This page contains resources for educators, including a quick start guide, sample lesson plans, and more.
Getting Started
Curriculum Resources
iPlan in the News
Solving real-world problems with an online game
The Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, 2022
New Immersive Simulator Lets Game Players Reimagine Land Use Based on Real Science
Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) News, 2022
Further Reading
Players' problem-solving strategies can be reliably assessed based on their actions in the system.
A. R. Ruis, Y. Tan , J. Brohinsky , B. Yang, Y. Wang , Z. Cai , & D. W. Shaffer. (2023). Thin Data, Thick Description: Modeling Socio-Environmental Problem-Solving Trajectories in Localized Land-Use Simulations. In Arastoopour Irgens, G., Knight, S. (Eds.) Advances in Quantitative Ethnography 5th International Conference, ICQE 2023, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, October 8–12, 2023, Proceedings (349–364). Springer.
iPlan simulates local, socio-environmental problem solving for diverse learners.
A. R. Ruis, C. Barford, J. Brohinsky, Y. Tan, M. Bougie, Z. Cai, T. Lark, & D. W. Shaffer. (2024). iPlan: A Platform for Constructing Localized, Reduced-Form Models of Land-Use Impacts. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 8(4).
A. R. Ruis, A. L. Siebert Evenstone, J. Brohinsky, Y. Tan, C. L. Hinojosa, Z. Cai, C. L. Marquart, T. J. Lark, C. Barford, & D. W. Shaffer. (2022). “Localizing Socio-Environmental Problem Solving,” In A. Weinberger, W. Chen, D. Hernández-Leo, & B. Chen (Eds.), International Collaboration toward Educational Innovation for All: Overarching Research, Development, and Practices: 15th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) 2022, (459–462).
Computer games and simulations can help kids learn to solve complex, real-world problems.
D. W. Shaffer. (2007). How Computer Games Help Children Learn. Palgrave Macmillan.
Learning outcomes are better when place-based simulations are located in places learners are familiar with.
A. L. Siebert-Evenstone & D. W. Shaffer. (2019). Location, Location, Location: The Effects of Place in Place-Based Simulations. In K. Lund, G. Niccolai, E. Lavoué, C. Hmelo-Silver, G. Gweon, & M. Baker (Eds.), A Wide Lens: Combining Embodied, Enactive, Extended, and Embedded Learning in Collaborative Settings: 13th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) 2019: Vol. I (pp. 152–159).
The techniques for geospatial aggregation and consolidation of land-cover classes that are used to create land-use maps in iPlan are up to 97% accurate.
T. J. Lark, I. H. Schelly, & H. K. Gibbs. (2021). Accuracy, Bias, and Improvements in Mapping Crops and Cropland across the United States Using the USDA Cropland Data Layer. Remote Sensing, 13(5): 968.
