Don't let history repeat itself—methodological issues concerning the use of simulators in teaching and experimentation

Simulators can be used for experimentation and for teaching purposes. How far promises of useful applications of simulators in these areas are justified is, however, an open question. Evaluation research on simulators is still in its infancy, both inside and outside the system dynamics community. A reason for this is methodological issues that derive from the nature of experimenting/teaching, but which are also caused by the specific characteristics of simulators. Fifteen such issues are identified and explained in this article and classified into three categories; methods for the mitigation of these issues are discussed.