Capitalizing on the Most Important Part of a Learning Session: The Experience

We may know Maria Montessori as a namesake for numerous schools worldwide that espouse the need for hands-on learning experiences. However, her legacy as one of the most influential educational researchers and theorists is not as widely known as some others. When we read about influencers of education theory we think of names such as Dewey and Piaget. Constructivism itself, a theory that suggests that we construct our knowledge is often associated with these two gentlemen. Interestingly, while it is difficult to find any direct quotation that we construct our knowledge in the literature produced by Dewey and Piaget, avid readers of Montessori’s work know that she used the term, construct very often when describing the learning process. Piaget studied under Montessori and performed a number of research studies as head of one of her schools, so it is not surprising that they shared some basic beliefs on learning.

At their school, Montessori showed that even those individuals given up on by society; those said to be unteachable, learned languages and other useful information from the experiences in their environment. All three educational theorists recognized the importance of the experience as the most important part of the learning process. Likewise, all three recognized that we can have all sorts of experiences, good and bad, and that learning was a natural process in life. Montessori (1949) described the inner teacher in all of us and recognized that one problem in a lot of learning experiences occurs when a facilitator tries to take over the role of that inner teacher. Debriefing is an important learning tool, but certainly not as valuable as a well-constructed learning experience. It is during the experience that learners use existing knowledge to work through materials that they may not be familiar with. Others in the learning environment contribute to making sense of the learning experience, but it is that inner teacher in us all that generates the reflection-in-action process and intrinsic motivation to connect learning with the experience. Failing to view the experience as the most important learning event for the participant implies that the learners are not capable of constructing knowledge themselves and require the full imposition of the teacher or debriefer, full of their own prejudices and ideas (Montessori, 1949, pp. 248-249). Learning will occur with or without a debriefing. As Montessori (1949) brilliantly stated years ago:

So we found that education is not what the teacher gives: education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual. It is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher then becomes not one of talking, but one of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity spread in a specially prepared environment (p. 7).

Learning does require an experience and a reflection process. Dewey (1933) recognized the experience as very important, but accentuated the reflection-in-action process as particularly significant for learning during an experience. When we reflect-in-action, we describe our understanding of the experience (Schön, 1983, p. 276). Former editor of Simulation & Gaming, David Crookall (and many others I am sure) recognized that “learning comes from the debriefing, not from the game” (Crookall, 2010, p. 907). Others may believe that, however, I feel that debriefing adds value and enriches the learning experience, but the experience belongs to the learner and their inner teacher. If you have a quality learning experience that encourages reflection-in-action, you can have quality outcomes. If you want to improve upon the experience, debrief it.

Years ago, I started playing video games, some for education purposes and some for entertainment. Some favorites of mine from the entertainment category were DOOM® (id Software), a first-person shooter game, and WARCRAFT® (Blizzard Entertainment), a real-time strategy game series. Both games involve a learning process that one goes through to make it to the end of the games, which is what Bogost (2005) may refer to as obtaining procedural literacy. After understanding the rules for the game, players immerse themselves in the experience. Through trial and error, and a reflection-in-action process that may have included thoughts such, as that didn’t go so well, players navigated from one area of the map to another while gaining experience and resources along the way.

Similarly, while developing a central venous catheter course years ago, I found myself outside my comfort zone as I am not a clinician or healthcare worker. After analyzing a great deal of research on the subject that included an analysis of errors and records of success with this clinical procedure, I parked myself in front of a partial-task, anatomically correct simulator, armed with the same kit that clinical providers used to place lines in their patients. I practiced the procedure repeatedly and through the experience and an ongoing reflection-in-action process, I discovered how to be successful (oh, I must aspirate immediately as a needle breaks the skin or I can go beyond the vein) and discovered how errors are made (ah, when I introduce the needle this direction I can hit the artery and that’s not good). When I packaged the course, I used instructional design principles that allowed the learner to learn the objectives and rules for the learning session. As part of providing the foundation and boundaries for the learning session, they may receive a demonstration of best-practices and all the resources needed for the procedure. It is their own practice with the procedure or the experience that is most beneficial. The learners try out the skills and procedures and engage in their own experience that includes a reflection-in-action process of their own. In an article that I am currently preparing, I shed more light on the importance of the reflection-in-action process and a valuable tool we can use to help make the most of it.

In this issue, Xinogalos (2018) describes a master course aimed at providing students with an overview of design, evaluation and development involved of serious games. While the course provided the students with relevant knowledge and/or experience needed for understanding serious games, the learning plan and the research plan that accompanied it focused on the learning experience and deliverables that were expected by the end of the course. We seem to be learning that as well as leading to enrichment, simulation and gaming can be used as a form of assessment as part of the learning experience. In another article, Açıkel, Turhan, and Akbulut (2018) explored the influence of different working positions and multitasking scenarios on simulator sickness and performance in 3D Aerodrome Control Training. I personally found the results interesting as males and females seemed to be affected by the experience in different ways. Interesting, but not surprising, as all learners are influenced by the experience in different ways because each experience is unique to the learner. Montessori (1949) viewed these unique learning experiences involved in the formal education environment as preparation for life. Very often, environments benefit from collaboration and the critical insight of others involved in the same learning experience. An article by Hämäläinen, Niilo-Rämä, Lainema, and Oksanen (2018) explored the collaborative nature of three-dimensional learning games to respond to the needs of working life. Here they emphasize the design of the experience, just as Montessori (1949) emphasized the “specially prepared environment” (p. 7). In particular, the authors of this article accentuate the diverse game mechanisms that may increase collaboration in games to make them more beneficial for education purposes.

Our Games Ready to Use section contains an interesting article by Evangelopoulou and Xinogalos (2018) about an educational game titled, MYTH TROUBLES, focused on helping students with understanding Greek Mythology. The experience is designed to accentuate the student self-learning process and includes integrated self-assessment modules that may assist with the reflection-in-action process described earlier in this article. The researchers asked teachers to evaluate the game for its value as an educational tool and the results were very positive.

Speaking of positive, our 2017 efforts in Simulation & Gaming would not be successful without the work of our editorial team and wonderful reviewers that we rely on so much. Our reviewers, all volunteers, set aside many events in their busy schedules to ensure among other things that the content in our articles is stated correctly and flows properly. Most reviewers go above and beyond and make several suggestions that very often drastically improve the first version of articles for the better. The reviewers also help us to ensure quality by providing us with their thoughts on publication decisions for the articles. While the editorial team reserves the final say, we rely heavily on the advice and wisdom of our reviewers. They help us take care of you, the readers of Simulation & Gaming and for that, we the editorial team are very grateful. In the acknowledgement of reviewers for Simulation & Gaming, we acknowledge the reviewers that agreed to review articles for us in 2017. Of course we remain ever grateful to those not mentioned who have reviewed in subsequent years as well. In most cases, if we did not send something for them to review in 2017 it was likely because the articles did not fit their expertise.

Look for some great things coming from Simulation & Gaming this year including a special issue on gamification. Our readers are in for a treat as some of the big names in the simulation and gaming industry take on the topic with some rich, critical thought. Administratively, we have some important changes coming early in the year as we expect final approval of some influential leaders to join our editorial team. Life is full of experiences, good ones and bad, but each is an opportunity to learn and perhaps serve others. Make sure your simulation & gaming learning experiences model real life and bring out that inner teacher in your learners.