Examining the Effectiveness of Using Role-Play Simulations with Chinese Students in China

Abstract

A significant body of literature testifies to the effectiveness of role-play gaming and simulations as pedagogical methods in political science. Many of these studies involve students with a Western background. In contrast, little research exists on the teaching of political science in China and none on the effectiveness of simulations for teaching Chinese students. This study seeks to investigate the efficacy of role-play simulations as a method for teaching comparative politics to Chinese students. The study examined the levels of long-term knowledge retention, enthusiasm towards political science, and self-reported learning outcomes in two groups of students. A test group, students who had completed at least one political science course, participated in a politics-based role-playing simulation; the control group, students who had completed the same political science course, did not participate in a comparable game. The test group displayed significantly better self-reported learning outcomes and significantly better knowledge retention than the control group (albeit at the 90 percent level).

Role-Playing Across Universities: NATOs Response to the Invasion of Ukraine

“…Studies indicate that simulations do contribute to retention in general (Baranowski, 2006;Parmentier, 2013;Leib and Ruppel, 2020). Specifically, studies indicate that role-playing simulations contribute to both short-term retention (Cruz-Martinez, Soto and Belén Benito, 2022) and long-term retention (Smith and Boyer, 1996;Toomey, Zhou and Yan, 2020). Ultimately, Youde (2008, 348) reports that ''students retain more information, gain a deeper understanding of an issue (though this may come at the expense of breadth), examine issues from a wider range of perspectives, and generally report having more fun in class'' Simulations provide benefits but create unique challenges in their implementation.…”

I love this game: the interplay between experience and background in role-playing simulations: insights from MUN participants in Italy and the Netherlands

“…It is worth noticing how the literature on the use of simulations tends to be focused on Western classrooms. Some recent exceptions are Meschoulam et al (2019) and Toomey et al (2019).…”

Gauging Long-Term Knowledge Retention of Forensic Science: A Follow-Up Study of College Students Who Participated in a Crime Scene Simulation

“…Simulations are especially beneficial to law enforcement officers as they prepare them for emergency preparedness training (Miller et al, 2014); police crisis management (Uddin et al, 2020); handling of traffic accidents (Nepelski & Struniawski, 2019); and in developing improved police communications services (Greasley & Smith, 2017). Additionally, simulations also appear in different formats from the physical (Byrne, 2018), to gaming activities (Bonde et al, 2014); and role-playing scenarios (Toomey et al, 2020;Ahmadov, 2011). Furthermore, researchers observed that performance on midterm and final test scores improved after the introduction of an active learning method in the Criminal Justice field (Lysne & Miller, (2017).…”