| Problems related to National Parks regional planning and economic development that must be addressed by educators today have become increasingly complex, ambiguous, and interrelated. Traditional classroom teaching styles, including lecture and discussion which are passive and often neglect real world issues, have proven inadequate to address the growing complexity of National Park regional systems, particularly with regard to regional economic development concerns. Learning is most effective as part of an interactive, discovery-oriented process, and, in order to more effectively understand complex real world systems, teaching styles that encourage hands-on, experiential learning should be used.; The System Dynamics modeling approach described and employed in this dissertation effectively demonstrates how System Dynamics can be used to construct a model of complex systems as a pedagogical tool to understand National Park planning, economic development processes and dynamic system behavior.; The interrelationship of seven primary sectors that are at the foundation of National Parks regional development are modeled in this research: population, capital allocation, industry, social overhead, environment, economics, and tourism and recreation. Particular emphasis is directed at enhancing understanding of environmental impact and economic development which are of growing concern in both park system planning and the education of future park managers.; Two System Dynamics methods, Qualitative System Dynamics and Quantitative System Dynamics are used in model development. The resulting model facilitates understanding of how the processes and other elements of systems interact to create system behavior. The model also establishes a set of National Parks regional system variables that can be manipulated by students and teachers through an interactive gaming simulation interface to experiment with different variables and outcomes.; The interactive experiential teaching and learning tool developed and described in this study can be used effectively by educators and students in the learning process. A gaming simulation application, teaching procedures, and a simulation case study are developed and explained to demonstrate ways in which the interactive gaming simulation application can be used effectively by instructors and students in the classroom. In addition, academic programs and curricular plans that utilize the interactive simulation model are discussed to assist educators in developing related courses and integrating these tools and information into existing courses and curricula. |
