As the popularity of video game playing has increased, educators have sought to co-opt video games as an instructional tool. However, educational games have made little impact in either the commercial market place or the average game player's home library. The modification, or modding, of video games using in-game editors may be used by instructors to introduce educational content to professionally designed video games. This paper examines the effectiveness of a modified video game, Civilization IV, in improving the comprehension and retention of historical knowledge of 10 th , 11 th , and 12 th grade students. Students exposed to the modified video game significantly improved their immediate recall of knowledge level history items. Students expressed interest in future educational game playing and felt that they had a better understanding of application level history items. While these results are encouraging, the small sample size of this experiment prevents generalization and necessitates further study.
Recent United States Supreme Court decisions have undermined the viability of campaign public financing systems, a vital tool for fighting political corruption. First, Citizens United v. FEC allowed privately financed candidates and independent groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigning. Publicly financed candidates now risk being vastly outspent. Second, Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom PAC v. Bennett invalidated a proportional fund matching system whereby privately financed candidates’ or independent groups’ spending triggered funds to publicly funded candidates. These decisions effectuate a libertarian speech doctrine: all speakers, individual or corporate, must be absolutely unburdened. To comply with this approach, public financing must be tailored to reduce its monetary correlation with, and corresponding burden on, privately funded speech. This Article proposes matching broadcast advertising access costs as a measured solution. The proposed system does not burden privately funded speech, and it increases media availability: if a privately financed candidate or independent group purchases advertising time, the publicly financed candidate is provided funds to purchase equivalent time. Matching access costs reduces any burden on speakers while importing First Amendment jurisprudence and telecommunications law to support the constitutionality of this system. These laws recognize the First Amendment rights of the electorate, the problem of political advertising market saturation, and the values of an informed citizenry. Essential for democracy is an informed, engaged, and participating citizenry. Matching broadcast access costs increases available information, comports with the
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