Leveling Up Learning

1. LEVELING UP LEARNING: EXPLORING THE POWER OF
PLAY IN SECONDARY SOCIAL STUDIES EDUCATION
CORRYN MATHIS
SSE 6636
WHY GAMES?
Teachers have utilized games in the classroom for
decades, with research proving that games increase
student motivation and engagement in instruction
(Gareau & Guo, 2009). As technology evolves, so
have formats of games used in classrooms, ranging
from simple card games to virtual reality.
My review evaluates the effectiveness of
integrating virtual games into lessons in the
secondary social studies classroom and determines if
the gamification of social studies helps students
develop critical skills needed to be active citizens.
THESIS
HISTORICAL FOCUS
EFFECTIVENESS
DIGITAL GAMES
MISSION U.S.
Kessner and Harris (2022) state that Mission U.S.
contains “an impressive level of engagement with
historical content relative to classrooms grounded in
more traditional forms of teaching and learning
about history” (p. 12).
CIVILIZATION IV
Pagnotti & Russell (2012) found it provides students
opportuntities to practice second-order historical
thinking skills.
THE FISCAL SHIP
The Fiscal Ship teaches how the federal budgets work,
contrasts between federal revenues and spending, and
important government policies that impact the gross
domestic product. (The Fiscal Ship, n.d.)
Corryn Mathis
corrynm@usf.edu
IMPLEMENTATION
Scaffolded learning results in intrinsic
motivation (Hamari et al., 2016).
Students are more cognitively engaged
than traditional instruction (Wouters et
al., 2013).
Development of key skills such as problem
solving, processing information, and
applying content knowledge (Oblinger,
2006).
In digital games, students are directly
immersed in a historical setting. Students
can better visualize and understand
events and have a better perception of
cause, effect, and impacts on individuals
through their game decisions.
Second order historical concepts
(Peck & Seixas, 2008).
Teens with the most civic gaming
experiences are more likely to have
civic engagement and be involved with
political activities than teens who have
the fewest civic gaming experiences
(Evans et al., 2008).
Investigate
1.
Learn to Play the Game
2.
Transition into Purposeful Play
3.
Debrief (McCall, 2023).
4.

2. References
Evans, C., Kahne, J., Lenhart, A., Macgill, C., Middaugh, A., Vitak., J. (2008). Video
games and civics. Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Gareau, S. & Guo, R. (2009) "All work and no play" reconsidered: The use of games
to promote motivation and engagement in instruction.” International
Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 3(1).
Kessner, T. M., Harris, T. M. (2022). Opportunities to practice historical thinking
and reasoning in a made-for-school history oriented videogame.
International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction.
Hamari, J., Shernoff, D. J., Rowe, E., Coller, B. Asbell-Clarke, J., Edwards, T. (2016).
Challenging games help students learn: An empirical study on
engagement, flow and immersion in game-based learning. Computers in
human behavior. 54. 170-179.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.045
McCall, J. B. (2023). Gaming the past: Using video games to teach secondary
history. Taylor et Francis Group.
Oblinger, D. (2006). Games and learning. Educause Quarterly, 3, 5-7.
Pagnotti, J., & Russell, W. B., III. (2012). Using Civilization IV to engage students in
world history content. The Social Studies, 103(1), 39–48.
The Fiscal Ship (n.d.) About the Game. https://fiscalship.org/about.php
Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & van der Spek, E. D. (2013). A
meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious
games. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(2), 249–265.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031311
Peck, C., & Seixas, P. (2004) Teaching historical thinking. Challenges and
Prospects for Canadian social studies (pp.109-117).