In our globalized interconnected world, intercultural and interpersonal communication competencies are essential. Virtual reality (VR) narrative-based scenarios offer a unique opportunity to foster these competencies by simulating quality contact with people of different races, religions, and other identities. This activity had students meet and…

Storytelling plays a central role in human communication and in conflict. This activity can be used to teach students the importance of telling stories to better understand conflict or simply to practice storytelling. By engaging in mediations, students simulate the process of resolving conflict, practice storytelling, and improve their active…

We have used a role-play exercise to help students understand the role of the whips in British parliamentary politics, a subject with which students often struggle. In itself, this proved a valuable learning and teaching tool, but we found it became even more useful when we incorporated a practitioner into the exercise. This overcame some of the…

This article presents a new contract negotiation and drafting exercise designed for undergraduate and graduate business students in a business law or legal environment of business survey course. Structured as an asset purchase and sale agreement involving a small business with intangible social media and intellectual property assets in a…

Describes a simulation in which students take roles of environmentalists and politicians to debate industrial development and pollution. For journal availability, see SO 505 790. (AV)

Suggests that innovative teaching methods such as simulation gaming be used to teach high school and college students about international relations and modern diplomacy. Demonstrates how the simulation technique was used to teach students in schools and colleges in Israel about the Middle East conflict. (DB)

Describes objectives and student activities of a simulated peace conference which the author has used successfully in a course on Middle East politics at the University of Maine in Orono. (AV)

Suitable for use in a high school social studies course, this class game simulates the political interaction and general unrest in the nine-month period following the death of Tsar Nicholas II in Russia in 1917. Eight class groups take the roles of the leaders of the following political factions: the bourgeoisie, nobility, Socialist…

Designed for high school world history courses, this classroom simulation recreates the power politics within the Roman Republic between 120 B.C. and the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. Following an introduction which places the game in historical context, game preparation procedure is described. This includes assignment of Roman names, explanation of…

Designed for high school students, this curriculum program addresses the challenges of cultural and ethnic diversity that many students face, including intolerance, violence, and a lack of hope. The curriculum provides students with an understanding of the United Nations (UN) and its various organizations. The unit teaches them the valuable skills…

The Alpha Crisis Game, a simulation for secondary students about the outbreak of World War I, is intended as an introduction to a case study of the July 1917 crisis. Playing in teams while deciding among the action choices to solve the crisis situation, students act as heads of state and ministers of five mythical European countries, when an…

Uses the "Westside Community Schools" case that involved religious freedom to illustrate using mediation as a form of conflict resolution. Provides instructions to the teacher and a sketch of participants' roles in simulation role-play exercise. Lists additional resources on religious freedom and conflict resolution. (DB)

A guide for teaching values in social studies takes a positive stand with regard to the importance of values education in the elementary school based on the belief that many personal and societal problems are the results of unresolved value conflicts. It is hypothesized that children who have continuing experiences in value identification,…

This activity is one of a series of 17 teacher-developed instructional activities for geography at the secondary grade level described in SO 009 140. This activity investigates the proposed construction of a dam. It employs a simulation technique in which students debate the conflicts that may evolve between groups with differing goals. To provide…

This simulation uses a science fiction setting to capture the unparalled adventure, danger, and uncertainty of the colonization period in United States history. The simulation can be done in small groups or individually, and value judgments affect the outcome of the simulation. The premise of the simulation is that due to overpopulation,…