Week 7 Constructing Virtual World

Created on Feb. 18, 2007

Readings:

Casti, J. L. (1997). Would-be worlds: How simulation is changing the frontiers of science (pp. 1-36). John Wiley & Sons: New York.

Starr, P. (1994). Seductions of Sim Policy as a Simulation Game. American Prospect, 5(17),
Available online: http://www.prospect.org/print/V5/17/starr-p.html

Summary

Casti, J. L. (1997). Would-be worlds: How simulation is changing the frontiers of science (pp. 1-36). John Wiley & Sons: New York.

The author of this piece answered the following questions about simulation: How do the simulated worlds relate to their real-world counterparts? What types of real-world systems lend themselves to these electronic surrogates and why? How do we build such worlds? How can we use these electronic worlds to study the real world? What types of behaviors can emerge from the interaction of agents in their electronic environment?

According to the purpose of the model, there are there types of model: predictive model – model that predicts the future behavior of a system; explanatory model – model that provides a framework in which past observations can be understood as part of an overall process; and prescriptive model – model that offers people a picture of the real world that has various “knobs” built-in that we can twist one way or another to see how that reality might be affected.

It is neither necessary nor sufficient for a good model to faithfully capture all aspects of the phenomenon it represents. Instead, a good model should be able to answer in a convincing way the questions of explanation, or even better, the questions of prediction. In addition, the model should possess the qualities of simplicity, clarity, bias-free, and tractability. Creating virtual reality (models) with computer can help us to understand the operation of complex system, which could not be solved by traditional experiments.

Starr, P. (1994). Seductions of Sim Policy as a Simulation Game. American Prospect, 5(17),
Available online: http://www.prospect.org/print/V5/17/starr-p.html

As a tool of research, simulations and games would enable the theorist to define and grasp the underlying rules of social systems. As a tool of school reform, simulations would provide a more accessible, participatory method of education for children who did not respond well to traditional instruction (p. 3) However, as the author pointed out, to think of simulations games as mere entertainment or teaching tools is to underestimate them. This piece provided a short history of the ebbs and flows of simulation, and focused especially on simulations used to assess policy options (large-scale models). The author pointed out the significant influence of simulation models in policy making, and proposed that instead of believe in a single mechanism for simulating alternative policies and theories, we need to have many of them, and even better, we need to open up the blackboxes by making the models more transparent.

My Reactions

What kind of activity should be simulated? Name an experience or activity that you think is ideally suited to be simulated (and why)

Simulation has huge potential for learning new things. Especially at the times when it is difficult to learn a particular thing in real life due to various reasons such as: it is too costly, it is too dangerous, the opportunity is rare, the process is too time-consuming. Learning it with simulation could be less expensive, a lot safer, easily accessible, and time-saving. For example, if we have good simulation for driving cars, it is better to learn that with simulation. It is dangerous for a novice driver to practice on the road, but if he/she only practices in the parking lot, it is far from enough as the traffic situation is more complex on the road. If we can simulate various conditions that we can encounter on the road, the learner can practice how to deal with the situation without taking any risk. But we don’t do this probably because doing such simulation is too expensive nowadays.

My Questions (Questions for Discussion)

* What are the implications of simulation for education?

* Simulation is imperfect. How can we widely use it without being misled by it?