2017 Volume 87 Pages 25-36
In recent years, such ideas of human rights or international cooperation built in the 20th century have become ambiguous, such as through Brexit or the birth of a new government of the U.S., which seeks its own national interest first. In the present world, it is necessary to think about how to bridge the gap between ideas and facts. This study organized a form of learning that makes students realize the gap and experience the process of actually solving international issues. This study organized a lesson which had students reconstruct the rules of “The Trading Game” as the roles in the game as the party concerned for solving international issues in the virtual world after playing the game. This method, which makes students change the rules of the game, is an original concept developed in social studies.
In this lesson, students realized the conflict between national interest and international interest and made new rules. They then thought about compromising the possibilities of new rules made from several roles in the game. Through experiencing the process of solving international issues in the virtual world, students realized that solving international issues bridges the gap between ideas and facts.
This study showed that it is effective to have students experience the process of solving international issues as the party concerned in social studies. Additionally, this study also presented a new method of utilizing the game in social studies.
