Enhancement Of Students Learning Using
Simulation Games
Project Team
Principal Investigator: / Mr. Sohail AkhtarCo-Investigator: / Mr. Atiq Siddiqui
Co-Investigator: / Mr. Mehmood Khan
Department of Systems Engineering
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
Abstract
Simulation games are excellent illustrative tools that provide elements like visualization and hands on experience. These games have great utility in education and are known to be one of the superb student centered learning approaches. These games allow students to practice critical thinking and decision-making skills.
In this project, three simulation games are developed for a basic introductory course (SE 100: Introduction to Technology). These games will enhance the utility of the labs in the course. The developed games will cover the areas of management, power generation and manufacturing/production. SupplyChain Simulator deals with a network of facilities and distribution systems that carries out the task of procurement and transformation of materials from manufacturer to the customer. Machine Shop Simulator provides a practical scenario in the machine shop of a manufacturing facility with variability in the quality and workload. SimPower deals with the transmission of electricity from a number of power generating stations to the load centers with the variation in demand and supply.
Macromedia Flash and ActionScript (Flash scripting language) are used as a development tools. The games are further improved on the basis of the SE faculty feedback.
Introduction
Simulation games are excellent “Illustrative tools” for students centered learning. They provide practical decision-making and management experience that allows participants to quickly see the consequences of their decisions and strategies without the fear of failure or reprisal.
Their teaching effectiveness is usually very high as they provide a unique way to reinforce the theory discussed in the classrooms. As the players generally become deeply involved in the gaming situation they develop a desire in doing well in the game and therefore the simulation becomes closer to reality. These games provide a chance for the students to visualize and experience a practical scenario of what they learn in their coursework.
Obviously, simulation gaming is not a substitute for more formal approaches of teaching theories and methods of a particular subject. However, it complements these approaches and hence can prove to be extremely effective. An exciting feature of these games is that students concentrate on decision-making. It is this intensity that gives the simulation games the richness and teaching effectiveness.
The project is inspired by a workshop on ‘Increasing Effectiveness as a University Teacher’, carried out in the beginning of the current semester (Term 021). The project is proposed for the course SE 100 (Introduction to Technology). The objective of this course is to help students become technologically literate. This is a core course for all CIM (College of Industrial Management) students, with an average enrolment of around 200 each semester.
This basic course introduces the impact of technology on our lives giving an overview of technological resources and focuses on problem solving methods. A section of the course is devoted to communication technology covering computers, networking & electronic communication. Another section elaborates production technology, material processing, manufacturing and construction management etc. The students are then introduced to energy, power and their transmission.
In this project, three simulation games are designed that will help the students get a feel of the real world problems in the context of what they have studied in different areas of contemporary technologies, i.e. manufacturing & production management, and power generation and transmission. These simulation games are designed in such a way that the students will be able to visualize the dynamics of the system by useful animations and stochastic scenario changes. These games will also give the students a chance to encounter different decision-making situations. Since these games are intended to be used in labs, it will increase the effectiveness and utility of the lab work.
Following sections describe the games developed & feedback received from SE faculty.
Machine Shop Simulator
The process of machining is referred to as removing unwanted material from a work piece in the form of chips. A machine tool is a piece of equipment designed to accomplish a specific process. Machining process changes the value and quality of raw material. A process typically involves a series of steps or operations and utilizes a machine tool.
One of the trends followed by the contemporary manufacturing giants is to outsource most of its molding, casting and machining task to various reputed companies in the market. These companies use the machine shops in their production plants for the machining of these parts.
Machine shop on a manufacturing shop-flour is a core activity. It acts like a service department for the whole plant. This shop basically provides the tooling facilities for the development of new parts, vendor parts and the damaged parts of some machines in the plant. This shop may be equipped with a number of machines and tools. The use of a certain machine or tool depends on what attributes like accuracy, productivity and the cost must be maintained for the plant or for the customer.
In this game we have two categories of machines in two different shops. One shop is equipped with highly precise machines while the other has some ordinary machines. Once the game starts, you (the player) will have to decide which shop type to use to minimize the cost and to meet the customer requirements.
