Much of our imagination about how computers can be used to enable new kinds of learning in the sciences is constrained by the box and monitor motif of the computer in the late 1990s. This project introduces Participatory Simulations, in which kids are actually players in a life-sized, computationally-mediated event. In keeping with the calls for inquiry-based science, developing skills for systems thinking, and fostering collaborative learning in science classes, this project explores how new kinds of learning can take place in the environment created by a Participatory Simulation.

During the past ten years, simulation, especially as it helps people to understand complex systems, has become a mainstream use of computational technology. The widespread popularity of game software like SimCity and SimLife gives a clear indication of the extent to which simulation games have permeated popular culture. Programs like Model-It, Stella, and StarLogo enable students to experiment with complex systems and develop better intuitions about the mechanisms that govern dynamic interactions. The Participatory Simulations Project investigates how direct participation in a simulation leads to a rich learning experience.

New technology developed at the MIT Media Laboratory enables us to take simulations off of computer screens and bring them into the experiential world of the learner. Students do not just watch a simulation; in a very real sense they are the simulation. By wearing small computers called Thinking Tags, the students each become agents in the simulation. As in earlier work with Thinking Tag technology, care was taken to preserve the participants’ natural social interactions, using the Tags to augment, not take over, communication and collaboration.

Through engagements with groups of students, this project examines:

• The role experience can play in science learning,

• New ways to foster collaborative analysis and theory-building among a community of learners,

• The important role of experimental design in building scientific understanding, and

• The role computational objects can play as environmental mediators and conversational props.

In particular, it looks carefully at how Participatory Simulations create a valuable learning environment and explores the role that the Thinking Tag technology plays in that creation.

More information about Participatory Simulations can be found at http://www.media.mit.edu/~vanessa/part-sims