EDUCATIONAL STRENGTHS When designed well, both simulations and gaming environments can facilitate students’ learning of both specific domain knowledge and concepts, and several cognitive skills like pattem recognition, decision-making and problem-solving. From their review of literature covering a period of 28 years, Randel et al. (1992) concluded that gaming could be used effectively to provoke interest, teach domain knowledge, and shore up retention in math, physics, and language arts when specific instructional objectives were targeted. Funk (2002) cites studies which found that games strengthened students’ engagement, information processing, problem-solving, social development,and academic abilities. Other educational strengths of using games and simulations include developing a variety of cognitive objectives, transferable process skills, student-centered learning, initiative, creative thinking, affective objectives, sense of completion, and knowledge integration (Ellington, Gordon & Fowlie, 1998).