Call for Submissions on Simulations

2024-07-12

Call for Submissions (Research & Articles) 

ASSERT Special ISSUE - Simulations

From the New Social Studies movement to the Schools Council History Project, simulations are a long-standing practice in social studies education (Evans, 2011; Dawson, 1989). Despite their longevity, scholarship on teaching social studies with simulations has historically been fraught with differing (or absent) definitions of what constitutes a simulation and contradictory findings about their usefulness as an instructional strategy (Duchatelet et al., 2019; Ishiyama, 2012; Wright-Maley, 2015). Furthermore, media accounts of ill-conceived and harmful simulations have cast their use in a dubious light (Brown et al, 2022; Onion, 2019). However, studies show simulations have the extraordinary potential to engage students, shifting instruction towards student activity and agency (Duchatelet et al., 2021; Johnson et al., 2011; Parker et al., 2011). The multitude of educational resources which purport to aid teachers in running fun and engaging classroom simulations suggest they remain a mainstay in social studies. How are classroom teachers to interpret this confusing miasma of scholarly articles, media accounts, and curriculum materials?

In recent years some clarity emerged in the field about what constitutes a simulation in social studies, guidelines for their use, and empirical study of teacher and student experiences of classroom simulations (Dack et al., 2018; Pettenger et al., 2014; Rantala et al., 2015; Wright-Maly, 2015; Wright-Maley, 2018). By presenting this research in a plain-spoken and practitioner-oriented way, this special issue of ASSERT aims to aid teachers in navigating the literature on teaching with simulations so that they can thoughtfully harness the potential of simulations for student learning in the social studies.

We invite you to submit a unique article that summarizes and extends research and scholarship on Teaching Social Studies with Simulations. Manuscripts submitted for consideration may be research/empirical reports and analyses, conceptual essays, or histories that help teachers to initiate, extend, or improve their practice with simulations. 

Please signal your interest in contributing to or reviewing this issue by contacting Editors Sara Evers and Cory Wright-Maley by September 15, 2024:

saralevers@vt.edu

cory.wrightmaley@stmu.ca

 

 

Submission Topics

The range of potential topics and related guiding questions might include, but is not limited to:

  • Teacher practice/pedagogical decision making
  • Educational resources/curriculum materials
  • History of simulation use
  • Student engagement
  • Student learning
  • Student agency and teacher control
  • Digital simulations
  • Emergence of immersive technologies as a form of simulation for social studies education; impact on definitions of simulation used in social studies research
  • Ethics of simulation use
  • Comparison of/guidelines for simulation use in the different social studies disciplines
  • Other topics as submitted

References:

Brown, A., Batt, J., Brown, K., Berry D. R. (2022, November 30- December 2). A cultural memory of curricular violence: Re-examining slavery simulations in the classroom [Conference presentation]. CUFA at NCSS 2022 Philadelphia, PA, United States. https://sites.google.com/view/cufa2022/home?authuser=0

Dack, H., van Hover, S., & Hicks, D. (2018). Beyond facts and fun: The need for purposeful simulations.  In C. Wright-Maley (Ed.), More like life itself: Simulations as powerful and purposeful social studies (pp. 63-84). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing

Dawson, I. (1989). The Schools History Project: A Study in Curriculum Development. The History Teacher, 22(3), 221-238. https://doi.org/10.2307/492862

Duchatelet, D., Gijbels, D., Bursens, P., Donche, V., & Spooren, P. (2019). Looking at role-play simulations of political decision-making in higher education through a contextual lens: A state-of-the-art. Educational Research Review, 27, 126-139. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.03.002

Duchatelet, D., Spooren, P., Bursens, P., Gijbels, D., & Donche, V. (2021). Explaining self-efficacy development in an authentic higher education learning context of role-play simulations. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 68, Article 100940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100940

Evans, R. (2011). The Hope for American School Reform: The Cold War Pursuit of Inquiry Learning in Social Studies. Palgrave Macmillan.

