A new study backed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security suggests that immersive simulation games can have a powerful impact on how people learn to tackle complex national security challenges.
The research focused on Acceleration, a scenario-based game developed by Valens Games and used in a Duke University course on national security decision-making. The study, co-authored by David Schanzer, CEO of Valens Games and HSToday Editorial Board Member Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Jessica Sperling, Ph.D., Victoria Lee, Elena Johnson, and Eleanor Ross, explored whether simulations like this one could help participants better understand high-stakes situations like terrorism response, intelligence coordination, and multi-agency crisis management.
Using a mix of pre- and post-surveys, reflection data, and in-depth interviews, the team found that the game successfully helped players develop strategic thinking, appreciate the complexity of real-world decision-making, and understand the human dynamics of policy responses. Participants reported not just greater knowledge, but more empathy and insight into how national security professionals operate under pressure.
While war games and simulations have long been used in military and intelligence circles, the report titled: Assessing the Benefits of Simulations and War Games for the
Homeland Security Enterprise Workforce provides one of the first formal evaluations of their educational impact in a university setting, and proposes a model for evaluating similar tools in the homeland security field.
In a world of increasingly complex threats, the takeaway is clear: realistic simulations don’t just make training more engaging, they can make it more effective.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)