The Guide to Computer Simulations and Games

What′s in a game? Often, a learning tool

What do simulations and games have in common? Surprisingly, just about everything. The methods used to create both are much the same; the underlying technology is identical.

But games are fun. That makes them an excellent learning tool. If you′re a professional trainer, educator, development team leader, or corporate decision–maker, this book will help you understand and use games and simulations to educate and explain. Filled with examples, it shows you how to create and maintain different types of simulations using computerized techniques without becoming a programmer.

Make more effective use of games and simulations

Better evaluate existing simulations and games for educational use

Understand how games work and how they are built

Become familiar with the terminology and concepts of game development

Learn to analyze and use the information produced by a game in a learning situation

Design and build better simulations and games

Introduction xxix

Part I Context 1

Chapter 1 Spoilers 3

Chapter 2 Fundamentals 35

Chapter 3 Going Digital 53

Chapter 4 How Programs Work 75

Part II It′s About Time 95

Chapter 5 The Stuff of Which Simulations Are Made 97

Chapter 6 Randomness 119

Chapter 7 A Single Server Queuing System 145

Chapter 8 Visualization 175

Chapter 9 Verification and Validation 205

Chapter 10 Sims and Games for Learning 233

Part III Designing and Building Simulations 265

Chapter 11 Simulation Tools 267

Chapter 12 A Hospital Emergency Department (Single Server Queuing System II) 301

Chapter 13 Boarding a Passenger Airliner (Decision Making) 327

Chapter 14 Cooking Simulation and Food Safety 349

Chapter 15 The Stock Market (Serious Game) 371

Chapter 16 Now What? 393

Appendix Simulations, Games, and Software 397

Glossary 403

Index 421

Katrin Becker, PhD, is an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She designed one of the first digital game–based learning courses and has won awards for commercial game design.

J. R. Parker, PhD, is a professor at the University of Calgary and a multimedia and game expert. He authored Algorithms for Image Processing and Computer Vision, also published by Wiley.