Business Simulations: Reality .......... AND BEYOND!

Abstract

The importance of reality is often cited in the literature and promotional materials as essential to quality learning from business simulations. But, commonly, these assertions do not define reality and do not explain why it is good. Two definitions of quality for business simulation are discussed - one measures is how accurately the simulation replicates the real world (reality) and the second how well the business simulation improves real-world performance. Measuring simulation effectiveness is reviewed and two measures of simulation efficiency are proposed. Effectiveness and efficiency are explored in terms of how meta-composition impacts cognitive processing and cognitive load. Meta-compositional elements are the design aspects that are independent of simulation subject and take design beyond reality! The discussion is illustrated using an actual simulation.