Hi,
I wanted to share to two things I read this weekend that I think might be of use.
The first, by Clark Aldrich, called "Three Essential Elements", is a chapter from his book, "Learning by Doing." I've had that book for at least a year, and this session gave me inspiration to read more of it. I am sharing a chapter that relates to previous thoughts that have already come up. Rather than hard definitions, he argues that we need to think in terms of "simulation, game, and pedagogical elements," that can be included to various degrees in instruction. A nice analysis of these as well.
The second paper, "Simulation Approach to Instruction" is quite tedious and overly complicated, but does bring a lot of insight. If you get bored right off, like I did, just read pages 176 to 187 to see his analysis of several key priniciples that relate to simulations. The language is a bit formal, but the ideas are impeccable and definitely expand our thinking about the topic.
I hope you find these interesting. The Aldrich book is worth purchasing or at least borrowing from a library.
Patrick