Vol. 7 No. 1 (2025): Teaching with Simulations and Simulation Games

This issue of ASSERT offers teachers insight into teaching practices with simulations and simulation games. This issue begins with a commentary from the editors, Evers and Wright-Maley, which offers cautionary advice on the limits of simulations, including their potential for harmful misuse and how teachers might anticipate and avoid these issues. The second article by Paulson and Albrecht provides readers with insight into their design process for creating a simulation that is accessible to students with an array of learning needs. In the third article, Hicks, Ogle, and van Hover offer teachers a glimpse into the use of extended reality simulations for promoting historical thinking about hard and hidden histories, as well as advice on the importance of contextualization, scaffolding, and how it may be used effectively in ways that balance critical analysis while avoiding role-playing traumatic events. Finally, Kessner and Harris’s article demonstrates the value and limitations of a made-for-school video game and how simulations may require teachers to create wraparound classroom activities for students to get the most out of them. Taken together, these articles offer teachers important guidance for how to work most effectively with simulations.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez  on Unsplash