Learning Through Game-like Simulations

This paper discusses the potential benefits from incorporating gaming elements into the learning process. In particular, we discuss our experiences from developing and using a simulation game for human players in a graduate course on Agent Technology for E-commerce. The game was used to teach students how electronic markets work and also enable them to experience first hand the sort of problems that human traders face in complex matketplaces. We also describe a second game that has been developed for a course in Artificial Intelligence which enables students to experiment with and apply search techniques.