DE Oracle @ UMUC

"The Village of San Luis Rey" - Simulation Exercise

Donald Goff

Exec. Director, Security Studies Laboratory

Non UMUC

Published: September-October 2006

Category: » University-showcase » Multimedia-learning-objects

San Luis Rey is a familiar city. It has highways, railways, and radio and television stations.  It has an airport and a seaport. It has a nuclear power plant and high transmission lines and substations. It has banks, churches, schools, and a large population. It also has a problem--there is a terrorist cell active in San Luis Rey, ready to use terror to achieve its political ends.

Fortunately, it is a fictional city, alive only in a simulation used by students in the graduate program in Homeland Security. Its purpose is to give students the opportunity to assess risks and vulnerabilities on a city-wide basis, using real-world homeland security guidance, and to make tough choices about security priorities. Students assess the vulnerabilities and determine the risks, prioritize the potential "target" and prepare a recommendation to the "mayor" of San Luis Rey.

The "Mayor" is, of Course, the Instructor

Simulations and laboratory exercises are learning tools that UMUC uses to support and increase student learning. In ITSM 620, "The Village of San Luis Rey", is a simulation exercise used to complement the theoretical content of the course and provide a crucial hands-on, component. The course covers basic concepts of homeland security, including infrastructure protection, jurisdiction, and some technical areas such as interconnectivity and interoperability. As students are immersed in the virtual reality setting, they have to work in teams, play different roles, solve problems and make decisions in the fictional yet realistic jurisdiction of San Luis Rey.

The simulation has proven to be very useful and is liked by students. The exercise unfolds over a five-week period where teams have to analyze large amounts of information fed through news releases, background sector reference material and maps. The information provided helps the students to estimate the magnitude of the threat and devise effective strategies to prevent or counter a terrorist attack.

Different study groups address different critical infrastructures. Separate teams will, for example, look at the communications infrastructure, the financial industry, transportation, or energy. Using guidelines from federal, state, and local officials, they review their own sector and coordinate the "interdependencies" with other sectors. A blend of multimedia elements and textual information is used to create a realistic experience and facilitate the learner's immersion. The simulation culminates in a in a report outlining the team's recommendation to the "mayor" of San Luis Rey.

Meanwhile, the terror plot thickens, and the students must get ahead of them, so the city is prepared.