“It’s Not in the Book! Discovering Diverse Social Experiences Through Simulation

Simulation represents an instructional strategy that offers much potential to engage students in social studies learning experiences that provide rich meanings. While they have similarities to role-plays and games, simulations have four distinguishing characteristics. Simulation offers students an intellectual journey that motivates them to explore alternative ways of viewing social relationships that build from taken-for-granted principles. For many topics, what better way is there to learn about something than to experience or live it? Asking, “What did they do?” “What were some of their options?” rather than “What would you do if you were this person?” invites learners on their own terms to put themselves in the shoes of another person simply by thinking about the decisions that they have in their lives. This article positions simulation as an essential instructional strategy that offers students experiential learning opportunities. It conveys the emotional responses to simulation that underlie its benefits and risks of classroom learning. Finally, it provides two examples for simulations for classroom use that have met with success.