Design and implementation of simulation-based discovery environments: The SMISLE solution

This article describes the design of interaction with the learner in simulation-based discovery environments. This interaction is by defmition of a mixed initiative: In discovery learning it is the learner who takes the lead, but also the learning environment should take an active role in shaping itself on the basis of monitoring the development in the simulation and the actions by the learner. The SMISLE system, which is an authoring system for integrated simulation-based learning environments, aims at offering designers of learning environments a generic solution for defining the structure of the learning dialogue. The solution chosen is one of integrated, object-oriented design. This means that a designer can specify elements of the dialogue ("instructional measures'') taken from a generic library and alter their characteristics. Moreover, the designer specifies for each instructional measure under which conditions it may become active, thus specifying control over the complete learning dialogue. The current article describes the way instruction is designed in SMISLE and presents five applications that were created using the SMISIB system.