International ISAGA Summer School

Hosts
Speakers and presenters
Who should come?
Learning themes
Objective
Formats
Fees
Registration
Sponsors 

Participants in the ISAGA Summer School 2024 will explore topics relevant to developing skills as simulation/games designers and users and will address these learning goals.

• How to design simulations and games that can be used/reused (frame games) 
• How to provide effective instructions for both novice and expert users
• Understanding and being able to employ the basic skill set for effective facilitation of simulations and games both online and face-to-face, and how to build personalised skill development plans, 
• How to integrate research strategies into the ongoing use of simulations and games
• How to identify research topics to align with specific contextual research goals

The Summer School combines first-hand experiences of simulations and games, with theoretical analysis and in-depth discussion of key issues in the field of simulations and games as educational tools and strategies. It has evolved as a collaborative, invigorating, and rewarding space for personal skill development, the launching of new research projects, support for innovative and challenging uses of simulations and games and a time to expand networks and writing partnerships. A social program included is included in the week’s activities.

Our 2024 Hosts

The Summer School 2024 is hosted jointly by the Sydney campus of Charles Darwin University, Simulation Australasia, and ISAGA.

It will be held at Charles Darwin University Sydney Campus - Levels 8 to 11, 815 George Street Haymarket.

Speakers and presenters

Marcin Wardaszko 

Since 2003, Marcin Wardaszko has been a trainer and creator of simulation games and gamification systems for education, business, and consulting. He has authored many publications on game-based learning and serious games and is passionate about game design. Marcin heads the Department of Quantitative Methods and Information Technology and the MBA IT program at Kozminski University, in Warsaw, Poland and is also Visiting Professor at Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences.

As a member of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Marcin Represented Poland in Action CA18230 which produced the report on “Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representations.” He was the CEEMAN 2019 Champion in Teaching Award 9 He was the laureate of the CEEMAN 2019 Champion in Teaching Award (https://www.ceeman.org/competitions-awards/ceeman-champion-awards/champ…) for his innovative learning program based on a VR game.

Marcin collaborates with a number of international colleagues and teaches, researches and writes about games and gamification. He is generous with his time and support, and brings a wealth of knowledge to the Summer School.

Maria Freese

2024 ISAGA Summer School staff - Dr.-Ing. Maria Freese

Since May 2023, Dr.-Ing. Maria Freese has been working as a group leader at the Chair of Production Systems and Automation at the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg. Maria has qualifications in Psychology and Engineering and her current work focuses on Human-Technology-Interaction. She undertook her doctoral studies at the German Aerospace Center in Braunschweig and has experience in both academic and commercial applications of games and simulations.  and published articles – in German and English - on a range of topics including serious games, simulation games emotions decision-making and a facial action coding system (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=u-ufkSAAAAAJ&hl=de) 

At this Summer School Maria will collaborate with Birgit Zurn, Friedrich Trautwein and Marieke de Wijse-van Heeswijk to help participants explore the diversity of facilitation skills involved in working across the many forms of simulations and games that are available for use in research, work context analysis, education and play.

Dr. Ryoju Hamada (Roy) 

Dr. Ryoju Hamada (Roy) is an analog game developer and researcher based in Japan and Thailand. He studied law as a Bachelor and obtained a PhD from Tohoku University, Japan (2001) through research on Cyber Security and Privacy. His interest has been focused on supporting engineers who are no good at business, management, and finance., by using tangible games. He and his team built the first Business Game in 2007, and more than 30 games were unveiled by his team. In recent years, while working at the National Institute of Technology, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan, as a professor, developing three to four games every year. 

 Roy will run a workshop on gaming design and prepare contributions to the International Simulation & Gaming Competition 2024

Marieke de Wijse-van Heeswijk 

Marieke is an educator and research at Radboud University, in the Netherlands. She researches the effects of interventions of facilitators in the process of guiding learning in simulation games and playful learning environments. She has developed new methods to capture the hidden learning embedded in the action of simulations and games for learning and emphasises the importance of capturing learning during gameplay using scenario methods and feedback systems from within the activity itself. She is concerned with helping educators understand how such factor help to positively influence learning. Marieke is deeply engaged in designing and researching the use of simulations in organizational change and learning settings. Her doctoral research is combining work facilitation skills and their impact on the action in a simulation as well as larger organisational contexts.

Birgit Zürn

Birgit leads a team of educators at Centre for Management Simulation at Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart. This is a unique institution in the university landscape whose main focus is on the development of innovative educational concepts using simulations and games for a wide range of topics from business and management. Participants in these programs are enabled to think ‘as if’ in real contexts and assess the impact of their decisions while representing their own positions and opinions. The Centre promotes professional expertise as well as methodological and social competences. Through systematic integration of simulation game seminars into the study contents, students are well prepared for the assumption of responsibility in entrepreneurial practice. While leading this innovative and unique team, Birgit researched the use of simulation games for promoting learning in business contexts. Together with Friedrich Trautwein she has published (in German) a book on Simulation games - Experience what's to come: Development of future scenarios and strategies.

Friedrich Trautwein 

Friedrich is Academic Head of the Centre for Management Simulation at the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart. He began working at ZMS Stuttgart in 2003 diving straight in to learning to work with simulations. His role encompasses both teaching and research at the Centre and his writing is concerned with learning from and in simulations as well as the skills required to facilitate such learning effectively. He is co-author of several published articles as well as the book Simulation games - Experience what's to come: Development of future scenarios and strategies.

