Developing motivating collaborative learning through participatory simulations

Abstract

Participatory simulations are collaborative group learning activities whose goals are to improve teaching and learning, increasing motivation inside the classroom by engaging the learner in games simulating a certain system they have to learn about. It has been already applied to students of primary and secondary educational levels, however there are still not experiences reported with higher level students, although there are many learning subjects to which this technique can be applied. This paper presents the implementation of a framework-like tool for supporting learning activities in a business school with undergraduate students using mobile devices over an ad-hoc network. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.