Written by Dr Elisa Pieri

Lecturer in Sociology, Urban Sociology SOCY70061, Security, Radical Uncertainty and Global Pandemics SOCY30352 and Cities and Urban Life SOCY30061

My research on security and preparedness has brought me to reflect on practitioners’ use of simulation and modelling in the context of rapid or real-time decision making. Simulations, however, are also incredibly valuable to enhance learning in our university classrooms.

Practitioners and policymakers often use simulations when seeking to handle complex scenarios of risk and uncertainty, and to test their own capabilities and preparedness against such scenarios. Key objectives are to stress-test certain abilities. Most commonly, in complex and large-scale simulations, they test lines of command-and -control, the efficacy of channels of communication and the ability to work effectively and concertedly under time-pressure and in stressful environments, often across agencies. Other objectives may be to test the ability to maintain continuity of government, of service delivery or of infrastructure integrity. At the more mundane, simple simulations can teach very key skills too – e.g. how to correctly and rapidly wear personal protective equipment to prevent infection when handling an Ebola patient.  

I have argued elsewhere (Pieri, 2021) that the large-scale simulation exercises that generate much of our preparedness planning are often derailed by their design and the culture within which they are deployed. Principally this is due to the lack of inclusivity, as even large simulations often lack involvement of key stakeholders, of citizens, of social science expertise. They are also not transparent, nor accountable: their results and inbuilt assumptions tend to directly feed into crisis planning without wider scrutiny and causing various problems down the line.

Nonetheless, simulations have also great potential, including for enhancing our learning environment in our classrooms. I introduced different types of short simulations, approached critically, in the units I convene, ranging from police-led simulations on designing the built environment to encourage and discourage certain behaviours, to simulations of a global pandemic caused by intentional release of a biological agent, amongst others smaller scale simulations.  I have noticed over the last 10 years that students benefit from their immersive and experiential learning qualities. Simulations are not only effective opportunity to cater for different learning styles, which is something we aim to do in our teaching. They also engage the mind and the senses simultaneously, which shifts the classroom conversation from abstraction towards allowing a strong link to be made between the theoretical content of the lecture and readings and the handling a concreate scenario. This stimulates deep learning by engaging problem solving dynamics, allowing for the mobilisation and application of knowledge, and engendering reflexivity – for example generating a clear awareness of some of impacts each step taken in the simulation creates. This experiential approach can be deeply engaging and stimulating for the students who get invested in the process of finding a solution or discussing the next best step, while reflecting on the consequences of various courses of action.

Like any technique, simulation is best deployed critically and blended in with other methods to achieve a good balance of learning activities and styles in an inclusive classroom. Deployed in that fashion, it has the potential to greatly enhance our students’ learning experience and the learning outcomes.

References

Pieri E (2021). Pandemics: The Basics. London: Routledge.