Conceptualizing Embodied Debriefing in Simulation and Gaming Studies
摘要
This theoretical study discusses a novel approach to debriefing that incorporates embodiment into the traditional debrief process. Debriefing is a key activity for processing game experiences, as it enables clarification, the transfer of game learnings from working memory to long-term memory, and the integration of new knowledge with existing cognitive schemas. Embodied debriefing can offer a new perspective on designing debriefing for simulation games, taking into account human bodily predispositions and environmental influences. We conceptualized it as a process that occurs after a simulation game session (or its parts), when participants reflect on their experiences and analyze the outcomes, deploying modes of embodied cognition—bodily movements, gestures, and interactions with the environment. In the paper, we discussed three modes of embodied debriefing: role-play exercise, creative process, and bodily representations within space. Therefore, when designing debriefing sessions, it is valuable to allow participants to engage in embodied modes of representing thoughts and reflections, such as gestures, pointing, touching, tracing, drawing, and larger body movements, which support the learning process.