Becoming Congress: A Longitudinal Study of the Civic Engagement Implications of a Classroom Simulation

Does the content of political science courses affect civic learning? The authors examine whether differences in students' self-reported knowledge, cynicism, and participation depend on whether their American government course included a character-playing simulation. The authors use an innovative longitudinal, quasi-experimental research design to test not only for immediate effects but also for those that differentiated the two groups 3 years after they took the course. Differential effects of the simulation at the end of the particular course are virtually nonexistent. Three years later, however, students who had the simulation reported more understanding of the concepts taught in the simulation than did the control group. They also emerged less politically cynical. No differences were observed, however, on items reflecting political participation.