simulations miscellany, 21 February 2012

Some recent items that may be of interest to PAXsims readers:

• Wargaming Connection has featured several interesting posts of late by Paul Vebber regarding the  NUWC (US Naval Undersea Warfare Center) Strategy and Innovation Gaming Group. Check out the blog for his thoughts on using Eurogames as a hook to build interest in more complex wargames, the “game vs simulation” debate (which raged on the milgames forum for days), the issue of concept development as game design, and other topics.
• At Play the Past, Trevor Owens reflects on modelling religion in Civilization IV.
• USA Today continues to report on the practice of allowing former military officers who have since joined defence contractors to participate in military wargames, an issue that is now receiving some Congressional attention. For previous reporting on the potential conflict of interest see here, here, and here.
• CRISP, an international NGO that uses simulation tools to examine issues of civic education and civil conflict management (especially in the Balkans, Caucasus region and Middle East/North Africa) is looking for an intern for July-September 2012 with simulation interests or experience. You’ll find details here.
• GMT Games has posted several background pieces by game designer Volko Ruhnke regarding insurgency and counter-insurgency in Colombia and his forthcoming game Andean Abyss. The four short articles providing interesting insight into how the game models political, military, and resource dynamics:
  • #1: Andean Abyss: Local Security as a Key to COIN
  • #2: Nation Hostage to the FARC
  • #3: The AUC’s Right-Wing Army
  • #4: Chess Player of Cali

• On the Facebook page for USIP’s Open Simulation Platform, Skip Cole has flagged a very useful 2006 article from the journal Simulation in Healthcare on the topic of simulation debriefing. It goes beyond why debriefing is important to explore how it might best be done:

Sharing critical judgments is an essential part of learning in simulation and debriefing. Instructors often avoid giving voice to critical thoughts and feelings because they do not want to appear confrontational and they worry that criticism might lead to hurt feelings or defensiveness on the part of the trainee. Voicing critical judgment poses a dilemma for many instructors: “How can I deliver a critical message and share my expertise while avoiding negative emotions, preserving social ‘face’ and maintaining my relationship with the trainee?” This paper offers an approach to debriefing that addresses this dilemma.

The existing debriefing literature provides little guidance on how to create an environment in which trainees feel simultaneously challenged and psychologically safe enough to engage in rigorous reflection. By “rigorous reflection,” we mean a process that brings to the surface and helps resolve the clinical and behavioral dilemmas and areas of confusion raised by the simulation experience. Drawing on a 35-year research program on improving professional effectiveness in the business world through “reflective practice,” this article articulates a model of debriefing for medical simulation exercises.