Learning about Conflict and Negotiations through Computer Simulations: The Case of PeaceMaker

Abstract

This paper is based on a cross-national experimental study conducted among American, Turkish, Israeli-Jewish, and Israeli-Palestinian students using a computer game called "PeaceMaker." The game is a highly realistic and complex simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. PeaceMaker was used for educational and experimental purposes in a classroom setting and each student played the game in both Israeli and Palestinian decision maker roles. Our purpose was to evaluate the game's effectiveness as a pedagogical tool in teaching about conflict and its resolution, especially with regard to generating knowledge acquisition, perspective taking as a crucial skill in conflict resolution, and attitude change. We were also interested in understanding whether these effects changed depending on whether the participants were direct parties to the conflict or not. In order to gauge the effect of the game in these areas, we used a pre-and post-intervention experimental design and utilized questionnaires. We found that the game increased the level of knowledge about the conflict for the Israeli-Jewish, Israeli-Palestinian, American, and Turkish students. We also found that the game successfully contributed to perspective taking among Turkish and American students only on a contemporary issue related to the conflict.Keywords: conflict and negotiation teaching, computer-based simulations, active learning and teaching, Israeli-Palestinian conflict As a method of "active learning and teaching," 2 simulations have become one of the most widely used pedagogical tools in the teaching of conflict analysis and resolution. Role plays and simulations are also used in the teaching of international relations and crisis decision making (for example, Hermann 1969;Lantis 1998;Boin, Kofman-Bos, and Overdijk 2004;Asal 2005;Lay and Smarick 2006;Gehlbach et al. 2008), but it is the skills training aspect (for example, negotia-1 The authors would like to thank Ruveyda Celenk for her contributions to the study during the collection of data.2 Active teaching and learning is defined as a pedagogical approach that aims at replacing the traditional lecture-discussion-based instruction with a more student-centered approach. It aims at teaching critical thinking skills and the construction of knowledge where students are encouraged to take part in an experiential learning environment (Krain 2010

Computerized simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, knowledge gap, and news media use

“…Dozens of serious games for social change have been developed and are played by millions of people. Despite the growing interest in serious games, few empirical studies, to our knowledge, have been conducted to evaluate how effective these games are in narrowing the knowledge gap between the players, particularly in conflictual contexts such as the Israeli-Palestinian situation (Cuhadar & Kampf, 2014;Peng et al, 2010). This study is important, in that it is among the first to provide empirical evidence that interactive digital games like PeaceMaker are effective in influencing players' levels of knowledge about the issues in the Middle East and in helping to narrow the knowledge gap between them.…”

“…First, computerized simulations are uniquely suited for illustrating complex issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a very engaging and interactive way, compared to other more linear media (Gee, 2008). Second, by facilitating role-taking from both sides, PeaceMaker intends to provide a unique opportunity to inform people of the issues in the region and influence their attitudes toward the other side (Cuhadar & Kampf, 2014). In serious games like PeaceMaker, we can differentiate between basic learning in the game, aimed at acquiring knowledge and collecting data, and deeper learning beyond the game, aimed at changing the players' perspectives regarding the situation (Mitgutsch, 2011).…”

“…In serious games like PeaceMaker, we can differentiate between basic learning in the game, aimed at acquiring knowledge and collecting data, and deeper learning beyond the game, aimed at changing the players' perspectives regarding the situation (Mitgutsch, 2011). This study measured learning in the game, but previous studies about PeaceMaker have already indicated that by taking the role of either the Israeli prime minister or the Palestinian president the game aims to teach about the situation beyond the game play experience itself after acquiring sufficient levels of information about the situation (Cuhadar & Kampf, 2014). In fact, previous studies have indicated that playing a game eliciting role-taking resulted in greater knowledge acquisition and greater attitude change than reading a text conveying the same information (Bogost, 2007;Peng et al, 2010).…”

“…This measure has already been validated in previous studies (Cuhadar & Kampf, 2014) which examined PeaceMaker's effectiveness with regard to knowledge acquisition among participants who are direct parties to the conflict (i.e. Israeli-Jews and Palestinians) and those who are third parties (i.e.…”

“…Recently, Gonzalez, Saner, and Eisenberg (2012) and Cuhadar and Kampf (2014) conducted an experimental study with PeaceMaker to find out whether computer games can generate new learning about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They found that PeaceMaker was effective in teaching about this conflict.…”