Rapid Play Digital Games for Emergency Management Instruction

Rapid play digital games—games playable in minutes and therefore amenable to repetition and iteration—can be an effective tool for instruction when properly developed and employed. If improperly developed, they can also hide good lessons amongst irrelevant complexities or, worse, implicitly reinforce incorrect lessons. This chapter describes eight broadly applicable techniques and five specialized templates for avoiding common pitfalls. It demonstrates those methods on a simple example serving as an amalgam of such games the author's research lab has created for government agencies.

Combatting the “Silo Effect” in the Online Classroom

This case study explores the revision process and experience learned by teaching 12 sections of an asynchronous online graduate Homeland Security Law course over a two-year period from 2018 to 2020. The chapter charts the transition of the course from a traditional format with high-stakes episodic assessments (midterm, final, and a lengthy research paper) to a discussion board-centric class using curated reading materials, case study analysis, role-playing, structured debates, and the scaffolding of shorter, low-stakes writing assignments predominately completed in the online discussion boards increased both student engagement and satisfaction as reflected by student evaluations and feedback. The chapter further argues that a collection of low-tech, low-cost design and delivery tips derived from the insights provided from scholarship and online teaching experience can create a rich and transparent online learning environment.

Integrating Simulations Across a Curriculum

Emergency managers, firefighters, and homeland security professionals are a valuable resource at the local, state, and federal levels. Conducting live training and exercises is a high-cost endeavor, more so when the exercise is a “full-scale” exercise as identified in the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) manual. In an online program, the cost of creating highly interactive simulations can be cost-prohibitive; however, simulations that are designed to challenge students and provide a quality learning environment are possible using a systems approach from planning to evaluation. Simulations creation is not difficult; however, it requires a team of experts to create a learning experience that is productive from the first course to the final course in a degree program. This chapter will provide material on one way to accomplish this. How others choose to create their program is based upon their degree needs, budget, and expert knowledge.

Incisive Real-Time Biosafety Decision-Making Under Societal Reopening

In a time of the SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 pandemic (and future ones), the choices made by each individual accumulates to population scale and can have widespread repercussions on individual and population health. A critical part of the public health mandate is communicating the nature of the health threats and ways to defend against and mitigate them. For a general population that may not have any training in microbiology or the health sciences or other related fields, understanding the proper defensive measures may be challenging. This work explores the building of ego-level decision-tree understructures for serious games that may inform on such daily life decision-making at a time of societal reopening from pandemic lockdown in a complex ethical and legal space.

Simulation Scriptwriting and Storyboarding Design Considerations for Production

This chapter will describe the process for writing a script and storyboard as part of the design and development of a simulation experience to be added to an existing, computer-facilitated, emergency management learning curriculum or course primarily in a higher-education setting; however, the information in this chapter relates to FEMA Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) exercise types as well. This chapter will detail steps and considerations to be taken as part of the analysis and design of a simulation, which will ease the development process and avoid unintended complications by first focusing on identifying the instructional needs and objectives of the simulation, scriptwriting and storyboarding scenario decision points that will address the learning needs second, then afterward taking into consideration what level of media representation is appropriate to implement the scenario. Design decisions that affect difficulty to represent in certain media are analyzed.

Gaming and Simulation in Public Education

Public education is an important component of providing for the safety of individuals and communities. Although it is often not given the resources seen by response units, a good public education program can and does save lives. A good program empowers people to help themselves and their neighbors in times of need until help from professional responders can arrive. This chapter will examine the important role that gaming and simulation currently plays in teaching the public and will lay out ideas on how it can be used for better and more efficient training programs in the future.

Online Simulations and Gamification

Higher education has seen a dramatic increase in the number of courses and programs offered in an online environment over the past two decades. As most online educational courses are asynchronous in nature, ensuring that applied learning happens in scenarios that replicate real-life events is of utmost importance especially in certain disciplines such as emergency and disaster management. With the advent of newer and advanced technologies, online gamifications and simulations offer a learning method that requires the students to use decision-making, problem solving, and critical thinking skills in a fictional scenario that imitates events that individuals in the particular career field will experience. This chapter is an examination of the use of gamifications and simulations in online higher education highlighting a holistic approach to gaming and simulations designed and implemented across an undergraduate emergency and disaster program.

Body Armor for the Mind

This chapter looks at the often overlooked yet vitally important steps of mental preparation for first responders, emergency and disaster management personnel, and command center staffs. This chapter will delve into the importance of using simulations and exercises to focus on the mental well-being of our responders to prevent future incidents of post-traumatic stress disorder and other health issues. The past 19 years of war against terrorism starting with the attacks on 9/11 coupled with the recent outbreak of COVID-19 has brought to the forefront the necessity to mentally prepare our warriors, our first responders, and our medical personnel to operate effectively in the toxic environment of a disaster or emergency. This chapter aims to help build that awareness and facilitate planning.

Introduction to Simulation Learning in Emergency and Disaster Management

Simulation and game-based learning is an essential learning application especially as it pertains to a high-stakes field like emergency and disaster management. Introducing real-life learning applications into the classroom allows the learner to make critical decisions at different points throughout a simulation providing practical learning that leads to a cognitive understanding of the material. These simulated practices ensure memory and longer retention of these events or tasks, a requirement to ensure that learning transpires. Likewise, these simulations also place the learner under acute stress, something that replicates the stress felt during real-life disasters. Therefore, it is crucial to have students apply what they have learned in simulations as a demonstration of their learning. These learned skills are essential for students to be marketable and thrive in a career field where decision-making, problem-solving, and critical thinking are vital for their success.