Civilization and World Geography

Having thought about using Sid Meier's Civilization as a history-teaching tool, I had a chance at the end of the year to experiment with a teacher's World Geography class. She's about a week ahead of schedule, so she was willing to let me borrow her class to test out students' reaction to the game.

With the help of some county funds (from technology folks who are also interested in gaming in the classroom), I purchased several copies of Civilization III and Civilization IV, the latest version. In addition, I found FreeCiv, a free open-source version of Civilization.

The students spent about four 50-minute periods playing the games. Prior to the first period, I visited them in class and showed them what the games look like and how they work. While they played, they were also provided with detailed instructions and a one-page quick start sheet.

I'm not sure it was enough time to get full benefits of the game as an educational tool, but as I talked to them during their gameplay and after the four days, I made some observations:

• The students were able to identify some history and geography concepts in the game. Granted, this came at the end of a year of World Geography, but students were able to see concepts in action - how resources influence diplomacy and economy, how geography can affect growth, etc.
• War is not always the answer. Most of the boys (and some of the girls) were keen on declaring war with their neighbors. In some cases, this led to the destruction of their at-the-time small army and subsequent destruction of their civilization. Those that were defeated early did, in fact, make different choices when they restarted the game.
• Playing with a partner helps. By pairing up students, they were able to discuss game events and decisions, ask questions of each other, and coach one another. From a practical standpoint, it also reduces the amount of software a teacher must use.
• Interface makes a big difference. The students who played Civilization IV seemed to have the best experience with the game itself, because the game looks much flashier than the other two. Civilization III has a more birds-eye view of the game world, which seemed to give students a slightly more removed feel to playing it.
  Alas for open-source, FreeCiv was a big disappointment. The interface very user-unfriendly (even to experienced gamers like myself), and students who were not very familiar at all with turn-based strategy type games were completely lost. I spent most of the first play period with the six pairs of students playing FreeCiv just showing them how it worked. It also lacked the polished look as the other games - in the same room with the others, the FreeCiv students were envious and not as focused.

I think perhaps that if FreeCiv were the only option presented and it was accompanied by some clear instructions and game-play coaching, it could serve as a teaching tool. But if a teacher or a school can afford the off-the-shelf games, the polished package might make the presentation easier to sell (so to speak) to students.

I'm hoping next year to get in with some of the World History teachers and have them incorporate the game into their teaching. The pacing of World History might make it a little tougher, but we'll see.

Posted in: games, software, teaching