Educators considering implementing a computer simulation must decide on the optimum placement of the simulation in the unit of instruction to maximize student learning. This study examined student achievement using two different placements for the computer simulation, The Civil War, in a unit of instruction of 8th grade American History students in a suburban middle school.

Research has shown that students interest in academics declines significantly with age, especially in the areas of math and science (Kahle et al., 1993; Wigfield, 1994; Wigfield and Eccles, 1992). One approach to combating this problem is by using new technologies to engage students who otherwise would not be interested in learning. In the AquaMOOSE project, 3D graphical technology is combined with a constructionist learning philosophy to create an environment where students can creatively explore new mathematical concepts. The AquaMOOSE socio-technical system has been developed using an iterative design process. Three formal studies were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the system, as well as several smaller scale evaluations. The first study was conducted during a six-week summer program where students were able to use the AquaMOOSE system during their free time. The second study explored different learning issues in the context of a comparison-class study at a local high school where one section learned about polar coordinates using standard curriculum materials and an equivalent section learned the same material using a curriculum designed specifically around the AquaMOOSE system. The final study of the AquaMOOSE system was in an eight-week after-school program at a local high school where a balance between structure and creative freedom was explored. In this thesis, the iterative design and evaluation of the AquaMOOSE socio-technical system is presented. Evidence from this process is used to suggest implications of using 3D technology and constructionist philosophy for teaching complex mathematical content. The findings presented address issues of using constructionist learning environments for complex content and the tradeoffs of using 3D technology for educational systems.

When people do an easy task, and another person is nearby, they tend to do that task better than when they are alone. Conversely, when people do a hard task, and another person is nearby, they tend to do that task less well than when they are alone. This phenomenon is referred to in the social psychology literature as "social facilitation" (the name derives from the "good" side of the effect). Different theories have been proposed to explain this effect. The present study investigated whether people respond to a virtual human the same way they do to a real human. Participants were given different tasks to do that varied in difficulty. The tasks involved anagrams, mazes, modular arithmetic, and the Tower of Hanoi. They did the tasks either alone, in the company of another person, or in the company of a virtual human on a computer screen. As with a human, virtual humans produced the social facilitation effect: for easy tasks, performance in the virtual human condition was better than in the alone condition, and for difficult tasks, performance in the virtual human condition was worse than in the alone condition. Implications for the design of instructional systems as well as other systems involving human-computer interactions are discussed.

Simulation in nursing education involves an instructor observing students performing a specific task using an anatomical model, standardized patients, or high-fidelity simulation using a simulator. This education method allows creation of realistic clinical scenarios to allow nurses to perform tasks in a safe learning environment. However, accurate performance in the simulation lab must be replicated in the clinical environment to impact patient outcomes. Chapter 2 is a systematic literature review resulting in 21 articles addressing dependent variables, conceptual frameworks, study designs and outcomes measured in new nurses. Knowledge, simulation satisfaction, confidence, and clinical performance were common simulation outcomes studied. Only 7 research articles reported using a theoretical framework. Even though most of the studies used self-reported measures to demonstrate improvement in the studied variables after simulation, none of the studies used objective observation in the actual clinical setting after simulation. Assessing performance in the actual clinical environment after simulation is an opportunity to link simulation education to patient outcomes. Researchers should explore if learned skills in simulation are transferred to the real clinical setting resulting in safe and competent care. This gap in the literature was the impetus for the study described in Chapter 3. Chapter 3 focuses on a quasi-experimental study on new nurses hired at an oncology institution to determine if skills learned in the simulation lab transferred to the clinical setting. The study’s aim addressed if a difference exists in clinical observation scores between the intervention group (involved in simulation) and control group (not involved in simulation) when performing a central line dressing change. Fifty-six participants were consented with 19 nurses completing all data collection points. No significant differences were identified between groups. Chapter 4 is a narrative account applying the concept of resilience to the doctoral dissertation experience during a pandemic. Using Richardson’s Resiliency Model, the challenges of performing research on staff development during a pandemic are presented. The presence of a stressor (pandemic) and the resulting stages of disruption and reintegration are described resulting in resilient reintegration during the doctoral research process. Simulation is an educational methodology in academia and staff development. However, outcomes such as confidence, knowledge and simulation satisfaction are over-studied and there is a need for studies to focus on if skills performed during simulation are replicated accurately in the clinical setting. In addition, simulations should be designed to ensure they are addressing the identified construct (e.g. clinical judgement). In addition, the logistics involved in observing practice at the point of care is challenging due to unpredictable factors such as staffing, patient acuity, and operational decisions that may impact study design present unique challenges. Keywords: Simulation, new nurses, resilience

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In this PhD thesis, the utilisation of interactive simulation in a higher education e-learning classroom environment was explored and its effectiveness was experimentally evaluated by engaging university students in a classroom setting. Two case studies were carried out for the experimental evaluation of the proposed novel interactive simulation e-learning tool. In the first case study, the use of interactive agent-based simulation was demonstrated in teaching complex adaptive system concepts in the area of ecology to university students and its effectiveness was measured in a classroom environment. In a lab intervention using a novel interactive agent-based simulation (built in NetLogo). For the purpose of teaching complex adaptive systems such as the concept of spatially-explicit predator prey interaction to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the University of Stirling. The effectiveness of using the interactive simulation was investigated by using the NetLogo software and compared with non-interactive simulation built using R programming language. The experimental evaluation was carried out using a total of 38 students. Results of this case study demonstrates that the students found interactive agent-based simulation to be more engaging, effective and user friendly as compare to the non-interactive simulation. In the second case study, a novel interactive simulation game was developed (in NetLogo) and its effectiveness in teaching and learning of complex concepts in the field of marine ecology was demonstrated. This case study makes a twofold contribution. Firstly, the presentation of a novel interactive simulation game, developed specifically for use in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the area of marine ecology. This novel interactive simulation game is designed to help learners to explore a mathematical model of fishery population growth and understand the principles for sustainable fisheries. Secondly, the comparison of two different methods of using the interactive simulation game within the classroom was investigated: learning from active exploration of the interactive simulation game compared with learning from an expert demonstration of the interactive simulation game. The case study demonstrated the effectiveness of learning from passive viewing of an expert demonstration of the interactive simulation game over learning from active exploration of the interactive simulation game without expert guidance, for teaching complex concepts sustainable fishery management. A mixed methods study design was used, using both quantitative and qualitative methods to compare the learning effectiveness of the two approaches, and the students’ preferences. The investigation was carried out by running interventions with a mixture of undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Stirling in a classroom environment. A total of 74 participants were recruited from undergraduate and postgraduate level for both case studies. This thesis demonstrated through two case studies effectiveness of the proposed novel interactive simulation in university e-learning classroom environment.