Panel discussion: Education on conceptual modeling for simulation - challenging the art

This panel seeks to initiate a discussion within the modeling and simulation community about the way we teach conceptual modeling for simulation with the view of bringing about improvements. The challenge addressed is how to educate and equip the novice analyst to become a professional rather than letting him become an artist - being very much the current practice. The need for professionalism is related to good quality research and education in a straightforward way. Emerging insights from literature on the relevance of conceptual modeling for project success, increasing system complexity, and stakeholders taking up an active role in conceptual modeling, further stress this need. This paper highlights key observations motivating the panel, and presents “position papers” on panelists' views on the way forward for education in conceptual modeling. The paper concludes with some themes from the viewpoints in the format of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis.