Immersion in the simulations and games space for the last 15 years has taught me the challenges of creating and running simulations. I’ve written about these before, in ALPS and elsewhere, and time in particular is a barrier to using simulations in the classroom. Time to find or create a simulation, and time to run it in a packed curriculum. Faculty may want to try a simulation, but can’t find one for the topic, skill, or learning goal that they want, or it doesn’t fit the time they have available in their class. The ALPS team has taught workshops on simulation design and we acknowledge the challenges of putting together a bespoke simulation.
Well, AI just solved part of this problem for us. Yesterday, as part of a demo for my ‘Crash Course in AI’, I asked Claude Cowork to create a one-hour simulation on the Iran War for a large, lecture style class that met particular learning goals. In just a few minutes, it gave me a 32 page document that included all the materials I would need to put that simulation into action–everything from learning objectives, set up notes, facilitation timelines, debriefing questions and points to make, gameplay mechanics, and role sheets.
I’m turning this document over to you, ALPS readers. It’s unedited–I have not fact checked it or made any changes, but as a draft, it may be helpful to some of you teaching right now. Looking through it also shows you how powerful a tool AI can be as a teacher partner. Instead of my spending hours putting this material together, I had it write a draft while I was in the middle of a presentation, and now its ripe for editing, adaptation, and changes that reflect my (or in this case, your) judgement. Feel free to use this simulation in your classes–all I ask is that you report back here in the comments or on social media on what changes you made and how it went.
And if you are interested in the prompt I used to get this result, here it is. I had Chat GPT create the prompt for me, too. In the document you will first see a template you can use yourselves, followed by the example of what I used to create etc simulation document.
It’s a new world, my friends. Not sure if its exciting or scary or both, but its bringing radical change to this corner of the teaching and learning field.
Thank you very much for sharing this fascinating simulation template. Very inspiring. I would definitely like to try it in my class. The only potential issue that I see is playing it with 150 students (25 students per group) in a 45 minutes session. I suggest adding to the prompt any potential implementation issues that AI might warn against. I guess with a much smaller class size and more game time, this would be a great simulation.
It’s a good point. Despite the ask to develop something for a large group, this is much better suited to a smaller class. I do think you could use a parallel worlds model for a larger group, though, so instead of 25 people in group ‘US and western allies’ you could groups of 25, and within that, have reps for each of the 6 groups. They then run concurrently, with a TA or designated role keeping each group of 25 going through the stages, and then have each group submit a summary of what happened. They can discuss at the start of the next class (or at the end, if time allows).
I’ve tried this approach (with a different simulation). One challenge with multiple simulations in a large lecture course is physical space. You need a bit of a buffer zone between groups to facilitate interaction within the group. Otherwise students have difficulty hearing and seeing each other. Plan ahead to get a room with a little extra space!