Title Screen
It shows the name of the game with an icon and a field for the name of the player. (Page 7)
Introduction Screen
On this screen students will find an introduction of the game. Push buttons at the bottom of the screen provide a text guide to the player. These text guides describe the game, its parameters, machining processes etc.
Text Guide Screens
Game
This screen describes the general scenario of the game to the player. It also gives the player some information about the two machining shops, their processes, quality, capacity and the costs of machining.
Parameters
This screen tells the player some rules and the cost and quality parameters of the game. It also introduces the player with the variables used on the playing screen and the total duration of the game.
Processes
This screen illustrates some common machining processes.
Machines
This screen shows the icons of different machines used in the game. Each icon will take the player to a new screen describing the particular machining process with its quality and usage.
Game Playing Screen
This screen provides a visual interface to play the game. The player finds two shops here with their machines. A selector allows him to choose a suitable shop for a particular order. Each press of the “proceed” button indicates a new order with its size and required attributes. Every next press of this button updates the workload in the two shops, indicates the number of days the last order has been kept waiting in each shop, the total processing cost and the total waiting cost at the bottom of the screen.
SupplyChain Simulator
Spply chain is a network for providing goods and services from a manufacturer to the retailer. The performance of the supply chain is judged by parameters like inventory holding cost, backorder cost, transportation cost etc. A decision made at any node (manufacturer, retailer etc.) affects the overall performance of the supply chain.
Objective of the game is to run a supply chain of a commercial product (e.g., electronic equipment or a machine etc.). The player will be acting as a manufacturer who will take decisions that will enhance the performance of the whole supply chain. A key aspect in making a good decision is to take into considerations the time delays that are involved in receiving the orders from retailer to manufacturer as well as the delays in product delivery from the manufacturer to the retailer. The player should keep the inventory and backorder levels to as low as possible.
The screen shots of the developed game ‘SupplyChain Simulator’ are attached.
Title Screen
Showing the name of the game with an icon and a field for the name of the player.
Shown on page **.
Introduction Screen
On this screen students will find an introduction of the game and playing rules and objectives. Push buttons at the bottom of the screen provide a text guide to the player. These text guides describe types of power plants, power losses and transformers etc.
Shown on page **.
Text Guide Screens
Concepts
This screen Introduces a student or a player with the basic terminologies and definition used in supply chain.
Games Rules
Game rules and game playing along with the relevant information & parameter values such as cost of inventory holding, cost of transportation, maximum playing time allowed etc are mentioned on this screen.
Scenarios
This screen describes the three scenarios that arise during the courses of the game. The description of these scenarios are given below:
1st Scenario - "The Traditional Chain":
"The Traditional Chain" begins with the start of the game and lasts for initial few days. During this period a player must act alone & independently without any knowledge of the other components (no information from distributor or retailer is shared). This is the case where a company waits for an order to arrive and to react accordingly.
2nd Scenario - "The Value of Information":
"The Value of Information" is the next phase. In this scenario a player is exposed to all the information flowing in the supply chain i.e., flow of material downstream and flow of order upstream. In this scenario a player understands the value of reduction in time delays in the information flow and can see the effects on his/her performance. The out side demand pattern remains either fixed or follow step change to keep the dynamics of the supply chain simple. Using the information seen at retailer and distributor the manufacturer can forsee and plan his production.
3rd Scenario - "The True Market":
Finally uncovers the "The True Market" scenario where a player is exposed to the more realistic situation. The demand in this case becomes stochastic (random) so that a player has to manage his/her supply chain with more realistic and complicated circumstances. The information sharing remains same as in the "The Value of Information" scenario.
Components
This screen introduces a player with the manufacturer, Distributor and retail market icons.
Transportation
This screen introduces a player with the icons used for different transportation modes.
