Participatory simulations: Building collaborative understanding through immersive dynamic modeling

This article explores a new way to help people understand complex, dynamic systems, participatory simulations plunge learners into life-sized, computer-supported simulations, creating new paths to scientific understanding. By wearing small, communicating computers called Thinking Tags, students are transformed into players in a large-scale microworld. Like classic microworlds, participatory simulations create a scenario, mediated by a set of underlying rules, that enables inquiry and experimentation. In addition, these new activities allow students to "dive into" a learning environment and directly engage with the complex system at hand. This article describes and analyzes a set of participatory simulations that were conducted with a group of high school biology students. The students' experiences are tracked from their initial encounter with an immersive simulation through their exploration of the system and final description of its underlying rules. The article explores the educational potential of participatory simulations. The results of this pilot study suggest an opportunity to further investigate the role that personal experience can play in developing inquiry skills and scientific understanding.