Assessing the effectiveness of feedback enabled simulation in teaching conceptual modeling

It is commonly accepted that simulation contributes to a better learning quality while also promoting successful transfer of the skills to real-world environments. However, the practical use of simulation is hampered by the difficulty of interpreting simulation results. This paper demonstrates the learning benefits in conceptual modeling of business requirements when using feedback-enabled simulation. The effects of feedback-enabled simulation on learning outcomes of novice learners were observed by means of experimental empirical studies. Three studies were conducted in the context of two master-level courses from two different study programs spanning two academic years. The findings show a significant improvement in students' conceptual model understanding and validation capabilities when using feedback-enabled simulation.