Adaptive Rule Changes in Computer Simulation Gaming - A Means of Pedagogical Reactive Interchange

Abstract

This paper deals with methods and procedures of responding more flexibly to the educational needs of the classroom situation. A computer simulation game usually provides a specified set of rules indicating competition procedures, permissible actions and criteria for payoffs. Generally, this established set of rules defines a finite number of options for the game player or student. Once these options are mastered, the computer simulation game often becomes susceptible to sensitivity analysis, linear programming, and other quantitative manipulations. At this point, the game may achieve the level of an elegant mathematical puzzle, distorting the pedagogical goals of the exercise. The exceptional student wins by his quantitative skills, while the average student is frustrated and loses the desire to learn the intended lessons.