Game screen
This screen provides a visual interface to play the game. The information shown on this screen is the current Inventory, back order and new orders of manufacturer, distributor and retailer. Since the player is acting as a manufacturer, two controls are available with the manufacturer icon. One control i.e., a vertical feeder button controls the production of the manufacturing plant. The other is a toggle button that allows the player to select the transportation mode. The game starts with the 1st scenario i.e., the information show is of manufacturer only. The scenario changes after a few days and all the information are exposed to the player. The third scenario starts after next few days and lasts till the end of the game. The player is suppose to use all of the present information to decide how much to produce, how much to keep in his inventory and what should be the mode of transportation so that not only his cost is minimized but the over all supply chain cost is kept to a minimum. The individual and over all cost are show on the screen using a performance monitor. The game lasts for 50 days.
Sim Power
The electric power, we use at our homes and offices, is provided at 110V potential difference. Electricity is generated at a power plant. Many different types of power plants are in use because of the ease of primary fuel availability and geographical factors e.g., hydro, thermal and nuclear power plants. Each has its respective cost of setup and production. From these power plants, electricity is transmitted to our homes and offices by means of electric cables. These have resistance due to which power losses occur. Electric power loss is governed by the formula PLoss = I2 R where R is the resistance of the cable which cannot be altered once we have selected a cable and ‘I’ is the current flowing through it. We can alter the current by use of transformers. Electric power is given by the relation P = V I, now if we want to decrease the current we have to increase the voltage. This objective is achieved by using a step-up transformer. Close to the residential area another transformer (step-down transformer) is mounted to bring the voltage down to our requirement (110V in our case).
In the developed game we have some residential areas, industrial units and villages at some distance apart with different load requirements. Different types of power pants are located at different places in this habitat, to serve the loads. Objective is to satisfy the load requirements of the dwellers at the lowest possible cost.
The screen shots of the developed game ‘Sim Power’ are attached.
Title Screen
Showing the name of the game with an icon and a field for the name of the player.
Shown on page **.
Information Screen
On this screen students will find an introduction of the game and playing rules and objectives. Push buttons at the bottom of the screen provide a text guide to the player. These text guides describe types of power plants, power losses and transformers etc.
Shown on page **.
Text Guide Screens
Power Plants
This screen describes the power generation principles and shows the icons for different power plants. Each icon describes the working principles of each power plant.
Power Losses
This screen gives mathematical illustration of the power losses that occur during power transmission with an example to evaluate the losses taking place in a specific transmission line.
Transformer
This screen describes the basic principles of step-up and step-down transformers and their importance in power transmission. An example is given to show the effectiveness of step up transformer to reduce the power losses.
Icons
This screen describes different icons used on the playing screen with their specifications and description.
Distribution system layout screen
This screen provides a visual interface to play the game. One hydro, one nuclear, one coal and two thermal power plants (based on oil or gas fuel) have been selected. Each plant has different production capabilities and is surrounded by cities, industrial units and villages. High (red colored) and low (black colored) power lines are shown that will serve to reduce the losses while transmitting power. Each demand center can be supplied with an alternate supply source if some fault occurs or demand exceeds the capacity of the already serving power plant. Scroll bars are provided to change the production level of any plant.
The player will act as a ‘Power Supplier’ with the objective to meet the demand and increase the profit. Faults and the demand changes are added so that the player has to change the amount of power from power plants; keeping power losses, cost of production and service reliability in mind.At each press of the “Proceed” button, the scenario of the game changes in terms of demand and production capacities of the power plants. The performance parameters shown at the bottom of this screen depict the ‘Power Generated’, ‘Customer Demand’, ‘Power Supplied’, ‘Total Line Losses’ and ‘Slack or Surplus Generated Power’ for the current day or night. Total Cumulative Profit for the complete run is also indicated.
Evaluation screen
For evaluating the player’s performance, optimum results will also be evaluated in the background. These will be shown on this screen with the player’s performance.
Faculty Feedback
A feedback regarding the relation of the game with the SE 100 course, students’ learning and the games’ graphics/animations is collected from the SE-faculty. The instructors teaching this course are asked to fill a 12-point questionnaire after the demonstration of three games. The graphs below show the response of this survey.