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Schwarz, C. V., Meyer, J., Sharma, A. (2007, February 1). Technology, Pedagogy, and Epistemology: Opportunities and Challenges of Using Computer Modeling and Simulation Tools in Elementary Science Methods. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 18, 243-269. Doi:10.1007/s10972-007-9039-6 http://kristine.s.tripod.com/fulltext.pdf This article goes into explaining the importance of training our "preservice" teachers to be computer literate in their own schooling to assist in their role in passing the knowledge down to their students. Their hypothesis was that computer modeling and simulations might be a meaningful way to help "preservice" elementary and middle school teachers learn about these technologies in their own education, thus showing them the effectiveness it could have on their future students. They concluded that there was some conflict in ideas. In the end, time and money also stood in the way of this becoming an approach for training "preservice" teachers. It being left to districts to advance their own software for use in the classroom.

Smeaton, D. (n.d.). Minecraft as a Teaching Tool- A Statistical Study of Teachers' Experience Using Minecraft in the Classroom (Graduate Dissertation). Available from Academia.edu. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/2624927/Minecraft_As_A_Teaching_Tool_-_A_Statistical_Study_of_Teachers_Experience_Using_Minecraft_In_The_Classroom  Academia.edu is a site that you can join for free which gives you access to academic papers written by others.  You can place your own papers on this site for others to see as well.  I looked up the above title through this site (it gives you a download copy of the dissertation).  This study reported on 17 teachers who took a survey that delved into whether these teachers who used Minecraft simulations in the classroom felt about the outcome of its use.  

Scott, K. (2012, July 19). Wake Up Your Class With Simulation! Retrieved from http://ingeniousteaching.blogspot.com/2012/07/wake-your-class-up-with-simulations.html  This blog site was created by Kimberly Scott, a history teacher from Memphis, Tennessee.  On this site, Scott lists different websites you can go to that she has evaluated for the effectiveness, cost and attractiveness of design or appearance.  She lists what topic the simulation is helpful in and what you will find on the site.  As she discovers more, she posts them on this blog site.  It is a compiled list of simulations that have worked well for her.

Cherry, G., Ioannidou, A., Rader, C., Brand, C., Repenning, A. (n.d). Simulations for Lifelong Learning. Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado, Boulder. Retrieved from http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~ralex/papers/PDF/NECC99.pdf  The authors looked at simulation integration at all levels (elementary through the professional level) using VAT (Visual Agen Talk).  They base their thoughts on the idea that simulations are used the show how or why something works.  It gives them the opportunity to engage in scientific inquiry, and test their theories.   They believe that by using these simulations teachers support student collaboration and support science inquiry in the classroom.

CITEd Research Center. (n.d.). Using Multimedia Tools to Help Students Learn Science. Retrieved from http://www.cited.org/index.aspx?page_id=148 CITEd - Center for Implementing Technology in Education believes that students need to learn to think like scientists, that we need to be "scientifically literate" to be able to function well in our current society. CITEd has been looking into how students learn best, by doing. They feel that we need to expose students to science inquiry through technology tools since this is what adult scientists use. This is with the understanding that teachers learn how to evaluate the technology and decide what best works for their students, classroom, curriculum, and style of teaching. They listed multimedia tools for science, with the understanding that research shows science and math simulation to be the most effective.