IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/simgam/v49y2018i6p735-750.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Adapting the DIPLOMACY Board Game Concept for 21st Century International Relations Teaching

Author

Listed:
  • Mikael Mattlin

Abstract

Background. This article reports on pedagogical experiences of designing and teaching an active learning international relations (IR) course utilizing the classical board game DIPLOMACY, with added game elements and modified game rules to make the game better suited for educational purposes. Aim. Game adaptations include team play , a dedicated peace mediator team , altered win rules and a post-game debriefing discussion on different cultures of anarchy . These elements were designed to overcome a shortcoming that the game approximates a worldview akin to offensive realism, which is not practical in contemporary international relations, and also normatively objectionable to many IR scholars. Method. Teacher experiences designing and modifying the course, coupled with student feedback on the course concept from three consecutive years. Results. Student feedback has been exceedingly positive, with a 4.61 average grade (n = 210 grades) on a five-point Likert-type scale, where 1 signifies poor and 5 excellent . Conclusions. Through game modifications, students turned a game infamous for its backstabbing and breaking of promises into a game that resolves in a mediated and negotiated outcome. The findings suggest that DIPLOMACY can be useful beyond teaching the realist worldview, and adapted to create a more accurate microworld approximation of international relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Mikael Mattlin, 2018. "Adapting the DIPLOMACY Board Game Concept for 21st Century International Relations Teaching," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 49(6), pages 735-750, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:simgam:v:49:y:2018:i:6:p:735-750
    DOI: 10.1177/1046878118788905
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1046878118788905
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1046878118788905?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benjamin Hoy, 2018. "Teaching History With Custom-Built Board Games," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 49(2), pages 115-133, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paul F. Franco & Deborah A. DeLuca, 2019. "Learning Through Action: Creating and Implementing a Strategy Game to Foster Innovative Thinking in Higher Education," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 50(1), pages 23-43, February.
    2. Willy Christian Kriz, 2018. "Research of the Active Substance of Gaming Simulation," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 49(6), pages 595-601, December.
    3. Lalipat Gitgeatpong & Watcharee Ketpichainarong, 2022. "Fostering Students’ Understanding in Mangrove Ecosystem: A Case Study Using the Mangrove Survivor Board Game," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 53(2), pages 194-213, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rebecca Yvonne Bayeck, 2020. "Examining Board Gameplay and Learning: A Multidisciplinary Review of Recent Research," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 51(4), pages 411-431, August.
    2. J. Tuomas Harviainen, 2018. "Connections and Correspondences in Simulation/Gaming," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 49(2), pages 95-97, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:simgam:v:49:y:2018:i:6:p:735-750. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.