Article: Assessing learning outcomes of a role-playing simulation in international environmental politics
American University School of International Service Professor Dr. Ken Conca and colleagues Dr. Abby Ostovar and Ratia Tekenet have taken role-playing simulations beyond fun and games (sorry, Dungeons and Dragons fans) and right into the classroom. Their new paper, “Assessing the Learning Outcomes of a Role-Playing Simulation in International Environmental Politics” discusses the shifts in student perspective after participating in a simulation of negotiations over the Nile basin. Through discussions such as how to institute international law and how countries can share water equitably, students came to develop a richer, more complex understanding of the crisis and its policy needs. The papers’ findings include that students experience “(1) a shift from emphasis on managing risks to exploiting cooperative opportunities; (2) change in the value orientation of the statements students consider most important, with development-oriented values increasing and environment-oriented values decreasing; and (3) change in the dimensions of power students consider most salient, including an increased appreciation for the institutional and knowledge-related elements of power and a de-emphasis on the structural aspects of power.”
You can read the article here: 10.1080/15512169.2023.2241588
