Online Simulations and
Role-plays:
Work in Progress
Margaret Bearman and Laura Dean
Health Informatics Education
Monash Institute of Health Services Research
Why Simulations & Roleplays?
• Comment from evaluation of discussion
forums in Graduate Diploma of Health
Informatics (DipHI):
– “… this was the best segment of the
course … I only wish there was a way to
make it more interactive …”
Initial Drivers
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Wanting more interaction between students.
Wanting to teach theory in context better.
Wanting to teach technical subjects better.
Our postgraduate students come from
different disciplines: wanting them to see the
world through different eyes.
Cross-Faculty Involvement
• Contacted the course coordinator of
Masters of Information Management
(MIMS) within the Faculty of IT.
• Hoping to share teaching and for
students from disciplines to work
together.
• Interested in the concept of online roleplay.
Online Role-Play
• Australia has a high focus on this type of
learning.
• Pioneered in 1998 by Andrew Vincent –
politics of the Middle-East.
• Highly dynamic, self-directed simulation
based on ‘real-life’ scenario. Individuals take
on well known political roles.
• Other simulations: environmental
engineering; business studies; political
science.
Benefits
• Collaborative, interactive, situated learning.
• Highly enjoyable.
• ‘… successful at allowing participants to integrate
and communicate their existing knowledge rather
than collecting in-depth knowledge specific to the
scenario.’
– McLaughlin and Kirkpatrick.
• Learning outcomes as good as traditional
means.
• Permits anonymity.
Limitations
• Extremely time-consuming for developers,
teaching staff and students.
• Issues of students adjusting to the technology.
• Importance of moderator/controller.
• Issues regarding group work and interpersonal
relationship within roles.
• Extremely intense experience.
• Restrictions of exclusively electronic
communication.
Online Simulation
• Unknown territory.
• Wanting to explore ways of learning
about technical problems in context.
• Keen to use collaborative interactive
techniques.
• Possible to simulate systems or
networks through email message
passing?
SIF Funding
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Developing two (or more) templates.
Educational design as template.
WebCT template.
Based on development and evaluation
of four simulation and role-play activities
in MIMS and DipHI.
Approach – Role-play
• Keen to structure to reduce time.
• Gilly Salmon’s five phase model as
inspiration/guidance.
• … but still maintain the advantages of
free-form interaction in role-play…
• Mapped to Aristotle’s five phases of
dramatic narrative.
Approach - Simulation
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Restricted to a focused exercise.
Again use Gilly’s model to structure.
Again use narrative to anchor.
Situated simulation exercise becomes
integral but small part of overall learning
experience.
Two Role-plays & a Simulation
• We’re currently developing two role-plays and
one simulation.
• The subjects are:
– Knowledge management in the undergraduate
medical curriculum (role-play).
– Staff recruitment for web-based information
systems (role-play).
– Decision analysis support systems in health care
(simulation).
• One simulation still to start development.
KM in Medical Curriculum
• The Associate Dean (Teaching) in the Faculty of
Medicine has invited a group of academics and
general staff to form a knowledge management
committee.
• Individuals have a range of competing agendas and
attitudes towards both the medical curriculum and
technology.
• As the role-play unfolds, the committee members
must discuss potential solutions.
• Ultimately the group must provide three key
recommendations.
Decision Analysis in Health
Care
• Students are introduced to readings about decision
analysis in health care.
• Simultaneously they complete a series of
e-tivities, following Gilly Salmon’s model.
• As part of these, they ‘simulate’ decision analysis
software in assisting a young woman make a
personal health care decision.
• They reflect on the impact of the decision-making
process and possible uses of technology.
• The experience aims to personalise the abstract.
Template Framework
• Each week’s activities is outlined in
overview, including assessment.
• Additionally, each e-tivity or group
interaction is clearly delimited as to:
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Purpose.
Quantification of what is required (if possible).
Expected time.
Tutor input.
Issues – Role-play
• Making a role-play is an inherently difficult
educational design task.
• Choosing an appropriate narrative is key.
• Integration of the exercise into the course is
vital and requires on-going involvement from
all players.
• Questions remain regarding different cultural
understandings of role-play, in particular
assuming character (query for evaluation).
Issues - Simulation
• Ensure exercise is pedagogically sound.
• Monitoring the simulation to make sure that it doesn’t
‘break down’.
• Cross-faculty issues – simulation has to be
appropriate for two very different student groups.
• More powerful but specific web-based simulation tool
versus generic but specific solution using Web-CT
email versus individual simulations with group
discussion.
WebCT - Positives
• Easy to use for IT-illiterate.
• Development support from CeLTS.
• Stable, consistent platform across the
University with access via Authcate.
• Learning Management System tools –
including tracking assessment
submissions.
WebCT - Negatives
• Difficulties in supporting sophisticated
interactions. For example:
– Difficult to create log-ins as ‘roles’ (not
Authcate).
– Lack of ability to create more sophisticated
interface designs.
– Uploading materials is a convoluted
process.
Evaluation
• Formative evaluation has begun – an
on-going process.
• Evaluation during use will consider
issues of effectiveness as well as
particular queries that have arisen out of
the design process.
• Templates should be completed by end
2003.