International Studies Compendium Project

Extract

Comment on this article   Since the very early days of computing, computer games and simulations have been used in academic environments. And as computer technology developed along with the Cold War, these simulations were naturally used to help students learn about the development and dynamics of the international system. Despite this history, there is not a rich literature on the use of computer simulations to teach international studies. This essay will review the literature that does exist, but also draw lessons from related literatures. The essay will first present a simple typology of three categories of computer simulations. It will then give an overview of the six pedagogical benefits that it is claimed computer simulations can provide. In the following section, the literature on each category of computer simulations will be reviewed in order to assess the evidence regarding if and how simulations provide these pedagogical benefits. Finally, the evidence from the literature will be summarized in order to identify gaps in the literature. A review of the literature of simulations in general, and computer simulations in particular, makes clear that terms are not used consistently either in the literature or by instructors using simulations. Most relevant here is that different vocabularies which the computer and technology fields bring to the field of educational simulations ... log in or subscribe to read full text