates into more lives saved. According to the study released by Johns Hopkins University, The Road Map to Preparedness: a competency-based approach to all-hazards emergency readiness training for the public health workforce “Simulation training is an essential educational strategy for health care systems to improve patient safety. The strength of simulation training is its suitability for multidisciplinary team training. There is good evidence that simulation training improves provider and team self-efficacy and competence on manikins. However, no evidence yet shows that crew resource management training through simulation, despite its promise, improves team operational performance at the bedside” (Parker, CL., Barnett, DJ., Fews, AL., Blodgett, D., Links, JM., 2005).
Another example of the use of simulations is in the field of Emergency Response. Scientists at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have worked tirelessly, since the attack on the World Trade Centers on September 11th 2001, trying to predict future attacks and what the consequences would be if bioterrorism was the weapon of choice.
“Since acts of bioterrorism could become reality, the medical profession finds that it must understand bioterrorism and its manifestations and how to deal with them. Physicians in all specialties must become knowledgeable about presenting symptoms and other health ramifications. Knowledge about community impact and effects on medical personnel has become a primary concern” (http://www.anesoft.com, 2002).
In a the study by University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Using gaming simulation to evaluate bioterrorism and emergency readiness education., Olson, Scheller, Larson, Lindek, and Edwards evaluated the impact of public health preparedness training to determine the differences in the way individuals responded to the emergency who had participated in the simulated emergency training program versus those professionals that did not participate. The results indicated that participants completing at least 45 hours of training demonstrated higher effectiveness scores, than those who did not participate (Olson, et al, 2010). The conclusions drawn from this study is that the research demonstrated that training is significantly associated with better performance in simulated emergency using gaming technology (Olson, et al, 2010). With such promising results this author believes that the use of simulated emergency training programs will continue.
The use of simulations to teach and prepare individuals for future success in their field of study has been well documented in the literature. The hands-on learning increases both engagement in the task and later retention of the information. As technology continues to make advancements with its ability to create simulated learning opportunities in all areas, this author believes that traditional learning models will be abandon and students will be truly learning by doing as John Dewey had advised 73 years ago.
Works Cited
Experiential Education - Brief History of the Role of Experience in Education, Roles for the Teacher and the Student. Retrieved October 13, 2010, Retrieved from,http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1963/Experiential-Education.html#ixzz12H6tw5p0
Olson, D. S. (2010). Using gaming Simulation to evaluate bioterrorism and emerency readiness education. Minneapolis: Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences. Public Health Rep. 2010 May- June; 125(3) 468-77
Parker, C. B. (2005). The Road Map to Preparedness: a competency-based approach to all haaards emergency readiness training for public health force. Baltimore: John's Hopkins Center for Public Health. Public Health Rep. 2005 Sept-Oct; 120(5): 504-14
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Jose
Jose Garces
POST 6: Uses of Simulations in various fields
Uses of simulations today need as a requirement the use of a computer system to evaluate a process or protocols. Guide the individuals through the specific steps of experiments, models construction and learning experiences in Manufacture, Education assessment, Health sciences skills, Criminal justice evaluations, Politics between others. (Smith, 1998) define simulation as a process of designing a model of a real or imagined system and conducting experiments with that model. Roger Smith (1998) state: " a purpose of simulation is to understand the behavior of the system or evaluate strategies for the operation of the system".
Many events trace the impact of simulations in many areas as mention before. Areas as Manufacture, Education and Health are the focus of recent advances to improved skills in designs and sequences of protocols. Since 1940 and 50's around the world many people evaluated the facts to create innovations that simulate real and daily processes. Table 1.1 trace the events that used simulations to enhance the attractions as computer games and film productions. Companies as Disney become pioneers in the developments of attractions that conquer the imagination of many people.
Table 1.1 Evolution of simulations through years
Simulation in manufacture generates advances in the process evaluations; engineers could make a prediction before the structure of a facility was developed. Assuring this, best uses of the capital investments. (Bennedetti, 2008) state : "manufacturing represents one of the most important applications of simulations. The techniques represent a valuable tool used by engineers when evaluating the effect of capital investment in equipments and physical facilities like factory plants, warehouse and distribution centers".
Manufacture need to predict events in performance and quality. Quality of products at the end of the process its assess before consumer received it in their houses. Bennedetti (2008) mention: "simulation can be used to predict the performance of an existing or planned system and to compare alternative solutions for a particular design problem".
In Education the use of simulations its visualize differently; because many schools and Universities need to assess the learning objectives before the student graduates from its concentration. These advances in education help to developed assessment plan more accurate per class and level (year of study). In the book of (Hertel, 2002) mention: "Simulations create and use a complete environment within which students can interact to apply theory and practice skills to real-world issues related to their discipline. Simulations constitute a powerful tool for learning. They allow teachers simultaneously to integrate multiple teaching objectives in a single process. They motivate students, provide opportunities for active participation to promote deep learning, develop interactive and communication skills, and link knowledge and theory to application".
In future Health Sciences classrooms will probably need to contain several kinds of simulators. This will allow students to enter the clinical years better prepared, and with a higher skill level. These simulators will reduce damage to patients in the clinical settings. Professors and students don't have to worried about the consequences of malpractice procedures. According to (Samuel Merrit University, 2010) as its mention in their webpage "The focus on patient safety in recent years has created the need for creative and effective learning strategies in health professional education that promotes a culture of safety and human error reduction. Simulation-based learning offers many opportunities to accomplish this goal. At a basic level, simulation provides a safe learning environment in which novices can obtain skills training, therefore real patients are not involved or at risk" at the same time the same university state:"Simulation promotes the integrated and reflective learning that contributes to the development of qualities in healthcare practitioners resulting in high clinical performance: leadership, critical thinking, sound judgment, and effective interpersonal communication".
As many innovations; simulation had its strengthens and weakness. Strengths are based on the economic benefits because every product could be evaluated before its implementation. Smith (1998) mentions: " simulation allows the analysis of a system's capabilities and behavior without requiring the construction of or experimentation with a real system". In education you had the chance to increase skills and learning of students in the classroom and in health sciences you could guarantee the patient safety.
The weakness is the high prices of these equipments (simulators), making them not affordable by many industries, educational institutions and healthcare providers. Also this equipment doesn't guarantee the simulations of real problems in its totality. Smith (1998) state: " the problems of interest in the real world are usually much more complicated" . In overall simulation have more strengthens than weakness.
References
Bennedetti, O. & Tjahno. (2008). Toward and improved tool to facilitate simulation modelling of complex manufacturing systems. International Journal of Advanced manufacturing Technology , 43 (1/2),191-199.
Hertel, J. & Millis Barbara (2002). Using simulations to promote learning in Higher education: An introduction. Stylus Publishing.
Samuel Merrit University. (2010). Retrieved October 16, 2010, from http://www.samuelmerrit.edu
Smith, R. (1998, July). Simulation Article. New York. Retrieve from: www.modelblenders.com/encyclopedia/encyclopedia.html
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