Elyssebeth Leigh

Dr Elyssebeth Leigh has been an educator for more than 40 years and revels in working with active and engaging environments to stimulate learning. Her passion is creating and managing simulations replicating aspects of real world conditions where learners are able to rehearse new skills and assess – and reassess - the quality of their existing skills. For more than twenty years her writing and research has focused on the skills required by educators to ensure that such environments are validly representative and effectively managed to support attainment of intended learning goals. She is co-author – with Dr Laurie Levesque of the new book “Facilitating Simulations” (Edward Elgar 2024) and more than 50 articles on facilitation and a range of other aspects about simulations and games in learning contexts.

Cat Kutay

Cat Kutay is an Information Technology and Engineering lecturer at Charles Darwin University, based in Darwin. She is descended from Aboriginal and Celtic seafarers and uses simulation in her teaching as much as feasible. Experiential learning is a significant support for many learners, but a load for the lecturer to maintain. Simulations are being created to cross cultural education for those developing technology for Aboriginal communities, for First Nations students to engage more with learning at university and for international students to engage with workplace skills for Australia.

Who should come?

• Educators using simulations and games for learning in all levels of education
• PhD candidates and students either employ simulation for research or research the design and use of simulations and games
• Simulations and game designers wanting to expand their repertoire of design concepts
• Researchers using – or considering – simulations and/or games as research methods or tools.

The number of participants in previous Summer Schools has ranged from 20 to 50 and the number of expert staff is aligned with the number of participants. 

Learning Themes

Educational skills and knowledge

Depending on participants' previous experience, novices and experts will work on relevant topics in suitable groupings and share their understanding and discoveries collaboratively. 

Evaluation of simulations and games and assessment of them for Research

Participant's interests shape choices regarding time spent on assessment and/or evaluation of learning gained from simulations and games and their usages for research purposes.

Sharing knowledge and skills

The results of each afternoon’s activities will be shared via engagement in relevant games and simulations, and impromptu lectures and discussions. A social program will support a friendly and collaborative atmosphere throughout the week.

Objective

Learning outcomes for all participants include

• Acquiring knowledge about different types of simulations and games and fields of practice where they are used
• Exploring development of personal expertise as shared by experienced lecturers 
• Expanding personal understanding of the domains of knowledge included in the phrase “simulations and games for learning”
• New perspectives on attending to the needs of educators considering the use of simulations and games for learning

Specific outcomes – depending on the choice of afternoon intensive workshop may include -

• Building competences to facilitate simulation games successfully
• Learning about the possibilities and pitfalls of facilitating simulation games
• Gain confidence in dealing with difficult situations during game performance
• Get knowledge of a set of methods for facilitating simulation games
• Learning how to pass these skills on to novice facilitators
• Building teaching resources for inclusion in simulations and game packages
• Addressing methodological and analytical questions concerning research on game-based teaching and learning
• Understanding how ‘learning effectiveness’ can be researched regarding the use of simulation and games
• Expanding knowledge about methods for evaluating simulation games as learning tools and strategies and/or using simulations and games to assess learning 

Educational skills and knowledge

To address this theme, the staff will introduce and explore design principles and models for incorporating simulations and games into education programs and curricula. The learning process will include specific aspects of running simulation games which will be discussed, actively trialled, and applied where possible. The learning approach is based on active learning principles and will aim to address individual learning goals as well as shared ones.

Depending on participants' previous experience, novices and experts will work on relevant topics in suitable groupings and share their understanding and discoveries collaboratively. 

Evaluation of simulations and games and assessment of them for research

To address the theme of assessing and evaluating learning and the relative benefits and contributions of simulations and games for both processes staff will introduce participants to current approaches and lead a collaborative approach to developing relevant evaluation and assessment strategies. Participant's interests will shape the choices made regarding time spent on assessment and/or evaluation of learning gained from simulations and games and their usages for research purposes.

Sharing knowledge and skills

The Summer School concept has as a core principal the sharing of skills and knowledge. Thus the results of each afternoon activities will be shared via engagement in relevant games and simulations, and impromptu lectures and discussions.

A social program will support a friendly and collaborative atmosphere throughout the week.

Formats

A five-day schedule will be developed with the staff who accept the invitation to contribute.

Common activities:

• Get together and get to know each other (Metalog exercises and others)
• Gameplay experiences of different types of games (board and digital)
• Impromptu talks and presentations of experienced simulation gamers
• Reviewing results of the assessment/evaluation work

Fees

We have been able to reduce expenses for the Summer School. New rates are as shown:

Fees cover Summer school, lunch and social events (accommodation to be arranged yourself)

• Students $150
• SAGA and Simulation Australasia members or ZMS Associated $400
• Others $500

 The cost for more than one ticket booked at once is $400 each

Accommodation information

We recommend the Great Southern Hotel - a 5-minute walk from the Summer School venue.

Previous Summer Schools

The ISAGA summer schools have been conducted annually for 25 years in places as diverse as Thailand, Poland, Romania, Austria and Japan. Most recently, they have been held in Warsaw and Stuttgart.

Registration

Register now

Sponsors