Learning Goals in Simulations

Why do scholar–teachers use simulations? This study presents an analysis of simulation goals in peer-reviewed simulations published over the past 20 years. The scholarship of teaching and learning emphasizes that educational goals are an essential first step in designing simulations. The flexibility of simulation designs allows the formulation of a variety of content-based, skill-based, and emotion-based goals. However, which of these goals are more prevalent in published simulations of political science and international relations? Is there a change in the stated simulation objectives over time? And do scholar–teachers outline simulation goals in the first place? This study answers these questions by collecting and analyzing data on the stated simulation objectives in a random sample of eighty-seven simulations published in the Journal of Political Science Education (2005–2021), International Studies Perspectives (2000–2021), and PS: Political Science and Politics (2000–2021). The key finding is that the simulation community is doing well and, over time, is making progress in outlining and diversifying the intended learning outcomes of simulations. What is still needed, however, is a greater recognition of the emotional impacts of simulations and their potential to advance not only student substantive knowledge but also their skills and emotional experiences, with all three in the same simulation design.