Replaying history: engaging urban underserved students in learning world history through computer simulation games

TLDR

Digital games are increasingly used to engage students, yet little is known about how they foster learning or interact within school culture. The study examines the effects of introducing Civilization III into an urban school for underserved students. The authors employed a case study design to observe gameplay and classroom interactions. Students engaged in complex cycles of appropriation and resistance, experiencing frustration and learning through recursive failures and strategy revisions, ultimately developing familiarity with game concepts and deeper understanding of historical, geographic, economic, and political relationships.

Abstract

A growing number of educators are exploring digital games for engaging students in learning experiences, but relatively little is known about how games engage players, how learning occurs through gameplay, or what interactions occur when complex games are brought into school culture. This case study examines what happens when Civilization III was brought into an urban school for underserved students. Engagement in gameplay was a complex process of appropriation and resistance, recruiting students' identities and intentions. Learning occurred through recursive cycles of failure and revising strategies, which led to frustration, engagement and learning. Students developed familiarity with game concepts and deeper understandings of relationships among history, geography, economics, and politics.