Ishiyama, J. (2012) Frequently used Active Learning Techniques and Their Impact: a Critical Review of Existing Journal Literature in the United States. European Political Science, 12, 116–126 . https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2012.3

Johnson, P. R., Boyer, M. A., & Brown, S. W. (2011). Vital interests: Cultivating global competence in the international studies classroom. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 9, 503–519. doi:10.1080/14767724.2011.605331

Onion, R. (2019). Classroom historical role-playing games can easily go wrong. So why do teachers keep assigning them? Slate magazine. https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/05/history-classroom-role-playing-games-slavery-holocaust.html

Parker, W., Mosborg, S., Bransford, J., Vye, N., Wilkerson, J., & Abbott, R. (2011). Rethinking advanced high school coursework: tackling the depth/breadth tension in the AP US Government and Politics course. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 43(4), 533–559. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2011.584561

Pettenger, M., West, D., & Young, N. (2014). Assessing the Impact of Role Play Simulations on Learning in Canadian and US Classrooms. International Studies Perspectives, 15(4), 491-508. https://doi.org/10.1111/insp.12063

Rantala, J., Manninen, M., & van den Berg, M. (2015). Stepping into other people’s shoes proves to be a difficult task for high school students: Assessing historical empathy through simulation exercise. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 48(3), 323–345. doi:10.1080/00220272.2015.1122092

Wright-Maley, C. (2015). Beyond the “Babel problem”: Defining simulations for the social studies. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 39(2), 63-77. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2014.10.001

Wright-Maley, C. (2018). More like life itself: simulations as powerful and purposeful social studies. Information Age Publishing, Inc.

About ASSERT

Website:              assertjournal.com

Mission:               To provide social studies teachers with open-access reiterations of key research findings that illuminate the practical implications of social studies scholarship in short, accessible summaries.

Vision:                  Through ASSERT, K-12 social studies teachers will have access to seminal and emerging insights into social studies teaching and learning from published research that can help to foster an acceleration of powerful and purposeful social studies in North America and around the globe. Typically, our research is hidden from teachers’ view behind paywalls, or are so dense as to deter teachers from finishing the articles.

Scope:                  The aim and content of ASSERT is to provide a broad range of ways to engage with social studies and its related disciplines. Critical and Traditional content, approaches, and methodologies are welcomed. Special consideration will be given to work that may challenge teachers’ thinking, perspectives, or approaches to teaching content, especially content that is often missing from social studies classrooms. ASSERT will not shy away from controversial topics or approaches, but expects respectful, inclusive language and discourse that respects diversity from its contributing authors.

Access:                 Open access (free to publish, free-to-read) online journal, run by the Open Journal System hosted at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Review Type:     Single-blind peer-reviewed (reviewers know who the author is (because their work being summarized and extended for ASSERT is already published elsewhere; the researchers don’t know who the reviewers are). Each piece published in ASSERT will be reviewed by two professionals: A scholar with expertise in the area, and a practicing social studies teacher. This will help ensure the academic fidelity to the research and accessibility and relevance for the audience, teachers primarily.                          

Publications:      The journal will include reflections of timely and thought-provoking research and scholarship relevant to social studies teachers.

Scholarly Articles:

                                Works published in ASSERT are reflections of academics’ previously published, peer-reviewed work. These summaries are intended to illuminate the core conclusions and implications for teachers in a concise and accessible manner (1500 words): The sections of the summaries will be broken down as follows:

  • Description of the research process (400 words)
  • Description of the findings/implications (500 words)
  • Description of ideas for incorporating this scholarship into practice in K-12 classrooms (600 words)

Q & A Companion:

Before your article is published, your reviewer, the editors, or another practitioner will submit several questions to you about your article that are of pressing concern to teachers. Their questions and your responses will be published as part of your article. The purpose of this addendum is to provide teachers with more context while helping to make sure that the scholarship published in our journal is responsive to teachers’ thinking on the matter.

Writing:                Writing should be professional, but colloquial. This is not a journal for scholarly readers, so authors should avoid jargon or stuffy, pretentious language. Authors are free to make use of word play, humor, slang or nonstandard English (nonstandard uses may require additional explanatory notes).

Citation:               Please use the most recent edition of APA (7).

Questions:          Questions about the process of publication can be directed to the lead editor, Cory Wright-Maley: assertjournal@gmail.com