Cannon-Bowers & Bowers (2008)

Cannon-Bowers & Bowers (2008) is a very good review piece. It provides some good definitions of game, simulation and virtual reality. They suggested that "the constructions of game and simulation are not orthogonal" (p.318). I agree with that, especially when simulation is defined as a "working representation of reality" (p.318). Game can be a working representation of reality (although it may not have to be). Indeed, many games we play such as SimCity, Monopoly, or even chess, can be seen as some kind of representations of reality.

This article also provided some advantages of using games and simulation. For example, games and simulations can be used to provide practice environments for practice which is too dangerous or too costly to provide. We can also embedded instructional features such as feedback in the games and simulations. The authors also review some empirical literature regarding to the effectiveness of games installations. It is a very good source of references. The authors not only show the positive results of games simulations, but also provided a list of studies which show negative results of SLEs.

Finally, the authors suggested different factors that influence SLE design. For example, learner characteristics such a self-efficacy, goal orientation, spatial ability, and comfort with technology may affect the SLE design. This list of factors may serve as a checklist when we decide SLEs.