The simulation triad

simulations, role plays and games as modes for learning. It describes the development of a framework calledthe Simulation Triad which is used to better define online role play by positioning it in relation to simulationand games as a teaching method. For designers of online simulations, the Simulation Triad, and thecomplementary Design Space Framework, will illustrate design choices around problems, rules and roles, clarifying that designs for role-based simulation emphasise interaction between roles to resolve a problemrather than focus on rules that solve a problem. The examples in this chapter will demonstrate how role-basedsimulation, with its emphasis on student-to-student interaction and group work to research authenticproblems, is a learning design for transforming university teaching into learning.