Foundations Research Paper
Earlier this school year I looked into the possibility of purchasing the computer simulation game "Civilization" to use as part of my World Civilizations and Geography classroom curriculum. I grew up playing this computer game and I believe this game was integral in my developing interest and love of history and geography. I not only learned about world geography and civilizations but enjoyed my experience learning. I am now in my second year teaching 9th grade World Civilizations and Geography and I want my students to enjoy learning through this simulation game. I am lucky enough to have a computer lab of forty computers right across the hall. Now the obstacle is getting copies of this game! This has proven to be more difficult than I had previously thought. For this research paper I want to review articles about the effectiveness of computer simulation games in the social studies classroom. I not only want to look specifically at the simulation game Civilization but also at other social studies simulations that have been used and tested and maybe free software that is available. This research paper might be valuable in the future as I might be able to use this research on the effectiveness of simulations in learning to seek a grant to purchase the desired software.
If this topic does not work I have a back up idea. I am interested in moodle and I have already used google scholar to find out if there are articles out there about moodle, and there are plenty. I would be looking at the effectiveness of using moodle as a classroom management tool.
I will post my articles later on today or tomorrow morning. I have a bunch of them that I need to narrow down. I am almost finished but I am going to get outside while the weather is still nice and put up the Christmas lights.
Below is my list of references I am currently using for this research paper:
Corbeil, P. (2000). Batting .333, or, 10 Years Out of 30 Ain't Bad. Simulation & Gaming, 31(1), 74-78.DOI: 10.1177/104687810003100106
Squire, K (2004). Review. Simulation & Gaming, 35(1), 135-140.DOI: 10.1177/1046878103255490
Chin, J., Dukes, R., & Gamson, W. (2009). Assessment in Simulation and Gaming: A Review of the Last 40 Years. Simulation & Gaming, 40(4), 553-568.DOI: 10.1177/1046878109332955
Greenblat, C. (1973). Teaching with Simulation Games: A Review of Claims and Evidence. Teaching Sociology, 1(1), 62-83. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1317334
Baranowski, M., & Weir, K. (2008). Simulating History to Understand International Politics. Simulation & Gaming, XX(X), 1-20.doi:10.1177/1046878108325442
Squire, K. (2002). Cultural Framing of Computer/Video Games. The International Journal of Computer Game Research, 2(1). Retrieved fromhttp://gamestudies.org/0102/squire/
I will also be using several articles posted on the website www.edutopia.org, which is George Lucas' foundation for education and is one of my favorite websites to read about technology integration in the classroom.
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Submitted by Ryan Myers on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 11:13am
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That sounds great. As you
That sounds great. As you found, Kurt Squire is the one who's done a ton of research on using the Civilization game with students. His dissertation was on that topic.
His wife Constance also does research on using World of Warcraft.