Design of an Impulse-Debriefing-Spiral for Simulation Game Facilitation

Background. Simulation gaming sessions can be understood as a sequence of briefing, game play, and debriefing - with feedback loops and iterative steps in between. Often, these sessions are supported by a facilitator, who organizes the session, sets learning goals, and guides the players through briefing, game play and debriefing ( Taylor, Backlund & Niklasson, 2012 ), which we call facilitation. Debriefing is a vital part of the facilitation process, as according to Crookall (2010) and Kriz (2010) , it facilitates learning. Contrary to many traditional models that locate the debriefing phase at the very end of a a simulation gaming session - starting with its planning to reacting on emerging needs of the participants in between, up to closing the session as last step before transferring new knowledge and competencies into a new context (learning transfer). Facilitation is the process of enabling participants to address challenging situations of the game play, and make connections between the game play and the real environment the game refers to throughout the simulation gaming session. Method & Results. We analysed existing debriefing literature within the Simulation & Gaming journal. This review revealed that many existing approaches do not sufficiently consider changing needs of participants during a simulation gaming session to allow for a direct reflection on what is happening. Instead, a large number of debriefing approaches focus on a post-action reflection only. Moreover, the approaches analysed in our article often are abstract and only provide scarce practical recommendations. In addition to the literature review, we draw conclusions from observations of our own work in and with simulation gaming sessions. Based on the related and our own work, we propose a new model for simulation game facilitation, which better connects moments of reflection with the game play - the Impulse-Debriefing-Spiral. Conclusions. We provide a holistic understanding of debriefing that helps facilitators when implementing simulation games for learning purposes. Our model, called the Impulse-Debriefing-Spiral, conceptualizes the role of facilitation between briefing and debriefing throughout the whole process of a simulation gaming session - starting with its planning to reacting on emerging needs of the participants in between, up to closing the session as last step before transferring new knowledge and competencies into a new context (learning transfer).

Let the Game Begin: Enhancing Sustainable Collaboration among Actors in Innovation Ecosystems in a Playful Way

Logistics and transport systems are complex systems for which sustainable innovations are urgently needed. Serious games are an acknowledged tool for training, learning, and decision making, as well as for helping to introduce innovative concepts for complex systems. Technological innovations for the transport domain that can improve sustainability are usually heavily dependent on the collaboration among actors. A simulation gaming approach can help these actors in understanding the challenges involved, and in finding solutions in a playful, interactive way. Our research approach includes a thorough literature review on games for innovation and collaboration in transport networks, and the development of two dedicated simulation games addressing sustainability innovations for the Port of Rotterdam, the largest seaport in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The two innovation cases are truck platooning and multi-sided digital platforms for barge transportation, both improving the sustainability of hinterland transportation. The games serve as instruments to reveal interactions and tensions among actors, contribute to the interpretation of their behavior, and eventually help all parties to reach a better understanding on how innovation adoption can be fostered, using an innovation ecosystem perspective. We are convinced that serious gaming, by providing a better understanding of the innovation process, will help the implementation of sustainability innovations in complex systems.

Indonesian Port Cluster Simulation Game: Understanding Complex System Through Simulation Game

Port Cluster is a collection of interdependent and involved companies in related activities in the same port area. Port clusters can be categorized as infrastructure. One of the characteristics of infrastructure is the number of parties involved in a problem, referred to as a Multi-Actor System. In a multi-actor system, policymaking becomes more complicated because it cannot be based on only one party's interests. Policymaking in this domain requires contemporary approaches where one of them is Simulation Gaming. This paper shows how Simulation Gaming can serve as an approach to comprehend the Indonesian Port Cluster, a multi-actor system.