ABSTRACT
Training simulations provide a virtual practice setting in which skill and knowledge development can be accomplished (Office of Technology Assessment, 1995; O’Neil & Robertson, 1992). However, it is very difficult to create instructionally effective simulations because the state of the art in instructional technology for simulation is weak. Although there are several theoretical frameworks offered to describe instructional simulations (Alessi, 1988, chapter 10, this volume; Reigeluth & Schwartz, 1989; Thurman, 1990), there is practically no empirical research using these or any other frameworks. Unfortunately, there is little funding in either civilian or military settings for this type of research. Moreover, the empirical evidence that exists for the effectiveness of instructional strategies indicates that free play instructional simulations are not instructionally effective (Fletcher, 1990; Kulik, 1994). Free play simulation implements a discovery learning approach
in which the participant completely controls the pacing, sequencing, etc. of the simula-tion. There is very little instructional structure. In general, there is little instructional research using virtual environments (but see exceptions: Dede, Salzman, Loftin, & Sprague, in press; Winn et al, 1997). The limited research base has focused mainly on feasibility studies (e.g., Mowafy & Miller, 1993; Williams et al., 1997), comparisons with other approaches to teach the same instructional goals (e.g., Grant & Magee, 1998; Rothbaum et al., 1995), Virtual reality-specific issues such as telepresence (e.g., Draper, Kaber, & Usher, 1998), and general descriptions of virtual environments (e.g., Durlach & Mavor, 1995). Likewise, there have been few evaluation studies (but see exceptions: Hettinger, Brickman, Roe, Nelson, & Haas, 1996; Jacobs et al., 1994; Johnson & Wightman, 1995; Youngblut, 1998).
