From “Lab Rats” to “Mad Scientists”
Cultivating Agentic Learning Through Student-Led Simulation Redesign
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12377625 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Summer Forester (0000-0002-0105-7856, Carleton College, corresponding author), Janel Jett (0000-0002-0484-2948, University of Missouri), Bjorn Holtey |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 440-446 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | PS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1049096523001142 |
| OpenAlex | W4390789753 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
Simulations are increasingly prominent in classrooms, and research shows that such activities provide an array of benefits. In general, simulations tend to situate students as “lab rats” (Asal 2005) who get to discuss the experiment. We call for bringing students into a simulation not as lab rats but instead as “mad scientists.” We specifically propose using a simulation’s debriefing step as an opportunity for students to imagine how they might revise the simulation that they experienced and to defend their revisions using concepts from class. We argue that such student-led revisions cultivate agentic engagement , a form of engagement in which students recognize themselves as co-constructors of knowledge with and for their peers. To test this notion, we modified the “Isle of Ted” with an expanded post-simulation debriefing. We found that our approach cultivated student engagement and buy-in, required students to think of concepts dynamically, and was relatively simple to implement. Our study contributes to the literature on simulations as effective and engaging classroom tools, and it also emphasizes the potential for simulations to spark agentic learning
Class (philosophy · Debriefing · Engineering ethics · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · SPARK (programming language · Student engagement · Test (biology · Computer Science · Engineering · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences · Psychology · Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare · Social Psychology · Wikis in Education and Collaboration · Artificial Intelligence
Agency as a fourth aspect of students’ engagement during learning activities
Do Simulations Enhance Student Learning? An Empirical Evaluation of an IR Simulation
How students create motivationally supportive learning environments for themselves
Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics
The role of gamified e-quizzes on student learning and engagement
Playing Games with International Relations
System, State, or Individual
Mini-Games for Teaching Political Science Methodology
Learning by Doing
Return to the Isle of Ted
Negotiating the Transatlantic Relationship
Learning Opportunities in a Department-Wide Crisis Simulation
The second image reversed
The Isle of Ted Simulation
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |