THE USE OF COMPUTER-SIMULATIONS IN-TRAINING

The premise underlying the SAM project is the importance of simulation s. Simulations are used to build up understanding by experimenting wit h different scenarios and to exercise tasks in an efficient and safe w ay before doing the real job. State-of-the-art multimedia tools allow a realistic and appealing front-end and give the possibility of repres enting information in the most appropriate way. In this paper we prese nt the SAM environment in which a set of existing and SAM developed to ols are offered to create and use advanced simulation-based learning e nvironments. The aim of the SAM project is to specify and develop a mo delling, authoring and learning framework based on state-of-the-art so ftware tools. The framework will be completed with specific tools supp orting the learner, the author and the modeller. The backbone of SAM i s its architecture. It makes it possible to use several cooperative ap plications, all operating in the same windowing environment. Each appl ication provides typically only a few of the functionalities. In addit ion inter-application communication between the different applications is used. It allows the use of existing applications, e.g. existing mo dels or multimedia toolkits and can ease the production and learning p rocess by relying to a large extent on known applications. The SAM Dev elopment Environment contains three levels. At the first level, the gl obal design of both course and model is given containing the course st ructure, the instructional strategies and the purpose of the model ins ide the course. The second level contains the specification of Instruc tional Objects. The third level contains all simulation and multimedia material. The SAM Learner Environment distinguishes five categories i n which learners may require additional support while studying. These categories are: controlling the course and information space, understa nding the subject and retaining that knowledge, analysing and displayi ng of simulation data, exploratory learning and communication. For eac h category we describe one or more tools that can support the learner.