Eduction and Training

In his book, "Serious Games: The Art and Science of Games that Simulate Life in Industry, Government and Education” (Viking Press, 1970), Clark Abt highlights a variety of practical skills that are not taught by the three R's of the schoolhouse (Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmetic). For example:

“the logical analysis of decision-making under … uncertainty … is an intellectual realm that is intensely relevant to most of life’s decisions, but it is almost never taught below the college level and often is not even included in college liberal-arts curricula.” (Abt, pg 20)		Risk Assessment
“Another intellectual skill inadequately taught by conventional methods is … that of allocating limited resources to maximize one’s objectives.” (Abt, pg 19)		Resource Management
"conflict strategies are also a common aspect of human civilization that rarely receive attention in the classroom… competition for incompatible (zero-sum) objectives by adversaries … [is] part of everyday life … such as negotiation among lovers, labor and management, and governments.” (Abt, pg 21)		Rational Engagement

But these three skills can be taught with games, and the TRACS games were specifically designed with this intent - to present players with cognitive challenges that simulate the three R's of real life:

Risk Assessment - in an uncertain world
Resource Management - to achieve key objectives
Rational Engagement - between competitors and collaborators

Learning TRACS is easy. The graphics of the cards were designed to help people learn the basic structure of the two-sided deck. There are also two Jokers (Art & Sci) whose shapes and colors reflect the structure of the deck. Art & Sci are featured in a Comic Strip where conflicts arise from two different styles of thinking: Art is intuitive and Sci is analytical. Finally, the Theme Song is a gentle jingle that introduces the cards and the rules of the game.

Playing TRACS is helpful. The two-sided cards and family of games provide an intuitive (set-based) and entertaining (card game) method of teaching the mathematics of probability and the practical skills of decision making. Probability is a difficult subject for most people, and yet people must deal with it to make decisions in an uncertain world. In fact, people are doing probabilistic reasoning all the time - in card games and in real life - whether they realize it or not. TRACS give scientists a lab-based tool for studying probabilistic thinking, and TRACS gives educators a hands-on tool for teaching probabilistic theory.