Validity of a Simulation Game as a Method for History Teaching

Abstract

The aim of this research is, first, to determine the validity of a simulation game as a method of teaching and an instrument for the development of reasoning and, second, to study the relationship between learning and students’ behavior toward games. The participants were college students in a History of International Relations course, with two groups participating in a simulation game and one serving as a control group. The results show that the experimental groups had higher scores on a test of comprehension and that participants within these two groups who were identified as operating at a level of formal reasoning (as evaluated by an arrangement test) obtained the highest knowledge scores. Learning style was found to be an important variable in explaining motivation toward the game.