Simulation and Gaming can be Used to Determine Validity While Engaging in Collaborative Environments

A search of the term, role play in the Simulation & Gaming journal website search engine brings 893 results. The search term, validity bring backs 446 articles. The term, collaboration returns 250 results, and engagement, 578 articles. So do we as Editors in Chiefs and Associate Editors for Simulation & Gaming ask for more studies that incorporate simulation and gaming in these areas? The answer is of course, yes indeed. As busy as he remains, we have to wrestle with Co-Editor, J. Tuomas Harviainen to assign a role play article to any other Editor or Associate Editor other than him. Long ago, Dr. Harviainen adopted the subject of role play as a passion because he found the value that this modality can have on learning environments in and out of the virtual world. That is, he found this modality can create engaging, collaborative experiences that derive from and contribute to the simulation and gaming research literature. Similarly, Jørgensen (2012) found that facilitator-researchers may engage with their role play participants in a form of grounded theory research, with each of them able to support their views, interpretation, and arguments. In a sense, this may add to the discussion on the validation process generated by simulation and gaming that I touch upon later in this article.

In this issue, we find two more examples of how role play can enhance or uncover the learning process in very unique ways. Through the character of others in a game or story, learners can engage in collaborative activities to understand the narratives and messages that may be surface when using gaming as an instructional tool (Cook, Gremo, & Morgan, 2017, p. 11). In addition, uncovering the feelings and messages associated with role play extend well beyond the game and can have other practical purposes. de Jong and Warmelink’s (2017) research showed that experiencing cultural differences can be challenging and sometimes uncomfortable for some learners. They used game design and role play to assist learners with understanding cultural differences as learners took on the culture of a person other than their own. If simulation and gaming, including role play are limitless as a teaching tool, then the potential to affect global decision-making may also have unlimited potential. Simulation and gaming can be used to spur civic engagement (Hassan, 2017) or be used to illustrate possible scenarios and decision-making processes involved in climate change that can be used by government agencies (Matzner & Herrenbrück, 2017).

Like climate change, validity as a subject can take many forms, offer many opinions, and affect research in a number of ways. Validity in research is often based on expert determination and specifically whether or not something measures what it is supposed to measure. In 1975, C. H. Lawshe described a formula that could be used by professionals to reach concurrence when exploring content validity. In this issue, we find two uses for simulation and gaming for accomplishing the sometimes-elusive task of validity: using serious games and team performance (Coovert, Winner, & Bennett, 2017) and using training sessions with questionnaires (van Lankveld, Sehic, Lo, & Meijer, 2017). In their research, both sets of researchers seek innovative ways of determining validity to confront real issues.

Since its inception in 1970, Simulation & Gaming has continually become known for its innovative and wide-reaching views of simulation and gaming across disciplines and professions. We saw many changes last year, including the editorial team asking authors to increase the value, validity, and depth of the Gaming Ready to Use (GRTU) articles. We were aware that in many cases, the games that were written about created engaging and collaborative environments, but we also balanced this with our shared beliefs or mental model that all articles published in Simulation & Gaming should be research-inspiring and research-based. This sort of publishing model ensures another level of validity when we ask authors to conduct rich reviews of the literature on which to base and support their own research and practices. Simultaneously, we look for articles that will add new meaning and evidence for how we educate, inform, and validate what we do in the process of developing people and improving systems.

While we have placed a high value on the debriefing process (and we will continue to do so), we know that the experience is the most important part of simulation and gaming. It is during the experience that engagement and collaboration occur, and new knowledge is considered through the actions of trial and error (Scullion, Livingstone, & Stansfield, 2014, p. 398; Whitton, 2011, p. 597). In the learning environment and during the experience, the learning community reinforces both skill and knowledge (Harviainen, 2012, p. 518). Kriz (2009) summed up this belief well when he stated, “Knowing not only if but also how a simulation works in a given context of use is necessary for bridging the gap between knowledge and action (p. 29). We are grateful for the many contributions from our simulation and gaming community. They validate what we know.