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Can we learn from simplified simulation models? An experimental study on user learning
journal contribution
posted on 2020-01-13, 14:06 authored by Antuela TakoAntuela Tako, Naoum Tsioptsias, Stewart RobinsonSimple models are considered useful for decision making, especially when decisions are made by a group of stakeholders. This paper describes an experimental study that investigates whether the level of model detail affects users’ learning. Our subjects, undergraduate students, were asked to solve a resource utilisation task for an ambulance service problem. They worked in groups under three different conditions, based on the type of simulation model used (specifically a simple, adequate or no model at all), to analyse the problem and reach conclusions. A before and after questionnaire and a group presentation capture the participants’ individual and group attitudes towards the solution. Our results suggest that differences in learning from using the two different models were not significant, while simple model users demonstrated a better understanding of the problem. The outcomes and implications of our findings are discussed, alongside the limitations and future work.
History
School
- Business and Economics
Department
- Business
Published in
Journal of SimulationVolume
14Issue
2Pages
130 - 144Publisher
Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© Operational Research SocietyPublisher statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Simulation on 9 January 2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17477778.2019.1704636.Acceptance date
2019-10-22Publication date
2020-01-09Copyright date
2020ISSN
1747-7778eISSN
1747-7786Publisher version
Language
- en