Live, interactive use of a single simulation model is a practice that has become widespread today in some educational and management settings.
In these situations, a model that features a small number of key inputs is set up to run in real time. Only a few input variables can be featured because a model that can run in real time must remain relatively simple, due to current computational constraints. Users have the opportunity to select different values for the inputs and then can immediately see how changes in those inputs affect the model’s outputs.
Models set up to run in this way, with each user able to work with the model in a hands-on manner, can be a very effective spur to live discussion among students in a classroom or a team of managers in a firm. They can also be used fruitfully by individuals who access the models via the Web.
Examples of such models include:
- The model used by MIT Professor John Sterman during the 2008 MIT Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), which was developed by Sterman's student Juan Martin. Users can select different values for future GHG emissions and removals and immediately see the impact of those changes on atmospheric GHG concentrations.
- Many of the simulation models being developed by Climate Interactive, a partner in the Collaboratorium project, are also designed to be used in this manner.
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