The Design and Evaluation of a Rural Land Use Planning Simulation Game

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate a simulation game using land capability data to teach rural adults certain principles and competencies required for effective land use planning. Six instructional objectives involving the acquisition and application of knowledge as well as the modification of attitudes were specified and a board game was devised as the instructional technique. Evaluation instruments were constructed and the simu lation game was revised in a pilot study. A field project was then carried out in the East Kootenay area of British Columbia where 40 rural people residing on land holdings of 50 or more acres par ticipated in the simulation game. Post-test mean scores were com pared to pre-test means and three of the eight objective and sub total scores showed statistically significant gains while the remain ing changes were non-significant but in the hypothesized direction. Test scores correlated significantly with some characteristics of the participants and with some factors related to success in playing the simulation game. The study discusses factors that may have influenced the results obtained and concludes that simulation gaming is potentially a useful technique for educating rural adults about land use planning.