A few years back while doing a consulting gig for the city of Racine, I proposed and helped implement an event called SimCity Racine wherein, using a custom-designed SimCity template, we had various manufacturing, education, administrative, and commercial city leaders play the game to learn community development collaboration and a bit of cross-disipline empathy (i.e. we made each person responsible for a facet of SimRacine that was opposite of their real-world position). It was a huge success - - games and online simulations are excellent tools.
I've often thought about proposing a SimFranklin activity ...
Students are game for controlling State St.
UW researchers' computer program teaches urban planning
Games thrust players into many roles: soldier, sorcerer, singer, sports star&ensp.&ensp.&ensp.
And recently, a computer game designed by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers challenged some Riverside University High School students to reshape State St. in Madison by taking on the role of an urban planner.
There are no mighty armies or mystical powers in this game to impose policy and order - just tools for gathering data, changing neighborhood zoning and communicating with colleagues.
And there were no cheat codes if players got stuck. Students turned to "virtual mentors" - researchers in Madison reachable only through an instant-messaging program - to answer questions as they progressed through the challenge.
"I haven't tried a game like this before, but I chat online a lot," Maria Fregoso, a Riverside sophomore, said as she tackled the beginning stages of the game the first day. "I volunteered because I thought this would be a good experience for me."
About a dozen students tried out UW's latest version of the Urban Science game late last month - "the cream of the crop, as well as some students who could use this to move forward," said Chris Levas, an engineering and science teacher at Riverside who selected the group.
The game was run after school through Riverside's community learning center and coordinated by Milwaukee Recreation, which might introduce it to other centers, according to Brian Hoffer, a spokesman for the department.
Remote experiment
Urban Science has evolved substantially since it was developed in 2004, according to Elizabeth Bagley, a graduate student in UW's Epistemic Games Research Group who now is in charge of the project. She noted that this latest trial was to test how well the game can be run remotely, which is important if the experience is to be accessible to as many students as possible.
The students took on the task professionally and quickly embraced the online chat feature, firing off questions to Bagley's colleagues as she kept vigil over them in the Riverside computer lab.
After setting up his personal profile on the game's Web portal, where all the action takes place, sophomore Jorge Montiel scrutinized online photos and historical information to gather background on Madison's popular downtown strip.
Christian Medina, who was sitting next to him, said Urban Science was easy to get into and understand.
"It's fun because we are talking to people," he said.
As urban designers, the students had to consider issues such as affordable housing, parking, ecological issues and crime, while balancing the desires of special interest groups such as businesses, a cultural preservation organization and other community advocates.
"There are tradeoffs and consequences, and these are things they need to deal with as a planner," Bagley said. "They are learning how to really facilitate compromises because there are stakeholders whose goals don't overlap."
The game also teaches teamwork, collaboration and diplomacy while "connecting young people with their environment," Bagley said.
"They are seeing their city as a system," Bagley said. "Cities are not built by people behind closed doors."
Browser-friendly update
In the latest version of the game, students used a Web-based program called iPlan that doesn't require software to be installed on a computer. The system let them view a map of the area they had to redesign, rezone different parts, and view the results by logging into a Web portal.
Players also used in-game e-mail in which they received messages from a fictitious boss who gave them assignments, as well as a computer-controlled community facilitator who helped them navigate the neighborhood interest groups.
"In the past, we had planning consultants in the room," Bagley said. "One of the reasons we are making this switch is because it is not feasible that multiple classrooms all over the world have a four-students-to-one instructor ratio."
Over four days, the students researched and discussed the best strategies for balancing business issues such as adding parking with environmental concerns such as the desire for green space.
Hoffer, the Milwaukee Recreation spokesman, said the department wants to offer the game at other community learning centers in the future, but he isn't sure when that might happen.
"We all love the experience and what it means to the kids," Hoffer said. "But it boils down to funding."
The UW researchers noted that they gathered valuable information during the trial at Riverside and are applying for more grants to help continue their work - money that could bring Urban Science back to town.
"One of the things I'm really impressed with is their intense focus," Bagley said on the last day of the game as things were winding down and the students were close to submitting their proposals. "It's pretty quiet in here, and what that shows is this game is very engaging. They really have bought into this 'company' and this mission."
She also stressed that the players take the game seriously because they are treated like adults, not students.
Betsy Flores, a sophomore, said on the final day that although the game was challenging at first, she learned a lot, especially how changing the zoning of an area can affect the environment.
"I liked the map part the most and moving things around," Flores said. "People really like parks, and restaurants... can bring a lot of trash."
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