Simulation-based Activities Research Articles

Assessment of Human Patient Simulation-Based Learning

The most common types of assessment of human patient simulation are satisfaction and/or confidence surveys or tests of knowledge acquisition. There is an urgent need to develop valid, reliable assessment instruments related to simulation-based learning. Assessment practices for simulation-based activities in the pharmacy curricula are highlighted, with a focus on human patient simulation. Examples of simulation-based assessment activities are reviewed according to type of assessment or domain being assessed. Assessment strategies are suggested for faculty members and programs that use simulation-based learning.

On Foot in SIM City: Using SIM Copter as the Basis for an ESL Writing Assignment

This article describes a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) simulation-based activity for ESL writing using SIM COPTER. Participants have two roles: (a) a pilot who must locate an assigned destination and write directions how to walk there and (b) a visitor who must use another participant’s directions to get to an unknown destination. Superficially an exercise in writing simple street directions, the activity requires a serious consideration of audience initially beyond most beginning ESL student writers. The activity makes the concept of audience more accessible by concretizing it. It is argued that ESL texts do not adequately deal with the concept of audience. CALL simulation-based writing activities provide an ideal way to do so in a realistic, communicative way.

On foot in Sim City: Using Sim Copter as the basis for an Esl writing assignment

This article describes a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) simulation-based activity for ESL writing using SIM COPTER. Participants have two roles: (a) a pilot who must locate an assigned destination and write directions how to walk there and (b) a visitor who must use another participant’s directions to get to an unknown destination. Superficially an exercise in writing simple street directions, the activity requires a serious consideration of audience initially beyond most beginning ESL student writers. The activity makes the concept of audience more accessible by concretizing it. It is argued that ESL texts do not adequately deal with the concept of audience. CALL simulation-based writing activities provide an ideal way to do so in a realistic, communicative way.

Addressing students' common difficulties in basic electricity by qualitative simulation-based activities

Simulation-based activities provide students with an opportunity to compare their physical intuition with the behaviour of the model and can sometimes offer unique advantages over other methods. This article presents various approaches to the development of qualitative simulation- based activities and describes how these activities can be addressed to students' common difficulties in basic electricity.

Determining accuracy bounds for simulation-based switching activity estimation

Discrete simulation-based methods for switching density estimation can provide very accurate results, but some unresolved problems such as determining the required number of input patterns to guarantee a final accuracy impede the usefulness of this technique. In this paper, we present novel solutions for the following issues in switching density estimation: 1) derivation of simulation stopping criteria based on run-time information, and 2) a priori estimation of the number of input patterns required to guarantee a final specified accuracy. These problems are solved through the definition of a set of multinomial random variables and functions based on the parameters of these random variables. Experimental results indicate that the proposed techniques deliver a reliable stopping criteria as well as accurate a priori estimation of the number of required input patterns.